The Auswine Forum

Why do most people reject mildly sweet wine but readily accept or even crave for sweet beverages like fresh fruit juices with meals? It seems that: food with sugar is ok but food with sugar plus alcohol is unpleasant or even offensive. Puzzled!
Thanks

I only drink water or wine, with the odd Bundy & Coke and the very odd tea. I have a bit of herbal tea though.

Who in the world drinks fruit juice with a meal? The only instance I can think of is maybe at breakfast with eggs and bacon... although I prefer Champagne.

The only time when even mildly sweet wine is appropriate is if it is to balance something in the food, usually chilli or spice, or if the wine is bloody good like a European Riesling or Gewurztraminer.

In Australia, still table wine with sugar is 99,999 times out of 100,000 instances (maybe more) crap... with the obvious exceptions being the after-dinner varieties such as Tokays, Muscats and good Australian botrytis stickies.

Also, if I can taste sugar in my savoury meals, I am usually not very happy!

Adair

I'd wondered why this post had been left unanswered for so long!

Question who are the "most people" you refer to, who reject mildly sweet wine but readily accept or even crave for sweet beverages like fresh fruit juices with meals?

If you include the gallons of cask Fruity Lexia sold every year, I wonder whether you can really say "most people" reject slightly sweet wines with meals in favour of soft drinks and juices.

My 2c

Andrew

Yeah, the number of times I hear, "I like my wine fruity" (and they mean not dry - read: sweet) makes me cringe. But I know the statistics show that they sell a fortune of the stuff.

I think that hanging around a place like this forum can give you an unrealistic impression of the wine world. Remember, the majority of wine drunk comes out of a cask!

Adair

Adair wrote:Yeah, the number of times I hear, "I like my wine fruity" (and they mean not dry - read: sweet) makes me cringe. But I know the statistics show that they sell a fortune of the stuff.

I think that hanging around a place like this forum can give you an unrealistic impression of the wine world. Remember, the majority of wine drunk comes out of a cask!

Adair

Too true.

My dear sister likes cask moselle with an ice cube in it. She thinks I am funny for doing my nut about the ice cube!

Hahaha...

I learnt at a "Young at Heart" luncheon that "Chablis" means "a little bit of sugar" and "Moselle" means "a lot of sugar"!

One of my sort-of wine friends (he is a friend but he does not really appreciate fine wine, but like wine) here at work's wife refuses to have anything but white wine, but only when diluted with some sort of juice in it. I always put away the wine when she walks in.

Adair

Adair wrote:I think that hanging around a place like this forum can give you an unrealistic impression of the wine world. Remember, the majority of wine drunk comes out of a cask!

Hit the nail on the head Adair. It is easy to get too involved in the industry and forget what the average drinker sits down to most nights. I think we need to appreciate that most of us on this, and similar wine forums, represent a very thin slice of the industry pie. Most drinkers most of the time would not give a second thought to food and wine matching beyond the old red with red meats, in which case you reach for the cask of Lambrusco, or white with white meats, where you will find the Sunnyvale Medium Dry hits the spot.

LL

That is especially so, when you consider that over 50% of the wines sold in Australia today is cask wine, and then you have the copious quantities of stuff between $5 and $10 a bottle, much of which has a high residual sugar content.

Sugar is all a matter of balance.

As I'm learning in my Thai cooking classes, the sugar is a key ingredient. Indeed, its noticable if its under used.

However, its balanced by sour, hot and salty!

This is the key, balance.

The Germans, Austrians and New Zealanders among others make wonderful wines with residual sugar BUT the acid etc to balance.

Here in Australia try the Mr Riggs Riesling for an excellent example of a sweet Riesling of class, and great with food.

I'm not sure its necessarily the sugar in wine, but the balance, and the fact that most sweeter Australian wines are crap!

Gavin Trott wrote:Sugar is all a matter of balance.

As I'm learning in my Thai cooking classes, the sugar is a key ingredient. Indeed, its noticable if its under used.

However, its balanced by sour, hot and salty!

This is the key, balance.

Indeed it is, and complexity of flavour and texture.

Maybe every wine-making course should include the basics of thai cooking to ram home the point.

Gavin, have you graduated to drinking a nice Oz shiraz with some of your thai dishes yet?

Gavin Trott wrote:Sugar is all a matter of balance.

As I'm learning in my Thai cooking classes, the sugar is a key ingredient. Indeed, its noticable if its under used.

However, its balanced by sour, hot and salty!

This is the key, balance.

The Germans, Austrians and New Zealanders among others make wonderful wines with residual sugar BUT the acid etc to balance.

Here in Australia try the Mr Riggs Riesling for an excellent example of a sweet Riesling of class, and great with food.

I'm not sure its necessarily the sugar in wine, but the balance, and the fact that most sweeter Australian wines are crap!

So true Gavin, so true.

The Tin Shed Wild Bunch Riesling was perfect for this type of eating as well, with its little bit of RS. But I wouldnt drink it with most types of fresh seafood. Or red meat.

But I'm under no illusions, folk who would seek out and appreciate this type of wine are a real minority. Particularly on this board...

AB