A lot of new wine drinkers tend to gravitate towards wines that have some sweetness to them, because it is such a pleasant and easy to appreciate flavour that we are familiar with.

Or, at least they think they do.

I have lost count of the number of times I’ve spoken with friends who tell me they prefer wines that are a bit sweeter, and then proceed to list off a bunch of dry whites. Or who described a red as being very dry when they mean it’s very tannic. Let’s cover those common mistakes off quickly before we get all technical.

“Dry” refers to the absence of residual sugar in wine. And the majority of wines that the average consumer drinks, are dry.

The reason we think certain white wines are sweet when they’re not, is because our brain is making associations that aren’t there. When our brains taste and smell a really fruit-forward wine, they start to think that what we are tasting must have sugar in it, just like fruit. But in reality, the wine itself could be “bone dry”, with absolutely no sugar left in it.

The language we use also gets confusing, particularly when we talk about red wines. “Dry” is a common word in our everyday lives, except out there, it doesn’t mean the absence of sugar; it means the absence of wetness. So when we are first getting started in wine, it can be easy for our brains to think that “dry” means the wine has a “drying” sensation on the palate – but these are tannins! Don’t worry, if you’re still stuck, I have a great tasting tip for you down below.

How do we define Sweetness?

Sweetness in wine is the result of residual sugar leftover after fermentation is complete. In a lot of wine books, this is expressed as RS (residual sugar).

The short version is that the sugars in the grape juice get eaten by the yeast. The yeast then produces CO2, heat, and alcohol. This process continues until the yeasts die off, either from starvation because all the sugar is gone, or because it was prematurely stopped as a winemaking choice. A wine that is “dry” has very little to no residual sugar (0.1-0.2%). Off-dry wines have only slightly more. In medium-sweet wines, the sweetness becomes much more apparent, and in “sweet” wines, there will be so much sugar that the wine is visibly thicker.

Sweetness in the Vineyard

All sweetness starts in the vineyard with the ripening of the grapes.

They start out as hard little green balls of acid, but with time they will swell, change colour, the acids will drop, and the sugars will rise. Winemakers then have to decide on the right time to harvest, based on what balance between acidity and ripe fruit flavours they want. When making a dry or off-dry wine, this will probably be as close to peak harvest time as possible.

But when they want to make a sweet wine, there are a few different ways to get the job done.

A “Late Harvest” wine is made when the grapes are left to hang on the vines for so long that they begin to raisin. The sugars are high, and more concentrated due to the lack of water. These grapes will have so much sugar that the yeasts die out before they can possibly finish it all.

In Germany and Canada, winemakers sometimes leave the grapes on the vine so long that they actually freeze. These are the grapes used to make “Eiswein”/”Ice Wine”. The water inside the grapes is crystalized when it’s frozen. When the grapes are pressed, these ice crystals are left behind, so that the resulting liquid is even more concentrated. Those poor yeasts just can’t handle it.

The third option is to select certain only certain grapes for your wine – grapes that have been affected by botrytis.

What the heck is botrytis, you ask? It’s rot. The “noble rot”. Sounds gross, but tastes delicious (blue cheese anyone?).

Botrytis is a specific type of fungus that makes the grape skins thinner and punctures small holes. This encourages evaporation of the water inside, leaving a high concentration of sugars and acidity. This only works on otherwise healthy grapes though, or the fungus will go too far. It requires the perfect combination of moist, misty mornings, and warm, sunny afternoons. These grapes also have to be picked by hand, to make sure only the best are included. The price tag will reflect the additional manual labour required.

Vineyard tactics aren’t the only trick up a winemaker’s sleeve though. Next let’s take a look at what can be done in the winery.

Sweetness in Winemaking

There are several different ways that the winemaker can tinker with sweetness levels after the grapes have been harvested.

One way is to dry the grapes prior to pressing them. This is very commonly done in Italy. Similar to late harvest, it allows the grapes to begin to raisin, thus concentrating the acids and sugars within.

Another way is to stop fermentation before the yeasts have had a chance to eat all of the sugars. This can be done by adding sulfur dioxide, which inhibits the yeast.

And finally, when making sweet fortified wines like port and sherry, we can add alcohol in the form of grape spirit. The increased alcohol level is too high for the yeast to survive.

There is also a process called Chaptilization, where sugar is added to the wine, but this is prior to fermentation and is only for the purpose of increasing the end alcohol amount, not to increase sweetness. And it isn’t even legal in certain wine regions.

Tasting Sweetness

Remember how I told you I had a trick to help you with tasting sweetness, and not letting your brain deceive you? Here it is:

When tasting your wine, stick the very tip of your tongue into the wine. I know, I know, you look ridiculous. But it works! The tip of your tongue is very sensitive to sweetness. And when you pull it back, you will be able to tell if there’s a sticky sweet coating left behind, or if it’s just dry. Easy-peasy!

You still have to be careful of one more trap, however. Sweetness can be masked by acidity, and vice versa.

In fact, some winemakers will leave a little hint of residual sugar behind on purpose, to smooth out the sharp edge of too much acidity.

While acidity makes a wine feel lighter and fresher in body, sugar does the opposite. High volumes of residual sugar will actually be visible in the thicker viscosity of the wine.

On the flip side, if a sweet wine doesn’t have enough acidity to balance it out, it can taste cloying. Maple syrup is delicious, but not for drinking.

The levels of sweetness in wine are generally described using the following terms: bone dry, dry, off-dry, medium-dry, medium-sweet, sweet, or very sweet. This applies to both whites and reds.

There are no universal definitions, however.

The Sweet and Fortified Wine Association recommends these amounts:

• Dry – less than 0.5% residual sugar
• Off-Dry – 0.5-1.9%
• Semi-Sweet – 2-6%
• Sweet – more than 6%

But the European Union has legislated their own sweetness terms, and these are much more relative. They reflect not only the residual sugar, but how it is balanced by the acidity. If a wine has enough acidity to balance out the sugar, it can fall into a lower category.

On top of that, some individual countries have their own labelling systems, like Germany. And their system doesn’t reflect residual sugar, but rather the ripeness (and thus sweetness) of the grapes at the time of harvest.

• “Eiswein” means the grapes were frozen on the vine before they were harvested
• “Beerenauslese” (BA) means the grapes were overripe and affected by botrytis
• “Trockenbeerenauslese” (TBA) is only produced in exceptional years and must be made predominantly from botrytized grape bunches and extremely dried grapes

And what about Champagne? They are a prime example of using acidity to balance sweetness. And they also have their own entirely different set of standards:

• Brut nature – less than 0.3% sugar
• Extra brut – 0-0.6%
• Brut – less than 1.2%
• Extra-dry – 1.2-1.7%
• Sec – 1.7-3.2%
• Demi-sec – 3.2-5%
• Sweet/Doux – over 5%

 It can get very confusing when shopping for sweet wines, but let’s give it a go!

Shopping for Sweet Wines

Want to try a late harvest? It will say so on the bottle, or will use the term “Vendanges Tardives”, which means the same in French. Late harvest Rieslings from Germany are also fantastic.

Looking for an Icewine? Check out Canada and Germany, as their cooler climates are perfect for letting the grapes hang on the vine for extended periods.

Curious about that famous “noble rot”? The classic choice in France is Sauternes, but Barsac is less pricey and can be just as good. Tojaki from Hungary is also world-renowned.

How about those dried grapes? Go straight to the Italian section and look for the term “Recioto”.

Want something a little stronger? Fortified wines include Port (Portugal) and Sherry (Spain). Australia also does their own versions, called “Australian Fortified Tawnies” and “Apera”, respectively. What about something sparkling? Champagne is the obvious choice, but there are tons of cheaper, more casual options. I’m personally a sucker for a lightly sparkling Moscato.

Do you enjoy sweet wines? Share your favourites with me!