Tool
Sweetness decoder
Brut, Extra Dry, Sec, trocken, feinherb, Spätlese, Sercial — what each means, on the scale of the system that defines it. There is no single sweetness ladder, and this explains why the words contradict each other.
The words on a wine label were coined by different authorities, for different products, at different times. “Dry” on a Champagne label means noticeably sweet. “Dry” on a still French label means dry. “Extra Dry” is sweeter than “Brut”. A single merged ladder — which is what almost every sweetness chart offers — has to resolve those contradictions to exist, and it resolves them wrongly. So each vocabulary is shown on its own scale, and the confusions between them are set out separately.
Before anything else
The commonest mistake with every word on this page is reading it as a description of flavour. It is not: these terms describe sugar, and a wine can smell intensely of ripe fruit while containing almost none. Fruity is not the same as sweet covers why the two get confused and how to separate them in the glass.
The questions people actually ask
Is Extra Dry drier than Brut?
No — Extra Dry is sweeter than Brut. It is the fourth category of seven and Brut is the third. The terms were fixed when sparkling wine was routinely much sweeter than it is now, and the scale has since shifted drier around unchanged words. If you want dry, look for Brut, Extra Brut or Brut Nature.
Does “Sec” mean dry?
It depends entirely on whether the wine has bubbles. On a still French label, sec means dry. On a sparkling label, Sec is the fifth-driest of seven categories and is noticeably sweet. Same word, same country, opposite ends of the scale.
Is a Spätlese sweeter than a Kabinett?
Not necessarily. Both are Prädikat levels, which grade the sugar in the grapes at harvest rather than in the finished wine. A Spätlese trocken is a full, dry wine at 13% or more; a Spätlese without that word is usually off-dry to sweet. The word that settles it is trocken, not the Prädikat.
Is Trockenbeerenauslese dry? It says “trocken”.
It is the sweetest wine Germany makes. The "trocken" here refers to the shrivelled, dried state of the botrytised berries, not to the wine. Trocken on its own, as a separate word, does mean dry.
Is dark Sherry sweet?
Not reliably. Oloroso is dark and bone dry; Pale Cream is pale and sweet. Colour in Sherry indicates how the wine was aged — under flor or exposed to oxygen — and says nothing about sugar. The sweet ones are Cream, Pale Cream, Moscatel and Pedro Ximénez.
What does Feinherb mean exactly?
Nothing legally. It is a producer’s word for an off-dry wine, adopted because "halbtrocken" had acquired a poor reputation, and it sits outside the regulated bands. It generally indicates something a little sweeter than halbtrocken — but nothing guarantees that, and it varies between estates.
How do I tell how sweet a Madeira is?
By the grape variety on the label, which is the sweetness statement. Sercial is driest, then Verdelho, then Bual, with Malmsey the sweetest. No words describe the sugar level, and a reader who does not know the varieties has no way of telling from the bottle.
Why does Prosecco taste sweeter than Champagne?
Partly because it often is. Prosecco is commonly made as Extra Dry, which is sweeter than the Brut that dominates Champagne, and the tank method leaves more primary fruit character that reads as sweetness. Both effects point the same way, and neither is a fault.
Sparkling wine (EU)
Champagne, Crémant, Cava, Prosecco, Franciacorta, English sparkling and every other EU sparkling wine.
A single legally defined ladder of seven terms, from Brut Nature at the driest to Doux at the sweetest. The sweetness is set by the *dosage* — a wine-and-sugar solution added at the very end, after disgorgement — so two wines identical up to that moment can finish anywhere on the scale.
- Brut Nature defined in lawdriest
The driest category. No sugar is added at dosage at all.
Bracing and austere, and it exposes the base wine completely — there is no sugar to round off a thin or unripe vintage. It has become fashionable, and it suits a ripe year far better than a lean one.
Commonly misread. That zero dosage means zero sugar. A small amount of sugar survives fermentation in almost any wine, and the category permits it.
Also seen as: Brut Zéro, Zero Dosage, Pas Dosé, Dosage Zéro, Brut Zero.
- Extra Brut defined in lawstep 2 of 7
Very dry, with a small dosage.
Noticeably drier than standard Brut and the usual choice for a Blanc de Blancs meant to show its acidity.
- Brut defined in lawstep 3 of 7
The standard category, and by a wide margin the most common. Dry to the palate.
Almost all Champagne, Cava, Crémant and English sparkling wine sold is Brut. It carries a small amount of sugar, which most drinkers do not perceive as sweetness because the acidity is so high.
Commonly misread. That Brut is the driest category. It is the third driest of seven, and Brut Nature and Extra Brut both sit below it.
- Extra Dry defined in lawstep 4 of 7
Off-dry. Sweeter than Brut, despite the name.
The most common category for Prosecco, which is a large part of why Prosecco reads as sweeter than Champagne even before the grape and the method are considered.
Commonly misread. The most consequential misreading in wine labelling. English speakers read "Extra Dry" as drier than "Dry" and drier than "Brut"; it is sweeter than both. The terms are French and Italian in origin and the English words are false friends.
Also seen as: Extra Sec, Extra Seco, Extra Trocken.
- Dry defined in lawstep 5 of 7
Distinctly off-dry, and sweeter than Extra Dry.
Rare on modern labels and mostly encountered on older bottles or on wines aimed at markets that prefer sweetness.
Commonly misread. That "Dry" means dry. On a sparkling label it is the fifth category of seven and is noticeably sweet. On a still label the same word means what it says.
Also seen as: Sec, Secco, Trocken (sparkling).
- Demi-Sec defined in lawstep 6 of 7
Clearly sweet, and made to be drunk with pudding.
A genuinely useful category that fashion has almost eliminated. Demi-Sec Champagne with fruit-based desserts works considerably better than a dry sparkling wine, which tastes sour beside anything sweet.
Also seen as: Semi-Seco, Halbtrocken (sparkling).
- Doux defined in lawsweetest
The sweetest category, and now very rare.
Nineteenth-century Champagne was routinely made at this level and sweeter still for some export markets. Almost nothing is made this way now.
Also seen as: Dolce, Sweet, Süss.
That the terms run in the order the English words suggest. They do not: Extra Dry is sweeter than Brut, and Dry is sweeter still. The vocabulary was fixed when Champagne was routinely much sweeter than it is now, and the whole scale has since shifted drier around unchanged words.
Defined by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33, Annex III. WineHQ does not publish gram-per-litre figures for this system — see the note above on why.
Still wine (French)
Still French wine, principally the Loire, Alsace, Bordeaux and Jurançon.
Sec, demi-sec, moelleux and liquoreux, running from dry to lusciously sweet. Unlike the sparkling terms these are used inconsistently, are not always printed at all, and a wine described as sec by one producer may carry noticeably more sugar than another’s.
- Sec defined in lawdriest
Dry. On a still bottle the word means what it says.
Commonly misread. Carrying the sparkling meaning across. Sec on a Champagne label is the fifth-driest of seven categories and is noticeably sweet; sec on a still Loire or Alsace bottle is dry.
Also seen as: Dry.
- Demi-Sec (still) defined in lawstep 2 of 4
Off-dry — noticeable sweetness balanced by acidity.
Common in Vouvray and Montlouis, where Chenin Blanc’s very high acidity carries sugar without the wine tasting sweet. Many demi-sec Vouvrays read as dry to a casual taster.
- Moelleux defined in lawstep 3 of 4
Sweet. The word means "marrowy" or "soft", and describes texture as much as sugar.
Used in the Loire and the south-west for wines made from late-picked or partly botrytised fruit. Considerably sweeter than demi-sec and lighter than liquoreux.
- Liquoreux defined in lawsweetest
Lusciously sweet, from heavily botrytised or passerillé fruit.
Sauternes, Barsac, Quarts de Chaume and the sweetest Jurançon all sit here.
Assuming the words carry the same meaning as on a sparkling label. They do not — *sec* on a still bottle means dry, while *sec* on a Champagne label means noticeably sweet.
Defined by INAO, within the EU labelling framework. WineHQ does not publish gram-per-litre figures for this system — see the note above on why.
Dryness (German and Austrian)
Still German and Austrian wine, principally Riesling.
Trocken, halbtrocken and feinherb describe the finished wine’s sweetness, and they are the only part of a German label that does. A wine carrying none of these terms may be anything from dry to noticeably sweet.
- Trocken defined in lawdriest
Dry. A legally defined maximum, and the most reliable sweetness word on a German label.
The great majority of German wine sold domestically is trocken, which surprises readers whose idea of German wine was formed by 1970s exports.
Also seen as: Dry.
- Feinherb by conventionsweetest
Off-dry, and — importantly — not a legally defined term.
Growers adopted it because "halbtrocken" had acquired a poor reputation, and because it gives freedom outside the legal band. It generally indicates something a little sweeter than halbtrocken, but nothing guarantees that.
Commonly misread. Treating it as equivalent to halbtrocken. It is a producer’s word rather than a regulated one, and its meaning varies between estates.
- Halbtrocken defined in lawsweetest
Off-dry — literally "half dry".
Reading the Prädikat as the sweetness indicator. It is not: Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese grade the sugar in the *grapes at harvest*, and a Spätlese trocken is a full, dry, relatively alcoholic wine.
Defined by German Wine Law; Austrian national wine law. WineHQ does not publish gram-per-litre figures for this system — see the note above on why.
Ripeness at harvest (German Prädikat)
German and Austrian quality wine.
Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Eiswein and Trockenbeerenauslese rank the must weight — the sugar concentration in the grapes when picked. Higher up the ladder means riper fruit and more potential alcohol, which the winemaker may convert into alcohol or leave as sweetness.
- Kabinett by conventiondriest
The lightest Prädikat level — fully ripe grapes picked at normal harvest.
A classic Mosel Kabinett is 7.5–9% alcohol with noticeable residual sugar balanced by very high acidity. A Kabinett trocken from the Rheingau or Pfalz is a dry wine at 11–12%.
Commonly misread. That Kabinett means sweet. It means ripeness at harvest, and the wine may be dry.
- Spätlese by conventionstep 2 of 6
Literally "late harvest" — grapes picked riper than for Kabinett.
May be dry or sweet. A Spätlese trocken is a full-bodied dry wine at 13% or more; a Spätlese without that word is usually off-dry to sweet.
Commonly misread. That a Spätlese is sweeter than a Kabinett. It is made from riper grapes, which is not the same statement.
Also seen as: Spatlese, Late harvest.
- Auslese by conventionstep 3 of 6
Selected bunches, picked riper still and often with some botrytis.
Usually sweet, though dry Auslese is made and is a very powerful wine.
- Beerenauslese by conventionstep 4 of 6
Individually selected botrytised berries.
Always sweet, made in tiny quantity and only in suitable years.
Also seen as: BA.
- Eiswein by conventionstep 5 of 6
Grapes frozen on the vine and pressed while still frozen.
The concentration is purely physical — the water stays behind as ice — so Eiswein is cleaner and more overtly fruity than botrytised wine of similar sweetness, and much higher in acidity.
Commonly misread. That Eiswein and Beerenauslese are the same kind of thing. One is made by freezing, the other by fungal dehydration, and they taste recognisably different.
Also seen as: Ice wine, Icewine.
- Trockenbeerenauslese by conventionsweetest
Individually selected berries shrivelled by botrytis.
The sweetest and rarest category, and among the most expensive wine in the world by the half-bottle.
Commonly misread. Reading the "trocken" in the name as "dry". It refers to the shrivelled, dried state of the berries. Trockenbeerenauslese is the sweetest wine Germany makes.
Also seen as: TBA.
Treating this as a sweetness scale. It is a ripeness scale, and the top three levels are sweet in practice only because fruit that concentrated cannot ferment dry.
Defined by German Wine Law. WineHQ does not publish gram-per-litre figures for this system — see the note above on why.
Sherry
Sherry from the Jerez region.
Sherry names are production categories first and sweetness levels second. Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado, Palo Cortado and Oloroso are all naturally dry; Cream and Pale Cream are sweetened blends; and Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel are made sweet from dried grapes.
- Fino / Manzanilla by conventiondriest
Bone dry, aged under a protective film of flor yeast.
Pale, saline and light. Should be treated like a white wine: chilled, and finished within days of opening.
- Amontillado by conventionstep 2 of 5
Dry. A Fino whose flor has died, continuing to age oxidatively.
Commonly misread. That it is sweet. Genuine Amontillado is dry; sweetened versions sold under the name in export markets are a separate, blended product.
- Oloroso by conventionstep 3 of 5
Dry. Fortified above the level flor can survive, so it ages fully oxidatively from the start.
Commonly misread. That dark colour means sweetness. Oloroso is dark and dry; the sweet dark Sherries are Cream and PX, which are blended or made from dried grapes.
- Cream / Pale Cream defined in lawstep 4 of 5
Sweetened blends, made by adding sweet wine to a dry base.
Pale Cream is a sweetened Fino; Cream is a sweetened Oloroso. Both are deliberately made for export markets.
- Pedro Ximénez by conventionsweetest
Intensely sweet, from grapes sun-dried to raisins before pressing.
Almost black, viscous enough to coat the glass, and tasting of raisin, fig and molasses. Frequently poured over ice cream, which is a reasonable use of it.
Also seen as: PX.
Assuming a dark Sherry is sweet. Oloroso is dry and dark; Pale Cream is pale and sweet. Colour indicates how the wine was aged, not how much sugar it holds.
Defined by Consejo Regulador de las DDOO Jerez-Xérès-Sherry y Manzanilla. WineHQ does not publish gram-per-litre figures for this system — see the note above on why.
Port
Port from the Douro.
Almost all Port is sweet, because fortification arrests fermentation and leaves unfermented sugar behind. The style names — Ruby, Tawny, LBV, Vintage, White — describe how it was aged, not how sweet it is.
- Dry White Port by conventiondriest
The one genuinely dry Port category, made by allowing fermentation to run further before fortification.
Drunk in Portugal with tonic and ice, and a considerably better aperitif than its obscurity suggests.
- Ruby, Tawny, LBV and Vintage by conventionsweetest
All sweet. The names describe how the wine was aged, not how much sugar it holds.
Ruby and Vintage age reductively in bottle and keep dark fruit; Tawny ages oxidatively in cask and turns amber and nutty. Sweetness is broadly similar across them.
Commonly misread. Expecting Tawny to be drier than Ruby because it is paler. The colour comes from oxidation, not from sugar.
Expecting a dry Port. Dry white Port exists and is a genuine minority category; everything else on the shelf is sweet, and the differences between the styles are about oxidation and age.
Defined by Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto (IVDP). WineHQ does not publish gram-per-litre figures for this system — see the note above on why.
Madeira
Madeira.
Madeira’s sweetness is named by its grape variety, which is unusual and genuinely useful once known. Sercial is the driest, then Verdelho, then Bual, with Malmsey the sweetest.
- Sercial by conventiondriest
The driest Madeira style, named after the grape variety it is made from.
- Verdelho by conventionstep 2 of 4
Medium-dry.
- Bual by conventionstep 3 of 4
Medium-sweet.
Also seen as: Boal.
- Malmsey by conventionsweetest
The sweetest Madeira style.
Even at its sweetest, Madeira’s piercing acidity keeps it from cloying — the wine is deliberately heated during ageing, which is what gives it both its longevity and its distinctive character.
Also seen as: Malvasia.
Not realising the variety *is* the sweetness statement. A bottle labelled Sercial and one labelled Malmsey differ by a very large amount of sugar, and neither says so in words.
Defined by Instituto do Vinho, do Bordado e do Artesanato da Madeira (IVBAM). WineHQ does not publish gram-per-litre figures for this system — see the note above on why.
Tokaji Aszú
Botrytised sweet wine from Tokaj.
Tokaji Aszú sweetness was historically expressed in *puttonyos* — the number of hods of botrytised paste added to a barrel of base wine. The system was revised in 2013, and 3 and 4 puttonyos were discontinued, leaving 5 and 6 puttonyos plus Aszúeszencia and Eszencia above them.
- 5 puttonyos defined in lawdriest
The entry level for Tokaji Aszú since the 2013 revision, which discontinued 3 and 4 puttonyos.
- 6 puttonyos defined in lawstep 2 of 4
Sweeter than 5 puttonyos, from a higher proportion of botrytised paste.
- Aszúeszencia defined in lawstep 3 of 4
Above 6 puttonyos, and made in very small quantity.
- Eszencia defined in lawsweetest
The free-run juice of botrytised berries, so concentrated it barely ferments.
Often only 3–5% alcohol after years of fermentation, and syrupy enough to be served with a spoon. It is a curiosity rather than a wine in the ordinary sense.
Reading older bottles by the current rules. A 3 puttonyos bottle predates the 2013 revision, and the number is not comparable to the residual sugar minimum now attached to 5 and 6.
Defined by Hungarian National Council of Wine Communities. WineHQ does not publish gram-per-litre figures for this system — see the note above on why.
The EU sugar-content bands for sparkling wine are set out in Annex III of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33. WineHQ has retrieved the body of that regulation and has not been able to reach the annex: every HTML rendering returned truncates before the annexes begin, across three URL forms and two sprints.
The figures are widely republished and would have been easy to copy. A gram-per-litre band is a regulated requirement, and WineHQ’s evidence policy is that a regulated requirement comes from the body that sets it. Reproducing one from a secondary source while citing the regulation would be laundering it. The terms are therefore given in their correct legal order with the ranges described in prose, and the gap is recorded against the source. See how WineHQ handles evidence.
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