Most wine drinkers, even those working in the wine trade, may not have heard of the term “back sweetening”. Yet the increasing use of that process in making table wines is driving the most seismic shift in wine styles since Robert Parker and Michel Rolland ushered in a new era in the 1980s by making big, fruity and highly alcoholic red wines, and rewarding them with 100-point ratings.
The use of back sweetening – the procedure of adding extra sweetness to a table wine after it has fermented but before it is bottled – has already resulted in sweeter table wines by the glass that most Americans are now drinking – especially wines served in casual dining restaurants.
But it’s not only US-made wine in their glasses. Sweeter everyday table wines from France are also already in the works.
Seeking government approval
“Today, the market is looking for wines that are softer, fruitier and lower in alcohol,” says Damien Gilles, president of Syndicat Général des Côtes du Rhône, which is working to get French government approval for red Rhône wines containing up to 9 grams of sugar per litre (g/l). “The aim is not to change the identity of Côtes du Rhône, but to broaden the range with a complementary product,” he adds.
There is no doubt that the trend for sweeter table wines, especially at the entry level, is gaining momentum worldwide. The question is: where will the trend lead? Will it be a conduit for casual drinkers to be drawn into “serious” wines, as advocates for the trend claim? Or will sweeter wines crowd out dry, inexpensive wines from by-the-glass lists?
Perhaps most importantly, without any indications of sweetness on the label, how will consumers know what to expect before ordering? Finally, will producers of favourite everyday wines such as Côtes de Bordeaux, California Chardonnay or red Côtes du Rhône jump on the bandwagon and change the taste or character of their wines? The answer may be “yes” to all of the above.
Industry lobbying
The rush to approve sweeter wines in the Rhône and in Bordeaux began after industry lobbying convinced the French wine regulatory organisation, the Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité (INAO), to approve in November 2025 the sweetening of table wine up to 9g/l under restricted conditions and subject to approval by individual PDOs.
It should be noted that back sweetening is not to be confused with chaptalising or adding sugar to a wine before fermentation – a traditional practice used to boost alcohol levels in cooler growing regions.
“The Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur AOCs are undertaking a wide range of trials to evaluate potential developments in their production specifications in response to climate change and changing consumer expectations,” explains Stéphanie Sinoquet, managing director of the two AOCs, “including VIFA, sweetening [by] MCR – rectified concentrated must – and vineyard management practices.”
VIFA refers to newer grape varieties that are not traditional to a region, and the use of rectified concentrated must is the most practised means of back sweetening. Although sweet table wines were universally popular during historic eras, most wine producers over the past century have focused on making very dry table wines, usually containing less than 5g/l, the point at which most palates begin to detect sweetness in a wine.
The Kendall-Jackson effect
An exception in the US has long been sweeter “jug wines”, favoured by novice drinkers and often those who drink to excess. However, the popular success of Kendall-Jackson’s slightly sweet Vintage Reserve Chardonnay, first introduced with the 1982 vintage and reportedly the result of a stuck fermentation, led to more and more producers of affordable American wines gradually increasing their sweetness.
Unlike the European Union and its many wine-producing countries, the US has almost no rules on how wine is made, as long as it is safe to consume, doesn’t make outlandish health claims and contains consumption warnings on the label. The amounts of alcohol, residual sugar and acidity in wines are almost totally unregulated.
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