Bean Blossom Peach Cider

Bean Blossom Peach Cider is a Massachusetts-made fruit dessert wine, labeled as a cider and built around peach. Neither the sweetness level nor the alcohol is listed here, so treat the notes below as what peach fruit wines of this kind usually deliver, not a measured profile. Expect ripe stone-fruit aromas of peach flesh and skin, perhaps with a floral edge like peach blossom. On the palate, styles like this are typically light to medium in body, with little or no tannin and no oak influence. Acidity does most of the structural work, and a bright, juicy finish is what keeps a sweet fruit wine from tasting heavy. Serve it well chilled, around 38 to 45°F, which keeps the sweetness lively and the peach aroma clean. It doesn't need decanting. Pour it straight from the bottle into a white wine glass or a small tulip-shaped glass, which holds the fruit aromatics better than a wide tumbler. A flute also works if it's lightly sparkling, though the details here don't say whether it is. For food, peach-forward wines suit salty and rich partners. Try prosciutto or country ham, sharp cheddar, creamy brie or fresh goat cheese. Spiced dishes such as Thai or Sichuan-style cooking are another good match, since a little sweetness tempers the heat. At the sweet end, it goes with pound cake, shortcake, almond tarts or a simple bowl of vanilla ice cream. It can also stand in as a dessert on its own. Fruit-driven wines like this are made to be drunk young, while the peach character is freshest. Plan to open it soon after purchase instead of cellaring it. Once opened, recork or reseal it and keep it in the refrigerator so the aromatics hold up over the next few days.