How to know if a wine is sweet or not
This is the #1 question I’m asked as a sommelier.
No matter the context—whether I’m helping a customer pick out a bottle at the shop or leading a tour at the winery I’m now at part-time—one of the most common questions I get is “is this wine sweet?”
As a sommelier, this type of question can feel rather complicated. In truth, a wine that is categorized as “sweet” is technically a true sweet wine, which means a wine has leftover residual sugar after fermentation.
A brief lesson on fermentation: when yeast is added to the juice after harvesting and pressing the grapes, the yeast in the juice eats the sugars and converts them to alcohol. Residual sugar is leftover in the grape juice if that fermentation process is halted. This can happen in two different ways:
Fermentation is halted by adding sulfur and/or cold stabilization, resulting in a sweet wine.
Fermentation is halted by adding a spirit, like a grape brandy, resulting in a fortified wine.
But…what if a wine that is technically “dry” still tastes sweet to some people? Is it actually sweet, or is it all in your head?
