The European Union (EU) classified the sweetness of wines based on the amount of residual sugar present. Other classifications exist based on the style of wine, and each country has different terms in its own language.
The perceived sweetness of a wine is affected by several things in addition to the amount of residual sugar including:
(1) acidity (a dry wine with less acid may taste sweeter; a sweet wine with more acid may taste dryer)
(2) other chemicals such as tannins, glycerols, etc
(3) temperature
Parameter: residual sugar in g/L.
Alternative parameter: percent in weight per volume (= (g/L value) / 10)
EU Term
Residual Sugar
English
French
dry
<= 4 g/L
dry
sec
medium dry
4 to 12 g/L
medium dry
demisec
medium sweet
12 to 45 g/L
medium
moelleux
sweet
> 45 g/L
sweet
doux
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