Jul 153 min read

Sugar in Wine: Sweet Secrets and Surprising Facts

"Hi Viktoria, can you advise me on a good wine bottle, something sweet or at least not dry, it tastes really sour." Those kind of messages I find regularly in my message box. Same ladies are counting every calorie in the salad. So let's see what means a dry ot sweet wine?

We start with calories - What's in the bottle of dry wine:

Alcohol in %	8%	10%	11%	12%	13 %	14%
CALORIES (kcal) per glas (150 ml)	68	85	93	102	110	118

Calculation is based that 1% abv is appr. 8 g alc. per liter. that means for 10% abv. we have 80 gr. alcohol per liter. 1 gr alcohol is 7,1 kcal.

As a still wine is typically fermented till dryness these calories come from alcohol purely. (that means that during fermentation yeast consumes all/ or nearly all sugar in the wine.)

So what is the sugar in wine then?

Sugar in still wines

In case you didn’t already know, the sugar in grapes is a blend of glucose and fructose. During the fermentation process, yeast eats these sugars to make alcohol. When fermentation stops (naturally or with winemakers involvement) sugar which remains is called residual sugar (RS) and usually comes from the grapes themselves, so called natural sugar.

Sugar in still wine is called: Residual sugar (RS)

So there is no sugar added to still wine?

Not exactly, sugar can be added to wine during the winemaking process, a practice known as chaptalization. Chaptalization is the addition of sugar to grape must (crushed grapes and juice) before fermentation begins. This process is typically used in cooler climates or in vintages where grapes may not fully ripen, resulting in lower sugar levels in the grapes.

However, there are regulations in place in many wine-producing regions that dictate the maximum amount of sugar that can be added to wine, and chaptalization is not permitted in some areas or for certain types of wine.

Please note that with sparkling wine it is different. Read the related post on the sugar in sparkling wine.

How does it change the calories in wine?

Let's have an example of a wine with 30 g/l of residual sugar (for Example a Riesling Kabinett Feinherb). Taking into account that 1 g sugar is 4 kcal.

Alcohol in %	8%	10%	11%	12%	13 %	14%
CALORIES (kcal) per glas (150ml)	86	103	111	120	128	136

Per bottle (750 ml) we have:

Still dry wine with 10% abv are appr. 426 cal.

A Riesling Feinherb with 30 g/l RS and 10% there are just 516 kcal per bottle.

So the difference in sugar is less than two oreo cookies?

Right, of course there is also some RS in a still dry wine too and there are differences in white and red etc.

But then what it is all about this sugar in wine?

Liver is the organ that metabolizes both alcohol and sugar. The liver prioritizes the metabolism of alcohol over other substances because alcohol is considered a toxin. Obviously sugar and alcohol at the same time are handled differently from our organs. Sugar and alcohol combined increases the possibility of liver damages, cellulite and early altering.

Other reasons:

Both alcohol and sugar can contribute to dehydration. Dehydration can cause headaches, fatigue, and other health issues.

This is also why we have a headache when we drink sweet wine.

Where can I found the sugar content on the label?

For still wines produced or imported to the EU before 8th of December 2023 there was no obligation to indicate sugar levels on the labels. According to new legislation, producers now have to place the nutrition information on the labels. If the manufacturer or importer cannot fit all the information on the label, they can make it available electronically, for example, using a QR code.

All good - but what should I do then if I like wine and like it sweet?

Consume in moderation.
Choose a wine which is a good or premium quality. Usually for cheap wine producers mask the bad quality grapes with sugar.
Dessert wines or fortified wines with higher sugar content are meant to be served no more than 75 ml in a nice dessert wine glass.

Or choose a wine with more aromatic/ fruitier character:

Wines from warmer climates, where the grapes were exposed to more sunlight for a longer time, typically develop notes of riper berries, tropical fruits, blackberries, and fruit.
Aromatic grape varieties which generally tastes "sweeter":