On 6/8/04 3:51 PM, in article
, "Ray"
> wrote:

> No carbs come from alcohol. Cal's, yes, but no carbs. It depends on what
> you are counting.
>
> I contacted the Splenda people and they would not recommend using splenda in
> wine. It seemed like such a good idea,too. It seems that splenda is
> basically sugar bound to a substance that prevents the sugar molecule from
> being broken down so it passes through the body before it is used. Given
> time, however, it will break down in liquid form and the sugar part will
> become just that -- sugar. If you add it to unstabalized wine, it may break
> down and start fermenting. Given time it will break down and then it will
> become fattening.
>
> If you want sweet, low carb wine, use splenda to sweeten it when you open
> the bottle.
>
> Ray

Splenda is made with Sucralose, which is a sucrose molecule that has one of
the hydroxyl (OH) groups replaced by a chlorine atom. This causes it to not
be metabolized. I'm pretty sure the yeast enzymes also cannot ferment it.
However, Splenda is not pure sucralose. It has some other starches added in
order to make the product free flowing, etc. It is these added substances
that will hydrolyze (break apart) into smaller sugars over time. So you may
risk some fermentation AND metabolizable carbs.

Stevia is similar in that sugar molecules are attached to a bigger molecule
and will break apart in wine over time. Saccharin tastes bad. Nutrasweet
degrades.

There is no good artificial sweetener for wine, although pure sucralose may
be an option if it could be obtained.

--
Greg Cook
http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/Wine
http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/aws

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