“I have a beautiful Riesling that would go great with your dinner.” “No thanks, I don’t like sweet wines. I will just have a Coke.”

A dialog that has played out countless times.

How many of us think that a Coke is less sweet than the average Riesling or sweet wine? Would you be surprised to learn that Coke has about the same level of sugar, at 108 g/L, as some of the sweetest dessert wines? For example, a 5 puttonyos Tokaji Aszu has 120 g/L of residual sugar (a 4 puttonyos has 90). By the way if you have never had a 5 puttonyos Tokaji, try one, they’re outstanding!

All of these wines (and the coke) taste sweet, but as you can see, sweetness is usually a matter of perception.

Sweetness is a perception. Bitterness, like the caffeine in colas, or tannins in wine, will reduce the perception of sugar. So does acidity. Hence the delightful phosphoric acid in your Coke, and the importance of natural acidity in wine.

“We each have our own thresholds for not only sweet, but for all flavours.”