Naturally sweet wines

Sweet wine, the way the grape made it.

We stop fermentation partway through, so some of the grape's own sugar stays in the wine. Nothing is added back.

A bottle of Heart label wine chilling on ice beside lemon slices

You wouldn't feel guilty picking a perfectly ripe peach off the tree. Sweet wine is the same: a perfectly ripe grape, with a touch of alcohol.

Arrested fermentation in seven steps

How we keep natural grape sugar in the wine, from the vineyard to the bottle.

Step 1

Perfect timing

Choosing the moment to harvest

Through the season we test sugar levels and taste the grapes. We pick when sugar, acidity and varietal character are in balance.

Pick too early and there isn't enough natural sugar; too late and the fruit loses its fresh acidity.
Step 2

Gentle pressing and cold settling

Pure juice, delicate compounds intact

Destemmed clusters are pressed gently, then the juice settles at cold temperature. It clarifies naturally and keeps the thiols that give the wine its aromatics.

Cold settling protects delicate flavors and removes solids without harsh handling.
Step 3

Precise yeast selection

Clean racking and the right yeast

We rack the clear juice off its sediment and add yeast chosen for each variety: strains that ferment slowly and cleanly at low temperature.

A slow, controlled ferment lets us time the stop precisely.
Step 4

Cold fermentation

3–5 weeks at 55°F

The tanks hold at 55°F, which slows fermentation so we can check temperature, sugar and pH, and taste regularly.

Tasting is what tells us when to stop.
Step 5

Cold crash

Stopping fermentation at the right balance

When the balance of alcohol and remaining grape sugar tastes right, we chill the tank rapidly toward freezing. The cold stalls the yeast and holds that balance.

This call takes years of experience and a practiced palate.
Step 6

Sterile filtration

Removing the yeast, keeping the sugar

Filtering out every remaining yeast cell means fermentation can't restart, while the flavors and natural grape sugar stay in the wine.

It takes specialized equipment to make the wine stable without stripping it.
Step 7

Bottling

Stable and naturally sweet

The finished wine keeps the grape sugar that was never fermented, with nothing added. It goes into the bottle ready to drink.

A sweet wine that tastes of the grape, not of added sugar.