You’re looking at a wine list and you see the word moelleux after the name of the wine. What does that mean?
The literal description of the French word moelleux is soft, smooth or mellow but when used describing a wine it means that the wine will be sweet.
How sweet? Much sweeter than a dry wine but not as sweet as a sticky dessert style wine. Moelleux wines are made from grapes that are overripe and have high levels of natural sugar. Some of this sugar is left in the wine after fermentation has finished. They generally have between 12 and 45g of residual sugar but some can have much higher levels than that (up to 100g or so).
The word is pronounced ‘mweh-luh’. Tricky for the Anglophone I’m afraid.
Moelleux wines are fabulous spicy food partners so long as the levels of residual sugar are not too high. The Loire valley makes fabulous examples in Montlouis sur Loire and Vouvray using the Chenin Blanc grape variety but you’ll also find them in other areas of France. What’s important is the balance between sugar and acidity.
Riper richer styles of moelleux wine are wonderful with fruit based desserts such as a fresh strawberry or apricot tart. Fruits that also have that sweet and sour character are really enhanced by these wines.
These are wines that can also be cellared for many years as the sugar in the wine acts as a natural preservative.
You might also see the word moelleux on a dessert menu. A moelleux au chocolat is one of those delightful little chocolate desserts that releases a gooey chocolate centre when you poke your spoon in the middle.
If in doubt, ask the sommelier or server just how sweet the wine is. You can be sure however, if you see the word moelleux on the label or menu, it’s going to be sweet.
