To Sell More Red Wine, Add Non-Fermentable Sweeteners

A vintner who wants to sell more red wine to Gen Z – and what vintner doesn't? – might follow this advice from a study just published today: Add a non-fermentable sweetener such as Xylotol to the wine and Gen Z will like it better.

That is, if the European Union and OIV will let him.

Red wine consumption has fallen 15% over the last 15 years. Adding sweeteners is a recognized way to improve palatability, but current EU regulations, erythritol, rebaudioside-A and xylitol are not authorized for use in wine --but they are in beer.

But the study, published in IVES Technical Reviews found that acress three separate studies and testing three distinct sweeteners, the same pattern was observed: Non-fermentable sweeteners consistently improved young adult liking of red wine and enhanced sweet, soft and fruity perceptions. These results provide the wine industry with actionable insights into the sensory mechanisms by which such additives improve the palatability of dry red wines for younger consumers.

The study also found that a doze of about 20 grams of sucrose per liter gave the best results.

The authors speculated that adding non-fermentage sweeteners to non-alcoholic or low-alcoholic wines might "also be valuable for rebalancing mouthfeel and addressing the high propensity of these wines to undergo refermentation when sucrose is added."

The study, "Non-fermentable sweeteners improve Generation Z liking of red wine," is published online by IVES Technical Reviews.