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The subjectivesweetness of awine is determined by the interaction of several factors, including the amount ofsugar in the wine, but also the relative levels ofalcohol,acids, andtannins. Sugars and alcohol enhance a wine's sweetness, whileacids causesourness and bitter tannins causebitterness. These principles are outlined in the 1987 work byÉmile Peynaud,The Taste of Wine.^[1]

Vintage: The Story of Wine, a book authored by British wine writerHugh Johnson, presents several methods that have been used throughout history to sweeten wine. The most common way was to harvest the grapes as late as possible.^[2] This method was advocated byVirgil andMartial inRoman times. In contrast, theancient Greeks would harvest the grapes early, to preserve some of their acidity, and then leave them in the sun for a few days to allow them to shrivel and concentrate the sugar. InCrete, a similar effect was achieved by twisting the stalks of the grape to deprive them ofsap and letting them dry on the vine—a method that producedpassum and the modern Italian equivalent,passito.^[2]

Stopping the fermentation also enhanced a wine's potential sweetness. In ancient times, this was achieved by submerging theamphorae in cold water until winter.^[2]

Wine can also be sweetened by the addition of sugar in some form, after fermentation is completed – the German method like theSüssreserve. In Roman times, this was done in preparingmulsum, wine freshly sweetened with honey and flavored with spices, used as an apéritif, and also in the manufacture ofconditum, which had similar ingredients but was matured and stored before drinking.It was also common from theRoman era until quite recently to sweeten wine withsugar of lead, a toxic substance that increases the apparent sweetness of wines and other beverages. The practice continued well into the 19th century, although the leading was mostly restricted to very cheap wines after the harmful nature of lead was demonstrated in the 17th century.^[3]

Among the components influencing how sweet a wine will taste is residual sugar. It is usually measured in grams of sugar perlitre of wine, often abbreviated to g/L. Residual sugar typically refers to the sugar remaining afterfermentation stops, or is stopped, but it can also result from the addition of unfermentedmust (a technique practiced in Germany and known asSüssreserve) or ordinary table sugar.

Even among the driest wines, it is rare to find wines with a level of less than 1 g/L, due to the unfermentability of certain types of sugars, such aspentose. By contrast, any wine with over 45 g/L would be considered sweet, though many of the great sweet wines have levels much higher than this. For example, the greatvintages ofChâteau d'Yquem contain between 100 and 150 g/L of residual sugar. The sweetest form of theTokaji, the Eszencia, contains over 450 g/L, with exceptional vintages registering 900 g/L. Such wines are balanced, keeping them from becoming cloyingly sweet, by carefully developed use ofacidity. This means that the finest sweet wines are made withgrape varieties that keep their acidity even at very highripeness levels, such asRiesling andChenin blanc.

How sweet a wine will taste is also controlled by factors such as theacidity andalcohol levels, the amount oftannin present, and whether the wine is sparkling or not. A sweet wine such as aVouvray can actually taste dry due to the high level of acidity. A dry wine can taste sweet if the alcohol level is elevated.^{[1]: 198–199} Medium and sweet wines have a perception among many consumers of being of lower quality than dry wines. However, many of the world's great wines, such as those fromSauternes (includingBarsac) orTokaj, have a high level of residual sugar, which is carefully balanced with additional acidity to produce a harmonious result.

Süssreserve (German:Süßreserve;lit. 'sweetreserve') is awine term referring to a portion of selectedunfermented grapemust, free of microorganisms, to be added to wine as a sweetening component. This technique was developed inGermany and is used with German-style wines such as semi-sweetRiesling orMüller–Thurgau.^[4] The technique not only raises the sugar level of the wine, but also lowers the amount ofalcohol. Under German law, no more than fifteen percent of the final wine's volume may be the reserved juice.^[5] This practice is allowed also forPrädikatswein, the highest level in theGerman wine classification. It is often used for semi-sweetKabinett andSpätlese, but more rarely forAuslese and upward.

The use of Süssreserve results in a different composition of sugars in the wine in comparison toresidual sugar from arrested fermentation. Grape must contains mainly the sugarsglucose andfructose. When wine ferments, glucose is fermented at a faster rate than fructose. Thus, arresting fermentation after a significant portion of the sugars have fermented results in a wine where the residual sugar consists mainly of fructose, while the use of Süssreserve will result in a wine where the sweetness comes from a mixture of glucose and fructose.

According toEU regulation 753/2002,^[6][7] the following terms may be used on thelabels oftable wines andquality wines.

^[8]Sparkling wines have ratings according to Commission Regulation (EC) No 607/2009 of 14 July 2009.^[9]

Article 58 points out "the sugar content may not differ by more than 3 grams per litre from what appears on the product label", so there is some leeway. For example, a sparkling wine with 9 grams per litre of residual sugar may be labelled as either the drier, less sweet, classification ofExtra Brut (because 9 - 3 = 6 grams per litre), or the slightly sweeter classification ofBrut or evenExtra Dry/Extra Sec/Extra Seco (because 9 + 3 = 12 grams per litre).

The rules applicable to labellings before 14 July 2009 were:

In Austria, the Klosterneuburger Mostwaage (KMW) scale is used. The scale is divided into Klosterneuburger Zuckergrade (°KMW), and very similar to the Oechsle scale (1 °KMW =~ 5 °Oe). However, the KMW measures the exact sugar content of the must.

In Canada, the wine industry measures wine sweetness as grams of sucrose in 100 grams of grape juice or grape must at 20 °C in degreesBrix.^[10]

In Czech Republic and Slovakia, theNormalizovaný Moštoměr (°NM) scale is used. The scale measures kg of sugar in 100 L of must.

In France, theBaumé scale is occasionally used.Sélection de Grains Nobles (SGN) isFrench for "selection of noble berries" and refers towines made fromgrapes affected bynoble rot. SGN wines are sweetdessert wines with rich, concentrated flavours.Alsace wines were the first to be described asSélection de Grains Nobles, with the legal definition introduced in 1984.^[11] The term is also used in some other wine regions of France, such asLoire.

In Germany, sweetness ofmust and wine is measured with theOechsle scale, and below are ranges of minimum must weights for Riesling, depending on the region.

Kabinett – 67–82 °Oe

Spätlese – 76–90 °Oe

Auslese – 83–100 °Oe

Beerenauslese and Eiswein – 110–128 °Oe (Eiswein is made by late harvesting grapes after they have frozen on the vine and not necessarily affected by noble rot, botrytis, which is the case with Beerenauslese)

Trockenbeerenauslese – 150–154 °Oe (affected by botrytis)

In Hungary,Tokaj wine region (alsoTokaj-Hegyalja wine region orTokaj–Hegyalja) has a more graduated terminology to describeTokaji Aszú dessert wines:^{[citation needed]}

In Spain, the rules applicable to the sweet and fortified Denominations of OrigenMontilla-Moriles and Jerez-Xérès-Sherry^[12][13] are:

In the United States, the wine industry measures the sweetness of must and wine in degreesBrix.

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