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Sweet wine

sweet wine (GB)
vin liquoreux/moelleux (F)
vino dolce (I)
vino dulce (ES)
vinho doce (PO)
wijn zoet (N)

Designation for wines with a high content of unfermented sugar that are made from grapes rich in sugar. Optimal climatic conditions exist in many places around the Mediterranean, which is why many of the famous sweet wines come from Greece, Spain, France, Portugal and Italy. They have an ancient tradition. The most famous ancient wines include the sultana wine Passum from Rome and Commandaria from the island of Cyprus.

Famous sweet wines

In the late Middle Ages, sweet wines were very popular with European ruling houses and aristocratic circles. The Greek port of Monemvasia was a famous trading centre for sweet specialities from islands in the Aegean such as Crete, Paros, Samos and Santorini. The emerging global trade made Constantia from South Africa, sweet wines from France such as Château d'Yquem and Tokay from Hungary famous. From the 16th century onwards, expeditions to the newly discovered territories of the New World preserved the wines with alcohol enhancers (sprits) for the long sea voyages. This marked the beginning of the triumphant advance of Madeira, port wine, sherry and co.

Süßwein - gefrorene Weintrauben für Eiswein / Tokajer Aszú Flasche und Glas

EU regulation

According to EU regulations, a still wine with at least 45 and a sparkling wine with 50 g/l residual sugar is considered sweet. For certain sweet wines, the unfermented sugar is far higher, with Tokaj Eszencia reaching record levels of 450 g/l and more. High must weights or sugar concentrations in the berries are a prerequisite. These can be highly ripe and/or botrytis-induced, noble rotten or noble sweet berries or the grapes are dried or raisined in various ways. Examples of the latter are passito, recioto and straw wine. The production methods of the many sweet wines differ greatly in some cases. As a rule, sugar may only be added to higher-quality products before fermentation for the purpose of enrichment (increasing the alcohol content), but not afterwards to increase the degree of sweetness. However, it is also possible to sweeten using grape must, concentrated grape must or RCGM (rectified concentrated grape must).

Naturally sweet wines

Naturally sweet wines (French: vin naturellement doux) are those products whose fermentation has ended naturally without human intervention because the yeasts have, so to speak, given up their work. These are Ausbruch, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese, Strohwein and Eiswein. In a large number of sweet wines, the alcohol content is increased by spriting, although this is also a method of ending fermentation prematurely. These include versions of Banyuls, Madeira, Malaga, Port, Samos, Sherry, Vin doux naturel, Vinsanto and Vin Santo. These wines can reach an alcohol content of 15 to 20% vol. The most famous producers of sweet wines include wineries in Constantia (South Africa), Château d'Yquem (France), Egon Müller-Scharzhof (Germany) and Kracher (Austria).

Further information

See sugar content for the legal wine specifications from dry to sweet for still wines and sparkling wines. For the production of alcoholic beverages, see Champagne (sparkling wines), Distillation (distillates), Spirits (types), Winemaking (wines and wine types) and Wine law (wine law issues).

By Dominic Rivard Bangkok, Thailand - icewine grapes, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

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