How much sugar is there in a glass of wine?

Oct 04, 2021

If you are cutting back on sugar then you'll want to understand how many grams of sugar you're be consuming with your favourite drop.

Maybe you're just having an occasional winre or perhaps you're drinking every night. Maybe you are practicing mindful drinking, or only drinking non-alcoholic wine. Whatever your wine habits, you might be unwittingly consuming more sugar than you realise.

How much sugar is in wine?

The amount of sugar in wine varies dramatically between different wine varieties. This is true for both traditional wine and non-alcoholic wine.

To complicate matters, traditional wine makers are not required to add nutritional details such as sugar to their labels. So it is difficult to make a comprehensive analysis. But when it comes to non alcoholic wine, the amount of sugar is listed - so you know exactly how much sugar you are consuming.

Which wines are lowest in sugar and which are the highest?

Unsurprisingly, sweet wines tend to contain more sugar than dry wines - a large glass of an alcoholic sweet white wine such as Moscato could be harbouring up to 15g of sugar. On the other hand, an alcoholic dry red, could be as low as a 1g of sugar.

A woman holding a glass of non-alcoholic wine next to a dog

In terms of non-alcoholic wine, there are many low sugar wine options. According to Food Standards Australia, a beverage needs to contain less than 2.5g of sugar per 100g to be considered low in sugar. These wines includes Giesen 0% Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, Plus & Minus Rose and NEWBLOOD Non Alcoholic Chardonnay.

Where does the sugar in wine come from?

In contrast to the sugar found in cakes and other sweet treats the sugar found in wine has not been added by the winemaker. The sugar in wine is actually naturally occuring residual sugar that that comes from the grapes. In traditional wine making, this sugar feeds yeast and forms alcohol. And of course, in dealcoholised wines, the alcohol is then removed.