The sweetness of a wine is determined by its concentration of unfermented sugars. These may be present because the fermentation was stopped before all of the sugars were consumed or because sugars have been added.
For regular wines
Sugar Concentration in grams per liter
Term
<= 4 g/L
dry
4.01 to 12 g/L
medium dry
12.01 to 45 g/L
medium
> 45 g/L
sweet
For wines that have been balanced with “suitable” acidity
Sugar Concentration in grams per liter
Term
<= 9 g/L
dry
9.01 to 18 g/L
medium dry
18.01 to 45 g/L
medium
> 45 g/L
sweet
where:
• Suitable acid for a dry wine is a tartaric acid concentration that is less than 2 g/L below the sugar concentration ( less than [sugar] – 2).
• Suitable acid for a medium dry wine is a tartaric acid concentration that is less than 10 g/L below the sugar concentration (less than [sugar] – 10)
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