EVANS CAGLAGE/DMN; food styling by TINA DANZE and TONIA LYLE/Special Contributors; plate: Ralph Lauren, Highland Park Village

No holiday begs for a decadent dessert more than Valentine's Day. With Feb. 14 fast approaching, the panel met in search of dessert wines to match with a rich, sensuous classic: crème caramel, a close relative of flan.

Wine and dessert pairings can be tricky. As a general rule, the dessert shouldn't be sweeter than the wine, lest it overpower the drink. With that in mind, we favored a crème caramel with subdued sweetness. The classic crème caramel recipe from The Best Recipe, by the editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine (Boston Common Press, $30), proved a winner: sweet but not cloying; silky and rich, but not so creamy as to mask flavor.

We tasted 16 wines costing less than $50 each to find the best complement to the dessert's creamy vanilla custard and caramel syrup. All the wines sampled were on the sweet side, ranging from a semisparkling muscat to a rich dessert sherry.

Although the panel enjoyed most of the wines on their own, only six were deemed good matches for crème caramel. Those winners boosted the dessert course from merely delicious to memorable, as each bite and sip left us yearning for another.

Prices surprised us, with all but two of our winners costing less than $25, and our top pick just $15.99 – remarkable, considering the field of pricier contenders. The wines were geographically diverse too, with Australia, Italy, Oregon and California represented among the winners. Here's what we learned from this tasting.

•Rich dessert wines with a caramel component dominated our winner's circle. Their flavor and richness echoed and enhanced that of the crème caramel.

•Winning wines were sweet but not cloying, with good body.

•Only one overtly fruity wine paired well with the dessert's caramel sauce; others proved too citrusy or tangy.

•We sampled two vin santos (classic dessert wines from Italy), but both failed to please; one was too dry in the finish, the other a tad medicinal.

•Complexity, texture and balance distinguished most winners.

•Bargains abound; you don't have to spend $50 to find an elegant dessert wine to pair with this classic dessert.

Tina Danze is a Dallas freelance writer.

($15.99 for 375 ml.; Goody Goody, Farpointe Cellar in Frisco, Vino 100, Centennial at Preston near Northwest Highway, Mr. G's, some Sigel's)

This stellar dessert wine from the Victoria region of Australia is produced by a fourth-generation winemaking family. "The wine itself is brilliant, but it brings out a seductive silkiness in the dessert," Paul Pinnell said. "The toasty caramel component in it matches that of the crème caramel."

James Tidwell called the pairing "caramel, squared," adding that "orange, raisin and buttery qualities" in the wine "heighten the overall tasting."

But it wasn't just flavor that wowed him and the rest of the panel. "The richness of the wine complements the richness of the dessert," Mr. Tidwell said. "There's an even level of delivery of caramel flavor from start to finish," George Howald added. That lingering flavor enhanced the crème caramel, leading us to the next spoonful of custard.

($39.99 for 500 ml.; all Central Market locations, Perry Liquor on N. Central Expressway, the Market on the Square in The Colony)

The Rocca Bernarda Estate in Friuli has been producing wine since Roman times. This complex, sweet wine is made from the rare picolit grape native to the region. For centuries, picolits have been regarded as the region's best dessert wines, and this one lives up to the hype. "It's a really versatile dessert wine," Mr. Pinnell said. "It's rich without being over the top." Blythe Beck praised its "good balance," noting that it isn't excessively sweet. "It has enough sweetness to hold up to the dessert," Mr. Howald said.

Mr. Tidwell applauded the wine's rich texture, which he said "balances with the rich texture of the dessert." Low yields from picolit vines result in limited production of the dessert wine and higher prices. But fans of the Rocca Bernarda Picolit can feel noble about buying it: The winery is owned by the Knights of Malta, which donates wine sale proceeds to charities for children.

($13.99 for 750 ml.; Central Market, Dallas and Southlake locations; Pogo's; City Café Gourmet and Wine to Go; Crush! A Wine Boutique, Flower Mound; Tivoli, Colleyville)

This wine is dramatically different from the other wines sampled. Not only is it semisparkling and fruity, but it has no caramel notes. "It's lightly fizzy, with intense fruit flavors that play off the caramel," Mr. Tidwell said. "The citrus works well with the caramel, and the peach, apricot and tangerine play off the caramel." Both Mr. Tidwell and Mr. Howald felt that the wine's muscat quality lends the vanilla custard a fruitiness, which Mr. Howald called "ghost" fruit flavors. Mr. Pinnell added that the cleansing character of the wine allowed it to pair with the rich dessert. "I like the flavor of the wine with the custard," Ms. Beck said. "It's a good combination." Mr. Howald summed up the panel's enthusiasm for a wine so distinct from all the others that were favored: "It's great to have a successful alternative to the caramely style of wine." Note that this is the only full-size bottle among the winners, and it's the least expensive.

($21.99 to $26.99 for 375 ml.; all Central Market locations; Winestyles in Flower Mound, Rowlett and North Richland Hills; Perry's Liquor; and Pogo's)

Similar to a dessert sherry, this beautiful wine is aged 10 years and delivers complex honey, toffee and raisin flavors that meld well with crème caramel. Mr. Tidwell dubbed the pairing "sweet on sweet, but what a delicious combination." He added, "The complexity of the wine acts as a foil for the crème caramel. Nutty, orange-citrus and golden raisin [flavors] all add complexity to the overall dish." Mr. Howald said, "The wine's nuttiness and unique complexity set it apart from the other wines we sampled." Mr. Pinnell described the wine as "rich and opulent, with shades of toffee." Perhaps the best endorsement for the wine as a Valentine's Day treat came from Ms. Beck: "It's decadent and indulgent."

(375 ml for $21.99; Centennial, Park Cities and North Dallas locations; Pogo's; Kindred Spirits, 6448 E. Mockingbird Lane at Abrams)

What a surprise to find a fine dessert sherry from California! This wine comes from the oldest family-owned winery in Paso Robles, but it's a relative newcomer to the Texas market. "It has toasted hazelnut-butterscotch flavors that go so well with crème caramel," Mr. Tidwell said. "At the same time, it has a richness to it. The intense flavor balances the higher alcohol content of the sherry. I think it's one of the better pairings."

Mr. Pinnell hailed the wine as "delicious and viscous" with "caramelized and nutty flavors perfect for crème caramel or just for sipping. Complexity and richness is the hallmark of this California beauty." Since its opening, Fearing's at the Ritz-Carlton has gone through 22 cases of this dessert wine.

($34.99 for 375 ml.; Pogo's)

This full-bodied, complex dessert wine shows more fruit than most of the other dessert wines chosen as winning matches. Dried stone fruit and raisin flavors are integrated with faint caramel notes, and balanced with good acidity. "It strikes a nice balance between the fruity muscats and the really caramely wines," Mr. Tidwell said. "It has a sauterne character," Mr. Pinnell said. "It has that golden, apple ... richness and focused fruit that's not overly sweet." Mr. Howald noted that the "caramel notes in the background are pleasant, but not overly present." Ms. Beck gave this pairing with crème caramel the ultimate praise: "I could keep eating and drinking this forever."

Chilling: With the exception of the semisparkling muscat, the dessert wines featured in this article should be served slightly chilled. Refrigerate the lighter-color wines for about 30 minutes, and the darker, amber-color wines for just 15 to 20 minutes. The Bridgeview semisparkling muscat should be served well-chilled.

Smaller bottles, smaller servings: Most dessert wines are sold in small bottles – either 375 ml. or 500 ml. But that doesn't mean you need to double up on purchases. Serving portions of dessert wines are smaller (about 2 ounces per glass) and with good reason: These are sweet, rich wines, often with higher alcohol content than other wines. One 375 ml. bottle serves 5 or 6 people.

Tina Danze

The tasters: Blythe Beck: executive chef, Hector's on Henderson; George Howald: Serendipity Wine Imports; Paul Pinnell: a sommelier and restaurateur; James Tidwell: certified wine educator and sommelier at Café on the Green, Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas; Cathy Barber: Taste Editor; Tina Danze: freelance writer