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Rafal Gerszak/The Globe and Mail

The question

I'm trying to limit fructose in my diet. I know that sparkling wines tend to contain higher fructose content than others. Does the wine industry publish fructose content of various brands?

The answer

You're referring to the main form of sugar – fruit sugar – present in wine. And, no, there is no general rule requiring wineries to publish fructose levels. Nor does the Canadian government require wineries to disclose such information. "Nutrition Facts" labels, which are mandatory in Canada for many packaged foods and which identify sugar content, are not required on wine. I'm not entirely certain why, though it may have something to do with the fact that your government doesn't want you to think of wine as nutritious. Wine also is a pretty basic item with few or no additives. The fructose in there is at small levels and is almost always naturally occurring – it's just leftover, or "residual," sugar that has not been converted to alcohol by yeast during fermentation. It's not an additive.

That said, many wineries list "RS" – or residual sugar – for their wines on their websites (usually in some sort of "tech sheet" section). It's usually expressed in grams per litre of total sugar. Although there are various types of sugar in wine, including glucose, usually most of the content is fructose. Glucose tends to be consumed to a higher degree by yeast.

But the handiest resource I know of is the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. On the board's website, lcbo.com, you will find independently verified sugar (and alcohol) levels on thousands of wines. Just look up the wine by name and voilà.

If you're trying to cut down on fructose, I'd suggest looking for wines with less than six grams of sugar per litre. If you stay under that threshold, you're on the very dry side. Anything over 12 grams, by contrast, is high.

If you couldn't be bothered to consult the LCBO site or can't find your favourite wines there, permit me to offer some general consumption rules. Dry red wines are your best option. Whites, even when apparently bone-dry, can have substantially more sugar, an ingredient masked by the higher acidity common to many white grapes. Avoid anything that tastes overtly sweet, such as dessert wines and ports; these contain vastly higher quantities of fructose.

And, yes, steer clear of sparkling wines. Bubblies are made with underripe grapes that are high in acidity. While that acidity is enticing, it almost always needs to be balanced out with sugar. (Think of key lime pie. If it were all lime juice and no sugar, you'd never go near it.) A supposedly bone-dry Champagne such as Veuve Clicquot Brut, for example, tips the scale at 12 grams per litre, the same as Yellowtail Shiraz, a "dry" red that is sometimes maligned by critics as being excessively sweet.

And if you really want to get off the fructose train, there's always beer.

E-mail your wine and spirits questions to Beppi Crosariol. Look for answers to select questions to appear in the Wine & Spirits newsletter and on The Globe and Mail website.

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