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The Sugars and Sweeteners Guide
Our simple scheme works for about 90% of cases and helps to identify
varietals that will suit your palate based on the number of sugar or sweeteners taken with your tea or coffee, either currently or in the past.
1. If you have not taken either sugar or sweeteners for some
time you have a truly dry palate, and in white wines you will probably prefer Sauvignon Blanc (but not many Californian examples), Pouilly Fumé, Sancerre, Graves Blanc Sec, some finer Chardonnays, most Alsace wines,
Verdelho or Chenin Blanc from Western Australia, Pinot Blanc (Bianco), Muscadet sur lie, Torrontes from Argentina and Brut Champagne or most méthode traditionelle sparkling wines.
Tavel, Lirac and Menetou-Salon offer classic dry rosés and Côtes de Provence supplies rosés of similar dryness which are very quaffable in warm weather. For reds, try Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, most Bordeaux chateaux and other classic French reds; also Rioja, Ribero del Duero and Penedes from Spain, Dão Reservas, Torres Vedras and most other Portuguese reds; most traditional Italian reds, Naoussa from Greece and Chateau Musar from the Lebanon.
2. If you take one sugar or sweetener with coffee or tea you have a soft-dry palate and in white wines may well be more comfortable with inexpensive New World Chardonnay, or dry Riesling from Australia,
Chenin Blanc from the New World or Vouvray, its best-known appellation; Californian Sauvignon Blanc tends to have a little more residual sugar that most, Trocken wines from Germany or Pinot Grigio from Italy.
Among sparkling wines many Australian or Californian examples or many Spanish Cavas will suit. In reds, Dolcetto from Italy and Pamid and Mavrud from Bulgaria should please.
3. Consumers of 2 sugars or
sweeteners have medium-sweet taste buds and will enjoy most German wines at the low to middle end of the price range, Loire whites if marked 'demi-sec', Johannisberg Riesling from the US and many more wines
described as Rhine Riesling from the southern hemisphere.
Orvieto Abboccato from Italy is another alternative. Few reds will suit unless you can reduce your sugar intake. Beaujolais or some wines from individual Cru villages in the region – Fleurie or Saint Amour are examples – may be quite pleasing, especially if served slightly chilled. Also try Gamay de Touraine, or Gamay Beaujolais from California. But don't worry if reds don't appeal to you; just enjoy whites.
4. Anyone who takes 3 sugars or sweeteners has a really sweet palate and is likely to appreciate only the sweetest whites like Sauternes, Coteaux du Layon or Bonnezeaux, or those wonderful half-bottles of
Austrian sweet delicacies from Burgenland; late harvested or botrytised New World wines and similar German ones rated as Auslese, or the very expensive Eiswein, Beerenauslese or Trockenbeerenauslese. Asti
Martini or Rich Champagne would be enjoyable sparklers.
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Last updated on July 23, 2008