If you’re planning to whip up a fruit salad, a late-harvest Riesling would be an ideal match. The fresh-fruit flavors of Riesling -- peaches, nectarines, apricots, melon -- line up perfectly with the flavors of the fruit salad. The respective fruits, solid and vinous, allow each other to be noticed. The acidity in both the fruit and late-harvest Riesling allow the back-and-forth tussle of tartness that enlivens the experience. Last but not least, the low alcohol of most late-harvest Riesling (6-9%) results in a lightness, a delicacy, that would be impossible with Sauternes (12-13%) or Port (18-20%).

Shopper’s Tips

• Look for four label designations only: Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese, or Eiswein.

• If your label says "Auslese," make sure it doesn't also say "Trocken" or "Halbtrocken," for that would indicate that the wine is not a dessert wine. As a fruit-salad wine, Beerenauslese or Eiswein are your best bets. Trockenbeerenauslese is the richest of all, and may be a little too rich -- unless you've got a really sweet fruit salad going.

• There are great Riesling dessert wines from many places, including California, Washington, New York or Australia, but the labeling is chaotic. Fortunately, most of the labels from these places (unlike labels from Germany) indicate the amount of "residual sugar" in the wine, which will tell you whether the wine is lightly sweet, moderately sweet, or a real sticky.

• No matter whether the label says "Late Harvest" or "Special Late Harvest" or "Special Late Harvest Select.," go right for the numbers on the label:

• 4 grams per liter of sugar: A wine begins to register sweetness on the palate when it hits this measure but that would be way too low for a fruit salad or any dessert.

• 35 grams per liter of sugar: This is a good entry-level figure for a late-harvest Riesling paired with dessert. Up to 50 grams per liter of sugar would make for a lightly sweet dessert wine.

• 50 and 80 grams per liter of sugar: A good bet for a late-harvest Riesling to match your fruit salad. It's sweet enough to taste sweet next to the sugary fruit.

• 120 grams per liter of sugar: We are talking SWEET! Could be a little too intense for fruit salad.

Serving Tip
Buy a late-harvest Riesling with a moderate amount of sweetness. Chill it. Make a fruit salad with a minimum amount of sugar. Chill it. Just before serving, taste the salad with the wine to make sure the sugar is in sync. If the salad doesn't seem sweet enough, add sugar. Keep adjusting. Note: Do not add sugar to the wine!

-David Rosengarten