Even if you know your Bordeaux from your Barolo, figuring out which dessert wine to end your meal with can be perplexing enough to send you searching for a scotch.

If you did that, though, you’d miss the chance to explore the multifaceted taste experience of high-quality dessert wines. Though all share the qualities of sweetness and relatively high alcohol content (17 to 24 percent), some are bright and citrusy, others redolent with notes of jam or berries, and still others offer rich caramel flavors. With this variety, it’s possible for almost anyone to find a dessert wine they like, and today a growing number of people are doing just that. Though sweet wines have long been underappreciated and overlooked, their sales in the U.S. rose 61 percent between 2000 and 2005, according to the Sweet and Fortified Wine Association.

Sweet wines usually require longer growing, fermenting, and aging periods, which help make them considerably more expensive than their main-course counterparts. So select with care, whether buying at a store or a restaurant. As with any wine purchase, it’s advisable to buy from an establishment with good turnover and knowledgeable staff, advises Serena Sutcliffe, head of the wine

department at Sotheby’s.

Two types: Dessert wines fall into two categories. Fortified wines—which include port from Portugal, port-style wine made in other regions, sherry, and Madeira—have spirits (generally brandy) added after fermentation to kick the alcohol content and sweetness up a notch. Unfortified dessert wines, such as ice wine and Sauternes, derive their flavor and relatively high alcohol content from the not-yet-fermented juice being concentrated through various methods.

From port to port: Perhaps the most well-known of the fortified genre, port comes in several styles. Ruby port is the youngest, most tannic, and most fruit forward. Tawny port has been exposed to air while being aged in oak barrels, which gives it a darker hue and a toasted-nut taste. Vintage port is rare, expensive (bottles tend to sell for $100 and up—sometimes way up), and needs to mature in the bottle for a decade or more to allow its flavor to reach its peak. Vintages are declared only an average of two or three times a decade, which drives up the demand and the price for this heavy, complex wine.

Less water, sweeter wine: In the case of ice wine and Sauternes, the grape juice is highly concentrated. Ice-wine grapes are normally frozen on the vine; when pressed, ice crystals remain in the grapes, yielding a nectarlike liquid. Canada and Germany dictate that for ice wine (or Eiswein), the grapes must freeze on the vine. Ice wine from other countries may contain grapes that have been picked and then frozen.

Sauternes, which refers both to the golden wine and the French appellation from which it comes, gets its characteristic flavor, aroma, and sweetness from a fungus and can command prices of up to hundreds of dollars for a 375-milliliter bottle. Botrytis cinerea, or “noble rot,” withers the grapes on the vine. The result is an intensely sweet wine with a distinctive honeyed taste. Other regions, including Hungary, Germany, and Australia, also produce Botrytis-affected wines.

Talking temperature: Fortified wines are served at room temperature or slightly chilled. Ice wines and Botrytis-affected wines like Sauternes are best served very cold.

Wines with history: If you want to explore wines that have logged some serious aging time, you’re in luck. The very best dessert wines age gracefully enough to make a

middle-aged A-lister envious. “Certainly with something like a Sauternes, you could go back 100 years, and the great port vintages of the 1940s are marvelous,” Sutcliffe says. As these wines hit the two- to three-decade mark, they tend to mellow into a nuttier, more honeyed flavor. Keep that in mind if you plan to pair one with food.

Bargain bottles: Great values and similar quality can often be found in wines from the regions adjacent to famous appellations. For instance, those in the know say that wines produced in the Sainte Croix du Mont appellation, adjacent to Sauternes, possess many of the same characteristics but can be had for half the price. Australian producers are creating close approximations of tawny port using native grapes.

With dessert or as dessert: Purists insist that dessert wines are dessert, but many diners like combining them with dishes that bring out their nuances. A dessert wine should be as sweet as the dish it accompanies, and match the flavor, says William Sher, wine director for Aureole restaurant at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. To keep the sweetness from becoming overwhelming, serve the wine in two- to three-ounce pours.

Perfect pairings: Wines with Botrytis tend to have honey and apricot flavors and go well with honeyed desserts, Sher advises. “Tawny ports or oloroso sherries are great with anything with toffee, coffee, caramelized, or toasted notes. Chocoholics, take note: Port is also a great partner for dark chocolate. Wines dubbed “late harvest” tend to be less sweet, with tropical-fruit aromas and flavors. Courtney Storrs, co-owner of Noble Rot, a wine bar in Portland, Oregon, says their relatively high acidity makes them a good option for people without a sweet tooth. Tropical- or stone-fruit desserts pair well with both late-harvest and ice wines, while dishes featuring berries or red fruits marry well with ruby port. Desserts with a dairy base are best matched with high-acidity wines to cut the richness.

Something for everyone: Is there one dessert wine that will please everyone at a table? Sher says your best shot is Moscato d’Asti. “When made well by a small artisan producer, you can’t go wrong,” he asserts. It is made from white muscat grapes and has a fresh taste. “I know a lot of wine connoisseurs who buy very expensive dessert wines who also buy this.”