Nowhere is our passion for exceptional wine more prevalent than with our sweeter wines. There are many ways to craft sweeter wines.  First, a winery can over-ripen the fruit and achieve the desired alcohol content with the exact amount of residual sugar by arresting fermentation through cooling the wine at the end of fermentation then at some point, filtering it before it warms.  For some grape varieties, this is the perfect method due to the acid and flavor compounds that are achieved through over-ripening the grapes.  For others, the flavor seems out of balance.  Another method is to pick the grapes for the ultimate flavor and balance, then wait for the following year's harvest for the juice to sweeten the wine.  This is the preferred method for our White Chambourcin, which tends to benefit from the fresh juice approach.  Another method we use is blending juices from other grapes into the wines right before bottling, thus providing us with the desired flavors and sweetness for the finished wine.  Our Catawba utilizes this method because we really like the fruit flavors of newly ripened fruit.  Consistently all of the above methods provide you, the consumer with 100% naturally sweet wine with the sweetness derived solely from the grapes.  With fructose being the primary sugar in the ripe grapes, its sweetness tastes 72% to 75% sweeter than sugar, so as a winemaker we can achieve the same sweetness effect but with less residual sugar.  Besides, the sweetness is a refreshingly sweet taste with the sweetness positioned at the front of the tongue and not a cloying feeling that sugar and glucose leaves behind after finishing a taste.  Additionally, diabetics have a much easier time consuming wines that are fructose based instead of sugar based due to fructose being digested by the liver thus reducing the need for insulin.  Simply put, naturally sweet wine tastes better and they're better for you.  Naturally sweet wine is many times more difficult to make because of the exactness in the entire process and aging, and it's far more expensive too, which is why I believe we are unique in the market to offer sweet wines with no added sugar.  For a much more extensive discussion on sugar, click on the Grape Vine Newsletter and read the February 2012 edition.