Residual Sugar

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🍷Winemaking 👃Tasting

Sugar remaining in wine after fermentation.

Full Definition

Residual sugar (RS) is unfermented grape sugar remaining in finished wine, measured in grams per liter. Dry wines have <4 g/L; off-dry 4-12 g/L; medium-sweet 12-45 g/L; sweet >45 g/L. RS can balance high acidity - wines with high acid and high RS may taste drier than numbers suggest.

Related Terms

sweetness dry off dry

See Also

fermentation balance

Reserve Back to Glossary Resveratrol

More terms starting with R

Racking

Transferring wine off its sediment.

Racy

Wine with vibrant, energetic acidity.

Reduction

Sulfur compounds from lack of oxygen, creating off-odors.

Remuage

Gradually rotating sparkling wine bottles to collect sediment.

Reserve

A designation suggesting higher quality or longer aging.

Resveratrol

Antioxidant compound found in grape skins.