Sweet wines have been out of fashion for a while now.
It was probably a reaction to our parents’ love affair with sweetness caused – I guess – by 13 years of sugar rationing last century.
But, of course, each generation naturally dismisses its predecessor’s preferences as outdated.
Thus, sweet wines became a “no-no”.
Slowly, however, drinkers are recognising that sweetness has a valuable place in the world of wine.
Today MidWeeker Paul considers the subject of sweetness in the latest of his practical looks into the science of wine.
Pay particular attention to the points about acidity and sweet wines towards the end of this post.
Over to you Paul
To help define “dry” wine and “sweet” wine, let’s remind ourselves of the fermentation process.
Sugar (from the grapes) + Yeast >Alcohol+ Carbon Dioxide
This reaction means that naturally occurring, or added, yeast will feed off the sugar present in the grape juice.
That transforms it into an alcoholic drink and releases carbon dioxide gas.
If all the sugar is ‘fermented’ or transformed into alcohol by the yeast, then we won’t have any residual sugar (RS) left – therefore we have made a bone dry wine.
Looking in more detail
Differing amounts of RS can be left over in the wine after that fermentation process is complete.
If, for some reason, the yeast doesn’t ferment all the sugar in the grape fruit, then it might taste a bit sweet.
In summary, then, a wine that contains more residual sugar will be sweeter, while a wine with less, will be drier depending on the amount of sugar remaining.
What about intentionally sweet wine though?
To make conventional sweet wine, yeast activity must stop before all the natural sugar of the grapes is consumed.
The most common way of achieving this is simply chilling the wine.
At low temperatures, the yeast struggle to survive and they die before all the sugar is consumed.
Another way is to add alcohol which kills off the yeast since most wine yeasts will die when alcohol levels reach or exceed 15%.
The picture shows a famous example where alcohol is used that way
But not all sweet wines are equal
A key point here is that there is a spectrum of dry to sweet. It is not a binary choice.
Here’s a breakdown of the EU’s sweetness classifications for still wines:
- Dry (Sec): Up to 4 grams per litre of residual sugar.
- Medium-dry (Demi-sec, Off-dry): Between 4 and 12 grams per litre
- Medium-sweet (Moelleux, Semi-sweet): Between 12 and 45 grams per litre
- Sweet (Doux): More than 45 grams per litre
Now, let’s get back to making intentionally sweet wine.
Three important methods are listed below:
- The key way of controlling sweetness in wines is through the amount of fermentation time during production. As explained before, ending fermentation early leaves more RS – sweet wine can simply be unfinished business.
- Secondly, the maturity of the grapes can be a factor. The riper the fruit, the more sugar it possesses even, sometimes, to the point of becoming over ripe.
- A third option open to winemakers is drying the grapes in the sun, or other de-hydration activities, to increase their sweetness/sugar levels. Freezing the grapes also has the same effect – this is the case of ice wine.
But sometimes dry wine can taste sweet.
Ah yes, the question of “perceived” sweetness!
Obviously, residual sugar is the main determinant of sweetness in wine.
However, other factors like acidity, alcohol, tannins, and aromas can play a role in how the wine is perceived by the consumer.
How exactly do these factors influence perception?
- Acidity: High acidity can make a wine taste less sweet than it actually is by balancing the sweetness and providing a refreshing sensation.
- Alcohol: Higher alcohol levels can create a perception of sweetness, as alcohol itself can have a slightly sweet taste.
- Tannins: Tannins, found especially in red wines, can contribute to a bitter or astringent sensation which goes the other way and reduces the perception of sweetness.
- Aromas: Sweet and fruity aromas can also influence how sweet a wine is perceived, as the brain links ripe fruit with sweetness
- Wine making choices: Grape varieties and blending or using specific yeasts can make a difference.
- Food with wine: The taste of wine can alter depending on what food is eaten with it.
Editor’s Observations
Thank you, Paul, another superb, deep delve into the background behind the pleasures of drinking wine.
It should help underline why I use terms like “sweet edged” when describing a dry wine such as powerful shiraz.
Also, it demonstrates why I place such importance on the acidity level when assessing sweet wines like sauternes.
Finally, it illustrates why many folk are so keen on food matching. Try, for instance, tasting a wine before and after eating, say, salted peanuts.
After today’s deep dive, it is back to the day job with budget (but great value) fare in Monday’s Top Tip selections.
22 responses
Hi Paul,
Great article – but you don’t say if you like the stuff! I am a great fan of sweet wines and my latest winning combo is Basque Cheesecake and Tesco’s Finest PX sherry from Gonzales Byass. Rutherglen Liqueur Muscat, Sauternes, Trockenbeerenausle, Canadian Ice Wine, Maury, Vin Santo, Beaumes de Venise, Samos Vin Doux……..bring them all on!
On a technical matter, Paul, can you explain to me why after enjoying those ultra powerful little Dutch liquorice sweets – my favourite was Potter’s Original – even a glass of muscadet tastes ultra sweet?
Hi David,
Thanks for your kind comments.I do like sweet wines especially just off dry.Waitrose Samos vin Doux is a favourite which I have recommended before.
I am no expert on liquorice, but do find it a very unusual and challenging pairing!
Here are my findings,:
Much of the sweetness in liquorice comes from glycyrrhizin, which has 30–50 times the sweetness of sugar.The sweetness is different from sugar, being less instant, tart, and lasting longer.
Hi Paul,
Just to make it clear it wasn’t an intentional pairing! I just noticed the effect once when I had a liquorice sweet an hour or so before dinner.
I often think that the wine professionals’ love of sweet wines (and also, sherry) is the equivalent of the “critically acclaimed” album. The wines are brilliantly and cleverly made by hugely respected wine growers and makers, and great value – but the general public struggle to find a place for them in their lives! Perhaps, eventually, like Nick Drake’s music, they will be widely appreciated, and bought?
I quite frequently play Nick Drake, as does Radio 6, and have also found a great place for Sherry in my life. But sweet wine? Not really. At tastings I sip them, respect them, praise the maker and move on. But I have enjoyed PX poured over vanilla ice cream.
I will buy another half of the Pillitteri Estates Icewine, if Lidl (to their great credit) stock it again this autumn. The 2021 vintage I finally finished after sipping slowly over a month.
Oh to have David E’s sweet tooth!
Good point about critical acclaim and popular enjoyment. It works the other way too – with things like pinot grigio.
Mrs W likes a glass of Pineau de Charentes as an aperitif, not keen myself. I tend to think of sweet wines as pudding wines, though we don’t have a proper pudding very often nowadays. A really good Sauternes doesn’t taste sweet to me because it carries so much more flavour than an ordinary wine..
You second sentence neatly sums up the point in the post about acidity balancing sweetness. That balance is not always easy to find in practice though.
Having tried Elysium Black Muscat many years, ago at the Oxo tower restaurant, it’s become a firm favourite. It was difficult.to find but I’ve seen it recently at Majestic.
It does seem to be in Majestic at the moment but, if not, will almost certainly be back for Christmas.
I’ve been waiting for an article like this for ages. Well done Paul. Now Brian, it is time for wine recommendations which are off-dry.Not desert wines please but others. I have enjoyed sweeter Greek reds and roses but they are harder to get in the UK. There are ,of course, others but some value for money recommendations would not go amiss even if just occasionally for people like me!
I know that is your favourite genre, Richard, but availability can be an issue and wine described online as “off-dry” does not always observe the precise limits Paul sets out.
Paul,
Succinct and beautifully explained. Took me back to the days of home wine kits from a well known High Street chemist and the delight of a batches of fermented and not so fermented brews. Incidentally – What are these kits like now?
Thanks,Richard.
I also used home made wine making kits and had huge whisky bottles with U shaped bubblers on the top cluttering up the airing cupboard.
My most successful effort was red wines 50/50 blackberry and elderberry which was definitely Vin Ordinaire.
The most dangerous was a white wine made from picked gorse flowers that had a beguiling coconut flavour.
How did we have the time?
Well done Paul, nice article, I do like a sweet wine, but I have so many hanging around that never get drunk. The problem is, I’m probably the only one who would want a dessert wine even at the end of a meal, what I don’t understand is, I see so many people eating a sweet pudding and carry on drinking the wine they had with the dinner, even if it’s a full-bodied tannic red, which would taste awful, If I’ve opened the said red I would’nt dream of drinking it whilst having my pudding, either finish it first or leave it for a while after you’ve finished the dessert.
Ah!
You have opened up the merry world of half bottles ,which to me can make a lot of sense for sweet wines and desserts.A normal sized bottle of sweet wine is often OTT, especially if only one or two people are involved.
What about “The Joy of half bottles” as a working title?
Thanks Paul. As others have said, very well put!
Talk of sweet wines does take me waay back. Perhaps I am one of the parental generation that Brian refered to. I cut my vineous teeth on Liebfraumilch and Nierstiener. The plonk that ended up ruining a once great German wine export trade.
Years later, in 1990, Charles Metcalf wrote a headline in Decanter, “Sip, Sip, Vouvray!” in celebration of splendid, back to back vintages of 1989 and 1990 in the Chenin Blank stronghold in the central Loire valley. I explored them and was hooked. There were many stunning wines at very accessible prices. Great wines to taste, discuss and savour a sample of. I bought into them heavily, but for years afterwards, struggled to find suitable opportunities to open them. I could still offer you a tasting of glorious sweeties from ’89 and ’90 from a dozen producers. Amazingly, most of them are still in fine fettle. Both the high sugar, and particularly the acidity preserve them.
Interestingly, although both great sweet wine vintages they are quite different. 1989 was rich and sweet from a cause that Paul skipped; it was a great Botrytis year, quite rare in the Loire, whilst 1990 was a very hot vintage, resulting in dessicated grapes. Both with concentration of sugars and acidity due to low juice content (like ice wine) but quite contrasting flavour profiles.
On a final note, I recon my greatest wine moment was at a tasting of old Vouvrays from Huet. I can’t remember the exact vintage but the wine was from the 1960s, and about 40 years old at the time. There was complexity and concentration aplenty but what really made it soar to the heavens was perfect balance of sweetness and acidity. I remember noting at the time “you could balance it on the point of a pin”
Absolute heaven”
Yes- well spotted Edwin- good call-I had forgotten to mention that botrytis wine is naturally sweeter because the noble rot fungus (Botrytis cinerea) dehydrates the grapes, concentrating their natural sugars .It does this by making microscopic holes in the grape skins that let out the water and can add more complex flavours.
Edwin – recalling memorable wine moments …
Back in the 70s I attended an unusual tasting organised by the International Wine & Food Society. One item of which was demonstrating wine aging. A bottle of German Riesling of a 1920s vintage (can’t recall the exact year) was opened and a sample poured to each attendee. The colour was a mid straw, and the nose showed just a touch of freshness and perhaps honeyed sweetness. It was just drinkable. Literally over the next couple of minutes the colour deepened significantly and the nose changed to caramel. The room fell silent as we all recognised that we were witnessing a wine dying before our very eyes!
Dave – “ … but I have so many hanging around that never get drunk”
Yes, I know the feeling. But last week we hosted a “Last Supper” for a village couple that were downsizing and moving to Sussex. A lovely evening of nostalgia, and after moving to puddings thought it an appropriate time to fish out one of my half bottles of dessert wines that also had been hanging around for a while. It was a 1985 Ch Monbazillac. Clearly it had been hanging around a bit longer than I realised! On opening, the cork was in good condition, it tasted a tad oxidised but was perfectly drinkable. The wine left in the bottle, although vacu-vin’d was a mid/deep brown by the next morning. But it was a special and significant moment at the end of the meal.
Paul’s initial piece has generated some great discussion and reminiscences here. Although I cannot add to the latter it is encouraging to see that my all-too-infrequent encounters with sweet wine seem to be typical of most contributors today. Again, it is probably a determination on my part to avoid lovely, but unhealthy, sweet desserts that renders such wine purchases unnecessary. But interestingly, although I have only been able to recall 3 sweet wines I have bought in as many years, 2 of them are styles already mentioned above. I certainly remember enjoying the Pillitteri Estates Icewine from Lidl that Richard mentions with Christmas pudding and I have a bottle of sweet Loire Chenin Blanc, Coteaux du Layon Saint Aubin, Domaine Cady from TWS waiting for a suitable occasion. The third was an interesting discovery in Italy a couple of summers ago – Brachetto d’Aqui, a fragrant sweet red ‘frizzante’ from the Monferrato hills in Piedmont. With fermentation stopped around 5-6% abv it has approximately 100g/l residual sugar. A great aperitif in the Italian sun. And should the weather in the UK turn out equally hot in summer 2026 you may wish to try it too. I see there is at least one UK independent selling a 5.5% Brachetto d’Aqui 2024 for £9 or £8 on a ‘6 for £48’ basis.
Yes, the MWW forum is unusual in that contributors can freely air their experiences and opinions without the malaise of negative or disrespectful feedback so common in social media. I know this is a source of pride for Brian.
So, in that spirit, Keith’s mention of Christmas Pudding strikes a particular chord for me, and perhaps I can indulge in a further contribution.
Now I absolutely love Christmas Pudding, indeed immediately after Christmas Day I am searching out reduced puds in Waitrose and M&S, to ensure a good supply for later in the winter. And for some reason food tastes even better if one knows it was bought at half price! But we now serve simpler Christmas Day lunches, and find no space for Christmas Pudding. So we have them in January instead. (My wife informs me that we may have some half price puddings still “hanging around” somewhere!)
To date, my guilty pleasure is to match them with an Asti Spumante. I think the sweet, light and frothy Asti is a perfect counterpoint to the heavy and rich pudding. Conversely, I feel I should investigate the reverse counterpoint – light elegant desserts to go with a richer style sweet wine?
Thanks to Paul’s original contribution I think there will be a pudding/sweet wine revival in the Wyndham family. And, in anticipation, will re-commission my exercise rowing machine.
BTW recently really enjoyed the 2022 Asda Extra Special Carménère. Malbec is not a goto wine for me, but I loved this spicy oaky alternative. It is £6.98, but Asda have a current offer of 25% off for any THREE of their 20 Special or Exceptional branded wines.
Included is the above offer is their Extra Special Rosso Di Montalcino. At £13.98 less 25% must be worth a punt if you like edgy Sangiovese. I suspect it will only be available in limited stores, so probably not in Ipswich?
Well I do not know of any other wine comment website that goes from wartime sugar rationing to Potters original liquorice to the music of Nick Drake (who is he?) and then to the tearful pathos of a man not having enough proper puddings.
Next onto ‘The Good Life” home wine making kits,noble rot,the joy of half bottles,ice wine, an obscure Italian fizz,odd people who drink big reds with desserts,discounted Xmas puds tips and dying wines.
Certainly not boring and all done in a mutually supportive way.I guess it what makes MWW special?
Thank you guys. It is heartening to hear your thoughts and kindness. Writing posts can sometimes feel like shouting into an empty room but here I feel that the room is crowded with good natured friends who readily share their exceptional experiences and possess an impressive knowledge of (and love for) wine.