These are low on sugar, but high on flavour

This time of year, a lot of people are watching their sugar intake. If that’s you, here are some fabulous low sugar wines — and a few that taste dry but aren’t.

First some basics. Wine is obviously made from grape juice that has been converted into wine through fermentation. Fermentation happens when yeast consumes that naturally occurring grape sugar, leaving behind alcohol. Any sugar that remains after the fermentation process is called “residual sugar.” And winemakers sometimes add sugar — or grape juice concentrate — to achieve better balance in a final product.

A wine’s sugar contact is measured in grams per litre (g/L). A wine with say, two g/L of sugar is obviously drier than one with 10 g/L. But there’s a catch. The latter might still actually taste quite dry if the acidity is high. That’s because acidity hides sugar. It’s why many sparkling wines labelled “brut,” for instance, taste dry but can have as much as 12 g/L of sugar.

Even some bold red wines can seem dry despite containing a whack of sugar. The wildly popular Apothic Red Winemaker’s Blend from California (LCBO 234369 $16.95) clocks 16 g/L, making it technically semi-sweet. Same thing for the popular Meiomi

Pinot Noir from California (Vintages Essential 130138 $22.95) with its 17 g/L. But many people, when asked, would say they’re dry. The other structural components can give that impression.

Since wine labels don’t show sugar levels, the best way to find out is to contact the winery or your local wine merchant. Here in Ontario, that means the LCBO. Our provincial liquor giant notes on its website the sugar level for every wine it sells. Just go to LCBO.com and search for a wine by name or product number. Then click on the wine’s name to go to its product page and scroll down for the sugar content.

With that out of the way, here are some wines in a range of styles with very low levels of sugar, starting with a sparkling wine from Ontario.

The NV Cave Spring Blanc de Blancs, VQA Beamsville Bench (Vintages Essential 213983 $29.95) has just seven g/L of sugar, which is quite low for a sparkling wine. This traditional method sparkling made from Chardonnay is threaded with tiny bubbles that form a fine mousse around the rim of the glass. The aromas suggest almond paste and butter pastry with a touch of lemon zest. The entry is brisk and dry with an immediately mouth-watering attack. The fruit is understated, pure and tapers to a long finish of dry-roasted almonds, wet stones and orange zest. Just a delight! Score: 93

From the Alentejo region of Portugal comes the 2019 J. Portugal Ramos Loios White (LCBO 92114 $9.45), a light, vivid-tasting wine with just three g/L of sugar. Made from two Portuguese grape varieties — Rabo de Ovelha and Roupeiro — this lively white delivers outstanding value for money. It’s clean and bright with aromas of salted lime zest. Then it glides over the palate all glossy and cool with flavours of lime laced with brine and an attractively bitter twist that scrapes the palate clean. Score:

91

Red wine lovers will appreciate the 2018 Château de Gourgazaud Cuvée Morgane

from the Minervois region in the south of France (LCBO 22384 $14.10). It opens with the most captivating fragrance of muddled blackberries with a touch of licorice and black earth. The wine floods in with smooth, saturated black fruit — though there is actually just five g/L of residual sugar. Flavours suggest blackberries again as well as black plums and black cherries layered with earthier notes and black and white pepper. Score: 92

Also worth your attention is the recently released 2016 Trapiche Medalla Cabernet Sauvignon from Mendoza, Argentina (Vintages 568865 $17) — a hefty red with just four g/L of sugar. The wine draws you in with heady aromas of cassis and cocoa powder before erupting on the palate with a bold hit of robust flavour. Black cherry, cassis and dark chocolate give the suggestion of sweetness in the centre while suggestions of cocoa powder and crushed slate lend interest and texture to each sip. Score:

90

Carolyn Evans Hammond is a Toronto-based wine writer and a freelance contributing columnist for the Star.

Wineries occasionally sponsor segments on her YouTube series yet they have no role in the selection of the wines she chooses to review or