Sweet and luscious wines are often confused with one another, as are other sweet wines such as late-harvest wines and naturally sweet wines. Yet these wines are all quite different. Domaine du Goût is here to help clarify things.
Sweet or luscious wine: what’s the difference?
First, let’s remember that sweet and luscious wines refer exclusively to white wines. The main differences between these wines lie primarily in their residual sugar content, that is, sugars that have not been converted into alcohol in the wine. Their winemaking processes also differ.
Sweet wines
As a general rule, dry wines contain an average of 4 grams of sugar per liter of wine. Off-dry wines contain between 4 and 12 grams of sugar per liter. Sweet wines contain between 10 and 45 grams of sugar per liter. Above 45 grams of sugar, the wine is considered luscious. Sweet wines are made using a specific winemaking process. Grape selection is a crucial step. Sweet wines are made from grapes harvested after extended maceration or grapes that have developed noble rot. The dehydrated grapes lose water and therefore become more concentrated in sugar. This extended maceration process also produces wines with a higher alcohol content. These sweet wines have a soft, velvety and unctuous character on the palate. There are many regions that produce these wines. The best-known regions are in southwestern France, with wines such as Côtes-de-Bergerac and Gaillac. The Loire Valley is also one of the leading producing regions, notably with its famous Coteaux-du-Layon.
Luscious wines
Luscious wines are the wines with the highest sugar content. More complex and concentrated than sweet wines, they also keep longer, for up to several decades. Sweeter in style, luscious wines contain more than 45g/L of sugar.
Luscious wines result from noble rot, which involves botrytis, a fungus that concentrates the sugar in the grapes. They can also result from passerillage, a method of over-ripening in which grapes are naturally dried by exposure to the sun or placed on a bed of straw to evaporate the water and achieve a high concentration of sugar and alcohol. On the palate, luscious wines are much sweeter and richer in alcohol than sweet wines; these characteristics explain why they are called luscious, in reference to liqueurs. The regions producing luscious wines include Alsace, the Loire Valley and southwestern France, with Sauternes and Monbazillac among the most famous.
What about naturally sweet wines, late-harvest wines and Sélection de Grains Nobles?
Naturally sweet wines
Naturally sweet wines are made using a traditional winemaking process similar to that used for classic wines. The difference is that 90° alcohol is added at the beginning of fermentation. This process stops fermentation. The wine will also have a higher alcohol content and more natural sugars, hence the name “naturally sweet wine.” Unlike sweet and luscious wines, naturally sweet wines can be red, white or rosé. Among the most renowned are Rivesaltes, Banyuls and Maury, from the Roussillon region.
The special case of Alsace
The Alsace region is a special case. This rich wine-growing region is home to two unique appellations of luscious wines.
The first is Vendanges Tardives. Vendanges Tardives wines are made from certain unique and authorized grape varieties (Pinot Gris, Muscat Gewurztaminer, Riesling), whose grapes are harvested by hand as late as possible. These grape varieties are naturally rich in sugar (between 200 and 243 grams per liter).
The second appellation is Sélection de Grains Nobles, made from grapes that have developed noble rot and whose sugar content is slightly higher (between 255 and 279 grams per liter).
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