![]() ![]() At concentrations below 10 per cent, the dominant quality it contributes is sweetness, says Dr. Yet another factor figures in to the sensory soup mix: alcohol. Lemon, lime or grapefruit smells can cause people to describe a wine as drier than it is. The opposite holds true of citrus, an aroma found in many white wines. (Think of those soaps you may have been tempted to eat in the shower – or is that just me?) Vanilla happens to be a common essence in wines aged in oak barrels. It's not real sweetness, which is perceived on the tongue, but the smell can trick the mind. Pickering says one reason many products today contain vanilla is that the smell evokes a sensation of sweetness. He says that's probably one reason sugar has been trending upward – an easy way for wine makers to render tannic red wines more approachable in their youth.īelieve it or not, odour can play a role. Sweetness helps reduce both sensations and vice versa, says Gary Pickering, professor of wine science at Brock University's Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute in Niagara. Natural compounds found in grape skins, seeds, stems and oak barrels, tannins taste astringent and bitter. Yet, according to the algorithm, both wines are "dry."Īnd while the sugar-to-acid ratio is by far the dominant factor behind perceived sweetness, other components can nudge impressions this way or that. To me, Yellow Tail tastes significantly sweeter than Santa Rita Reserva cabernet sauvignon from Chile, which contains half the sugar (six g/L ). For one thing, it paints sweetness (or dryness) with a broad brush. But where serious wine enthusiasts are concerned, it may be found wanting. ![]() Those descriptions, generated by a scientific algorithm based on consumer taste tests, may be useful to many shoppers. That's why Ontario bin tags will also carry one of five terms – extra dry, dry, medium, medium sweet and sweet – that take the sugar-acid balance into account. ![]() A wine with, say, eight g/L of sugar and five grams of acidity will taste dry, while a wine with the same sugar level but a total acidity of seven grams would be described by most consumers as extra dry, says Leonard Franssen, the LCBO's manager of quality services. Acidity, present in all wines to varying degrees, strongly counterbalances the sensation. More importantly, sugar is just one component in sweetness perception. Other retailers, such as British Columbia's Liquor Distribution Branch, use similar codes, though in the BCLDB's case, the numbers range from zero to 10. At the other end of the scale, a code of 15 denoted 145 to 155 g/L – considerably lower than many ice wines. In the case of "one," for example, sugar could have fallen anywhere from five to 15 g/L, which may have been the difference between bone dry and off-dry, depending on other flavour factors. Though familiar to many consumers, that system fell short on a number of counts. The new bin-tag numbers replace the old sugar-code scale, which ranged from zero to 15. Most diabetics can safely consume dry wine in moderation, ideally with carbohydrate-based foods, she says, assuming they know how to control their blood glucose. The numbers won't have much impact on diabetics, though, because alcohol, which lowers their blood glucose, is the bigger concern in the case of relatively dry wines, notes Sharon Zeiler, senior manager of education and nutrition at the Canadian Diabetes Association. Others may do the opposite in an effort to reduce sugar intake. Some people may use the numbers to hunt for higher-sugar wines, because sugar softens the rough edges of acidity and astringency (and, in too many cases, is used as a crutch by winemakers to mask flaws, often with cloying results, if you ask me). The information, which applies to most regularly available wines, has also been posted on the LCBO website, meaning consumers elsewhere can cross-reference products available in their own provinces. That's about one-tenth the concentration of Coca-Cola (a very sweet product) and three times the level found in, say, Louis Jadot Bourgogne pinot noir from France. Just how sweet is that easy drinking Yellow Tail shiraz? At 12 g/L, the popular Australian red contains almost three teaspoons of sugar in a bottle. The landscape changed in Ontario this month with the rollout of new bin tags on Liquor Control Board of Ontario shelves that list actual sugar concentrations in grams per litre. Until now, there has been no easy way to tell, because natural grape sugar – in contrast to alcohol, another component on the rise for decades – flew under the labelling radar. Experts insist dry has been getting sweeter for a long time. Chuckle though we may at "unserious" sweet wines such as Baby Duck and Blue Nun, sugar remains in vogue with wine makers – not just where cloying pop products such as those are concerned, but with respect to dry wines. ![]()
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