![]() ![]() If a table wine has a higher ABV, such as 12.5% and above, there will likely be no perceptible residual sugar and the wine is considered dry. As a general rule, the lower the Alcohol By Volume percentage (ABV) in a wine, the higher the residual sugar will be. A sweet wine is opposite of dry, meaning some residual sugar remains unconverted into alcohol. A dry wine is one with no remaining perceptible residual sugar after alcoholic fermentation. In order to properly identify residual sugar and sweetness in wine, it is important to decipher if the palate is perceiving actual sugar or only the fruit flavored compounds that remain after fermentation is complete. GettyImages | Dariya Angelova / EyeEm White Wines: Sweet vs. Winemakers use refractometers to measure grape sugars. This process is most commonly used in traditional dessert wines such as Port, Madeira, and Sherry. Fortification involves adding neutral grape spirits or brandy to a fermenting wine, halting the yeast by creating an environment too alcoholic for fermentation to continue. ![]() Other methods are more traditional and don’t rely on refrigeration technology, such as fortification. Some methods involve halting fermentation before the yeast consumes all the sugar usually by greatly chilling the wine in order to stall the yeast followed by filtration to ensure yeast is removed. There are certain production methods that winemakers use to ensure that the finished wine retains sweetness. What sugar the yeast does not convert into alcohol will remain in the wine. In all wines, yeast consumes sugar and converts it into ethyl alcohol. Generally, this residual sugar is naturally-occurring, meaning it is fructose produced by the grapes during the growing season that remains unfermented by yeast. Sweetness in wine is measured by how much residual sugar (RS) remains in the wine after alcoholic fermentation is completed, usually measured in grams per liter.
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