Wine’s sweetness is determined by the amount of residual sugar that remains after fermentation is complete. It ranges from bone dry (less than 1 gram/litre) to very sweet (over 120 grams/litre). Wine sweetness levels are often, though not consistently, categorized as bone dry, dry, off-dry, semi-sweet, sweet and very sweet. Sweetness indicators are sometimes found on the bottle label or are available on the winery’s tech sheets.
It is interesting to note that wine experts do not always agree on the names of the categories or the scale used to describe sweetness. For example, where one authority considers a certain grams per litre ratio as dry, another considers it as off-dry.
Complicating things further, you will see that some types of wine may appear in more than one category. This is because there can be differences in the sweetness level depending on the fermentation process used by individual vintners. Yeast converts grape sugars to alcohol. If fermentation is stopped early, more sugar is left in the wine. Therefore, a single varietal, for example Riesling, may appear in more than one category.
While residual sugar is the main factor, other elements such as tannins (common in red wines) can make a wine feel drier than its sugar content would suggest.
| Category | Residual Sugar (g/L) | Description |
| Bone Dry | Less than 1 g/L | Essentially no distinguishable sweetness; very crisp. |
| Dry | 1 – 3 g/L | Little to no noticeable sweetness. |
| Off-Dry | 4 – 12 g/L | An evident but not overwhelming amount of sweetness |
| Semi-Sweet | 12.1 – 35 g/L | Overlaps with the Off-Dry and Sweet classifications. |
| Sweet | 35 – 120 g/L | A significant amount of sweetness |
| Very Sweet | Over 120 g/L | Very sweet; often dessert wines. |
Listed below, by category, are many popular wines. The wines within each grouping appear in no particular order.
| Level of Dryness | Red | White |
| Bone Dry | Nebbiolo | Muscadet |
| Malbec | Chablis | |
| Chianti | Grenache Blanc | |
| Bordeaux | Pinot Grigio | |
| Barolo | ||
| Dry | Sangiovese | Gruner |
| Tempranillo | Sauvignon Blanc | |
| Cabernet Sauvignon | Pinot Gris | |
| Pinot Noir | Chardonnay | |
| Syrah | Chenin Blanc | |
| Merlot | Vermentinu | |
| Cabernet Franc | Sémillon | |
| Carménère | Viognier | |
| Valpolicella | Dry Riesling | |
| Beaujolais | Trebbiano | |
| Grenache | Roussanne | |
| Zinfandel | Marsanne | |
| Off Dry | Kabinett | |
| Riesling | ||
| Chenin Blanc | ||
| Muller | ||
| Semi-Sweet | Valpolicella | Gewürztraminer |
| Lambrusco | Spatules | |
| Riesling | ||
| Sweet | Port | Late Harvest |
| Maury | Riesling | |
| White Port | ||
| Very Sweet | Tawny Port | Icewine |
| Icewine | Riesling | |
| Vin Santo |
To avoid disappointment in purchasing a too sweet or too dry wine, your best option is to pay attention to the grams per litre sugar level and choose your wine accordingly. The sweetness categories can help guide you, but because of their inconsistencies, they should not be relied on totally.
Sláinte mhaith
A Layman's Wine Musings 