Michigan wines are sweet. That perception has been earned over a long period of time, but today, that’s all it is: a perception. The reality is that today’s Michigan wines offer a diverse range of styles to suit any palate. It’s true that we don’t completely take after our Californian and European colleagues when it comes to making wine, but we aren’t all soda pop wines either.
And hey, I understand this perception; it is based in reality, although it’s a reality from years ago. Michigan made mostly sweet wines, because most people who bought Michigan wines bought the sweet wines. It’s a classic market-driven equation. If you make both sweet and dry wine, and the sweet wine sells but the dry wine doesn’t, you stop making dry wine and make more sweet wine. You’re not stupid, and you’ve got bills to pay. Seems simple enough. But there is another reason why Michigan made sweet wines. It has to do with our climate and finding a balance in the wine.
Ok, I’m going to step away from that for a second and explain a few things (define a few terms) that are important when we talk about sweet wine. The first is a basic understanding of the fermentation process. Grapes are harvested in the fall, when the fruit is ripe. Just like any other fruit, when grapes ripen they get sweeter. That sweetness is a result of sugar (a few different types, but we won’t go into that here). It is that sugar that is “eaten” by the yeast during fermentation that gets converted to alcohol (and some heat and CO2). So as alcohol goes up, sugar goes down. The winemaker can stop fermentation at any point during the process. If all the sugar gets converted to alcohol, you end up with a “dry” wine (ok, there is always a tiny bit of sugar left, but it’s not noticeable, and again, we won’t get into that here). But if you stop fermentation along the way, there is some residual sugar left in the juice, and this makes a wine sweeter.
Now you can claim you only like dry wines or sweet wines, which are defined by the amount of residual sugar left, but it’s not telling you the real story. The perception of sweetness changes based on the acidity, tannins, alcohol, and often the fruitiness of the wine. Then you have actual acidity. Now we’re getting back to why Michigan often makes sweet wines. Good wines find a balance between sugar, acidity, and alcohol. When a wine is balanced, you don’t notice any one of these factors. Acids rise in grapes as they develop on the vine and as the grapes ripen, the acid is metabolized and sugar levels go up. Warmth helps with the metabolism. Our cool climate here in Michigan brings about some high acid levels in our grapes, and not as much of that acid is metabolized as it would be somewhere warm (say, California). So in order to find that balance, we leave a bit more sugar in our wine. It might not always taste sweet, but it diminishes any tartness that would be there if some of that sugar wasn’t retained.
So, sure Michigan makes some sweet wines, but that doesn’t define us. Or at least it doesn’t have to.
Caryn, I admire your positive enthusiasm. The impression that all Michigan wines are sweet comes from the sad fact that, as long as I can remember (mid 70’s) many Michigan wines have been too sweet. The problem lies in predictability and consistency. If I purchase a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, I do not have to worry about getting something with residual sugar in it. If I reach for an Italian Pinot Grigio or one from Oregon, I know that I am getting a predictable, dry product. Not true in Michigan wines. Even those that claim to be dry may have “residual” sugar in them.(Let’s be honest about the notion that all these “semi-sweet” wines contain residual sugar, many contain sugar added after fermentation). There is an enormous difference in the wine world’s reception of a wine expected to be sweet (think Sauternes, Trockenbeerenauslese, Tokaii), and the disappointment of opening a dry style wine and finding that it has sugar in it. The history of wine goes back to the notion of preserving a food product by fermenting the unstable, spoilage prone sugar out of it and replacing that with a wonderful preservative – alcohol. The resulting beverage is one of distinction and of an amazing transparency which has prompted mankind to babble for centuries about the nuances in flavor. “Semi-Sweet” wines may be made to mask flaws in the wine, or they may be made because selling sweeter wines to soda pop drinkers is a much easier sell than taking the time to educate the buyer about the complexities of exquisite dry wines.
Sadly, sweet wines do define us in Michigan as long as a consumer takes the risk of getting more sugar than they bargained for when they select one of our bottles.
I believe that wine drinkers are like an Ocean that is unpredictable,endless and have there own opinions about there wines. I am not sure about the term “soda pop wines” I love Blackberry Satin Wine made by Modern Craft Winery in Au Gres, Mi. and it is nothing at all like any soda or pop as we call it here in Michigan. I believe there are no wrong answers when it comes to wine it is to each there own. It seems to make everyone happier. I am from Michigan so I will stay loyal to our wines made here in USA and to our sugar beets grown here in the USA. I wish you much joy Dbell.
Caryn, I admire your positive enthusiasm. The impression that all Michigan wines are sweet comes from the sad fact that, as long as I can remember (mid 70’s) many Michigan wines have been too sweet. The problem lies in predictability and consistency. If I purchase a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, I do not have to worry about getting something with residual sugar in it. If I reach for an Italian Pinot Grigio or one from Oregon, I know that I am getting a predictable, dry product. Not true in Michigan wines. Even those that claim to be dry may have “residual” sugar in them.(Let’s be honest about the notion that all these “semi-sweet” wines contain residual sugar, many contain sugar added after fermentation). There is an enormous difference in the wine world’s reception of a wine expected to be sweet (think Sauternes, Trockenbeerenauslese, Tokaii), and the disappointment of opening a dry style wine and finding that it has sugar in it. The history of wine goes back to the notion of preserving a food product by fermenting the unstable, spoilage prone sugar out of it and replacing that with a wonderful preservative – alcohol. The resulting beverage is one of distinction and of an amazing transparency which has prompted mankind to babble for centuries about the nuances in flavor. “Semi-Sweet” wines may be made to mask flaws in the wine, or they may be made because selling sweeter wines to soda pop drinkers is a much easier sell than taking the time to educate the buyer about the complexities of exquisite dry wines.
Sadly, sweet wines do define us in Michigan as long as a consumer takes the risk of getting more sugar than they bargained for when they select one of our bottles.
I believe that wine drinkers are like an Ocean that is unpredictable,endless and have there own opinions about there wines. I am not sure about the term “soda pop wines” I love Blackberry Satin Wine made by Modern Craft Winery in Au Gres, Mi. and it is nothing at all like any soda or pop as we call it here in Michigan. I believe there are no wrong answers when it comes to wine it is to each there own. It seems to make everyone happier. I am from Michigan so I will stay loyal to our wines made here in USA and to our sugar beets grown here in the USA. I wish you much joy Dbell.