Residual Sugar

What is Residual Sugar and why is it in your wine?

Let me start with a preface. I LOVE SWEET WINE! I fell for Port and Sauternes at an early age and am still enamored with the world of sweet wine.

You wouldn't believe how many times I've spoken with a customer who blames red wine for their headaches. I just ask what wine they've been drinking and usually hear that it's a wine with high Residual Sugar.

After fermentation, the sugar left in your wine is called Residual Sugar. In the case of many mass market wines, high Residual Sugar can cover up flaws in winemaking and is thus embraced. To increase sugar content in the final product, a high sugar grape juice concentrate called Mega Purple has become increasingly common in red wines.

Since it's made using the Rubired grape, this additive doesn't need to be put on wine labels since it's "technically" a wine. In California wines, only 75% of the wine needs to be the varietal on the label. This means that your Central Valley Cabernet could be up to 25% Mega Purple.

I'm not saying you shouldn't buy these wines. I'm just giving a little lesson to help save you a literal headache.