KEY POINTS:
Sweet and wine go together in many people's minds like socks and sandals. Both are acceptable in their own right, but when combined conjure up lurid images of something unsophisticated, old fashioned or in poor taste. But while footwear faux pas are all too visible, sweetness in wines is something altogether more covert and when well managed is something to be savoured.
Given some of the sugary shockers of our past, it's unsurprising that many now recoil at the thought of wines with any sweetness and have become dyed in the wool dry wine drinkers. However, the sweeter wines now available bear little resemblance to the kind of fare with which we were once familiar, with the rieslings in particular on the market today - from both home or overseas - different animals altogether.
This aside, when it comes to deciding what's sweet and what's dry, things are far from clear-cut. Ripe fruit can give an impression of sweetness, while acidity can make a sweet wine appear far drier than its actual sugar levels would suggest, a conundrum that means even dry wine lovers can still enjoy something with a fair bit of sweetness.
The crux is balance. If the sweetness sticks out, as it does in many fizzy drinks that don't have the acidity to offset it, wines can be unappealingly cloying. But where the sugar level and acidity is in harmony, the interplay of these two components makes for exciting and far more refreshing stuff.
So if you want to try something sweeter, how do you know what's what? At present, it's a minefield as wine companies are aware of the stigma attached to sweeter styles, with many avoiding the 'S' word on their labels.
Some have adopted the term "Classic" to indicate a sweeter style on their rieslings, where sugar levels vary widely. While this may be useful in differentiating styles within one producer, I'm not convinced that many consumers clock what this means. To add another layer of confusion "Classic" is also used in Germany to classify dry wines!
The chaos surrounding the labelling of sweetness levels is something that a global group of riesling producers, The International Riesling Foundation (IRF) has attempted to address. It recently released a Riesling Taste Scale designed to make it easier for consumers to predict the taste they can expect from a particular bottle of riesling.
In its first phase, it's set down voluntary technical guidelines for wineries on how to describe their wines for consumers. Classifying wines from Dry, Off-Dry, Medium Dry, Medium Sweet, to Sweet, participating wineries are guided by a technical chart of parameters that take into account the interplay of sugar, acid and pH that determines how a wine is likely to taste.
The programme's next step is developing a graphic that can be used on wine labels to show the five levels from dry to sweet and provide an indication of where a particular wine falls. "The goal is to have a common, simple, consumer-friendly system for identifying riesling tastes," states the IRF.
Whether this becomes widely adopted remains to be seen. But rather than fudging the fact that a wine is sweet, I'd like to see more wineries promoting the many positives surrounding sweeter styles today, which should then give them the courage to communicate this more clearly on their labels.
Sweet harmony
Sweeter wines don't have to be cloying, in fact the best can lure you into thinking they're quite dry. Here are three beautifully balanced examples.
AFFORDABLE AGE
Kerpen Riesling Kabinett Mosel-Saar-Ruwer 1999 $24
Germany is home to some of the greatest sweet wines. Kabinett is the lightest classified style, and this is a lovely example of one with some age. Honeyed, toasty and minerally, it has developed mature riesling's keroseney character and is driven by the tension between its gentle sweetness and vibrant grapefruit acidity.
For stockists contact Macvine on 09 579 7455.
RACY RIESLING
Anchorage Nelson Riesling 2008 $17
I'd wager most people would find this fragrant, floral and very affordable lower alcohol (8.5 per cent) riesling dry, but it's actually got a fair bit of sugar. This is offset by its zippy lemon juice acid supporting strands of honeysuckle and peach, with a slight spritz.
For stockists contact Atua on 0800 878 394.
FRESH DESSERT
Paritua 'Dinah' Noble Semillon Hawkes Bay 2006 $36.75
Ok, this dessert wine is undeniably sweet, although its luscious and unctuous palate with notes of orange zest and honey is lifted by its bright citrus acidity that enables it to finish on a wonderfully fresh note.
From Fine Wine Delivery Company on 0800 346 394.
