ARIC'S MONTHLY WINE REPORT

How to determine the right wine sweetness for your Sweetie?

It is a fact that the human tongue can only detect four distinct “flavors”: Bitter, Sour, Salty and Sweet. With respect to wine as it hits the human palate there are varying levels of what we call “sweetness”. In honor of Valentine’s Day, let’s talk about how to discern the differences from wine sweetness based on their label so you can pick the right level of sweetness that suits you, your food and your significant other.

When we discuss “sweetness” in wine what we’re really referring to is Sugar content. Specifically, what is the level of residual sugar in the wine (dissolved sugar that remains in the wine after it has been fermented from raw grape juice into an alcoholic beverage)? Residual sugar can range from 0% which is a completely bone-dry wine to wine that contains greater than 5%, which would typically be found in some ports, sherry, or other traditional “dessert wines”.

Sweetness as it relates to the most popular Valentine’s libation - Champagne and Sparkling wines is rather easily determined from the label itself. There are 7 standard categories of sweetness:

• Brut Natural: extremely bone-dry. Very uncommon to find.

• Extra Brut: barely perceptible presence of flavor.

• Brut: the most common form of Champagne/Sparkling wine available. The beauty of this wine is that is very versatile and the safest choice in picking a wine for consumption alone or with food.

• Extra Dry: probably the second most common form of wine, a slightly sweeter wine. Perfect as a pre-dinner drink (Aperitif if you’re trying to impress your friends) and goes well with most foods, even with select desserts, provided the dessert isn’t too sweet.

• Sec: referred to a ‘slightly sweet’ that would be served more as an after dinner drink.

• Demi-Sec: more common than a ‘Sec’ category wine and pairs great with desserts. In fact, when serving a sweet wine with any dessert it is important to note that the wine should *always* be sweeter than the dessert you are serving it with. Another pointer is very sweet wines of the Demi-Sec, Doux or Port/Sherry nature pair excellently with extremely salty cheeses like Blue Cheese, Stilton, Pecorino, Manchego, etc…(I know it doesn’t sound logical but trust me, try it once and you’ll be hooked forever - making a cheese tray a perfect substitute for that chocolate concoction you used to rely on). When you have a sweet wine/salty cheese combo the marrying of these 2 sensations and flavors is like foundation of a great relationship – each party contributes to the other’s success!

• Doux : very uncommon and extremely syrupy sweet and best served over a bowl of fresh berries as a garnishment or poured over vanilla ice cream as opposed to drinking it straight up.

Keep in mind, sweetness is not just reserved for Champagnes/Sparkling wine variety. Wines like Sherry may either be dry or sweet as are Ports, traditional “cooking wines” like Madeira and Marsala, wines from France outside of the Champagne region which are called ‘Vin Doux Naturel’ and many wines from Germany (*note* any wine label containing the words ‘Trocken’, ‘Classic’ or ‘Selection’ will indicate the wine is ‘DRY’, otherwise you can assume the wine will be off-dry (slightly sweet) to a full-on expression of sweetness in a bottle.)

As you can see, there are many choices when it comes to “How sweet” figuring out what is the right wine for you and your Sweetie but now you can have the confidence and courage of de-mystifying the ever confusing labyrinth of wine labels that adorn the store shelves.

I hope I’ve provided you with some guidance and inspired you to experiment - try a few different wines with an open mind, adventurous palate and a blind eye, and this Valentine’s Day you may just find a girl’s new best friend in the form of liquid “Diamonds in the rough” yourself!

Aric.