According to "Wine" by Amerine & Singlton Calif. Ports are typically
20 x 7. That's 20% abv and 7deg Brix sweetness.

For your Gerwerz. might start out a lower than that see how it goes.
Don't want to loose that spicy nose against the brandy.

These folks make some fine desert wines:
http://www.quadywinery.com/wines.html

IIRC there Orange Muscat and Hamburg Muscats run around 16% and retain
the floral nose and flavor of the muscat.



Steve
Oregon


On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:34:10 -0800 (PST), wrote:

>I am making a gewurtztrauminer white port (adding Oregon Clear Creek
>apple brandy). I have 1 gallon of wine made from grapes grown in my
>backyard, to which I will add 750mL of brandy to bring the alcohol
>level to around 17% (based on 12% predicted alcohol of the must).
>
>My trouble is: the wine as it is before adding the brandy is VERY
>dry. No residual sugar exists since the full packet of yeast nuked
>every grain of sugar in there. I having trouble deciding how much
>table sugar to add to this mix. The brandy is on the dry side but not
>bone dry like other brandies I tasted. Is this simply an add to taste
>deal that I do just before bottling and then add wine stabilizer.
>
>Also, do I need to add camden tabs the mix before bottling with an
>alcohol of 17%?
>
>Thanks much for any help!
>
>Jon