How Much Sugar Is in Wine? A Guide to Sweet and Dry Styles

The amount of sweetness in wine varies widely depending on the type. Most wines have between one and eight grams of sugar, with a typical five-ounce glass of red table wine containing about 0.9 grams. However, ultra-sweet wines can have large amounts of sugar per glass, and bone-dry wines can have barely any at all. It all depends on your taste preferences.

If you’re watching your sugar intake, the key is learning wine jargon and what it means for sweetness.

Is There a Lot of Sugar in Wine?

Some wines can contain a lot of sugar, but not all. For comparison, a 12-ounce can of cola has about 36 grams of sugar, while the same amount of red wine might have just over 2 grams.

Of course, whether that’s “a lot” depends on your dietary needs and health goals.

Understanding Sugar in Wine

The sweetness in wine is called residual sugar. It comes from the natural sugars in grapes, such as fructose and glucose. During fermentation, yeast consumes these sugars to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. Some winemakers halt fermentation early or add sugar before fermentation (a process known as chaptalization) to achieve specific sweetness levels.

Wine loses most of its initial grape sugar during fermentation. Stopping that process early results in a sweeter wine with lower alcohol content.

Average Sugar by Wine Type

Here’s an estimate of the sugar content in common types of wine per five-ounce glass:

• Very dry or bone-dry wines: Less than 1g — e.g., Sauvignon Blanc, Tempranillo

• Dry wines: 1–1.4g — e.g., Merlot, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay

• Off-dry wines: 1.4–5g — e.g., Riesling, Zinfandel

• Sweet wines: 5–18g — e.g., Port, Moscato

• Very sweet wines: 18–33g — e.g., Icewine, Tawny Port

Your preferred sweetness level determines what wines you’ll enjoy most. If you like sweeter styles or want to avoid them, understanding these categories helps you make better choices.

Which Wines Are Naturally Sweetest?

The sweetest wines tend to be dessert wines or fortified styles. These include:

• Tawny or Ruby Port

• Icewine (made from frozen grapes)

• Rutherglen Muscat

• Vin Santo Rosso

• Lambrusco Spumante Rosso

• Sauternes (botrytized wine)

• P.X. Sherry

Sweeter wines usually undergo less fermentation. Some are fortified with brandy or other spirits to increase alcohol content. Explore different sweet wines to discover what flavor profiles you enjoy.

Love sweeter wines? Explore our Sweet Wine Club for monthly handpicked bottles that highlight the world’s best dessert and semi-sweet selections.