Don't stop the rot for sweet treat

However in an attempt to fit into my clothes, post festive season, one food group has had to be eliminated from the household – puddings. It is just easier to rule out indulgencies such as chocolate tart, sticky toffee pud and cream cakes than wrestle with the guilt after eating them.

But I refuse to give up on pudding wines. Often these small bottles of sunshine are the essential restorative needed to inject a dash of sweetness into winter and if you work the sums out they are not nearly as naughty as you might think they are.

It all comes down to quantity. While wine is an essential part of any diet, providing a dash of flavour and fun and making yet another salad bearable, the temptation to follow one glass with another can wipe out the effect of a restricted diet.

But sweet wine comes in smaller bottles, and in the same way that a small square of chocolate kills the cravings for forbidden food, a small glass of sweet wine can take the edge off your appetite and give a much-needed winter sugar-rush. I find that I can get six small glasses of pudding wine from a half bottle. Even with a monumental 100 grams per litre sugar which is in many good quality sweeties, a small glass of dessert wine will still limbo under the usual 120 calories you find in a normal glassful of Ctes du Rhne or Australian Shiraz.

And one of the real joys of sweet wines is that once opened, they keep well in the fridge. A small bottle can be opened and sipped over several days and it still delivers unctuous flavours and bright fruit.

Just for those who are worried that a sweet wine is the same as a dry wine with several spoonfuls of sugar stirred in – it isn't. Making sweet wine demands real skill and a particular weather pattern which allows the grapes to shrivel on the vines and concentrate the natural flavours, sweetness and acidity.

Once crushed, the juice ferments slowly, and eventually provides a wine with a lower level of alcohol, often about 11 per cent balanced by residual sweetness and natural zest. Sweet wines are made in various parts of the world and each one has its own style and flavour. Here are some of my favourites.

Tokaji – made in the north-east of Hungary in a region where the early morning mists swirl across the hillsides, creating the ideal conditions for a mould which dries out the local grapes Furmint and Hrslevelu and concentrates sweetness, flavours and acids inside the berries.

Picking mouldy, shrivelled grapes is not easy and the harvesters select the berries individually, working through the vineyards several times as the mould takes effect.

When fermented, the wine retains this astonishing balance of flavour with the key elements in perfect harmony.

The wine is then aged for a minimum of two years in small Hungarian oak barrels stored in underground cellars.

The sweetness of Tokaji (pronounced Tock- aye) is measured in Puttonyos (Putts), usually 3, 4, 5 and 6 indicating increasing levels of sweetness, topped by Eszencia which is almost honey-like in its viscosity and sweetness.

I enjoy Tokaji for its depth of flavour, with shades of toasted apricot, almonds and the topping on a crme brle. The Disznko Estate makes particularly fine wines, with clear, fresh flavours and the Halifax Wine Co. (www.halifaxwine company.com) occasionally has stocks of various styles, with the 2001 vintage of the 4 Putts version costing 16.25. Harvey Nichols stocks wines from Crown Estates, with their 2000 3 Putts version costing 15. This has notes of caramelised grapefruit, with touches of orange and a sweet, balanced finish. Team this with an orange-based dessert if your diet can stand it. Tokaji always comes in the traditional 50cl bottle.

Sauternes – this is the classic sweet wine of Bordeaux and like many sweet wines it relies on the progress of a mould through the vineyards to concentrate the juice and create delicious wines.

The usual grape varieties of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc are often augmented by Muscadelle which adds grapey freshness and aroma.

The quality of Sauternes depends on how long the producers are prepared to wait while the mould, Botrytis cinerea takes hold.

With autumn weather threatening to wipe out the crop there is always the temptation to pick early, resulting in lightweight wines.

But Ch Suduiraut, a large property, just a stone's throw from Ch d'Yquem is a business on the rise, with investment from a major insurance company providing the backing to propel it to the top.

Majestic has the second wine from Suduiraut, Castelnau de Suduiraut 2006 which comes in half bottles (11.99) and it is a terrific wine with the complex aroma of dried citrus fruit, with notes of apple crumble, grilled pineapple and touches of cinnamon.

The finish is clean, citrus-fresh and delicious. This wine is a dessert in itself, but if you have the calories to spare, try it with a small piece of blue cheese or a slice of apricot tart.

Waitrose has an own-label Sauternes 2005, also from Ch Suduiraut at 10.99 for a half bottle.

This is a light, bright version, crisp on the approach, yet lush and honeyed on the palate.

Australia has struggled to produce sweet wines with enough balance and zest but De Bortoli's Noble One (on offer Majestic 12.99, half bottle) has steadily improved over 25 vintages to the point where it really does merit a place in my list of favourites.

It comes from the Riverina district and is made in the same way as the classics of Sauternes, with botrytis-affected Semillon grapes, which are slowly fermented and aged in oak for 12 months.

The result is remarkable, with aromas of orange marmalade, apricot and lemon rind, balanced by clean, zesty acidity which leaves the palate clean and bright.