Dry Wines

[jimcoach]

When the term Dry wine is used, what does this mean. What makes a wine dry is it taste , sweetness, tannins or what ? How do you know how to select a dry wine for instance in a restaurant. Any help will be appreciated.

[winoweenie]

Hi JC and welcome to the board. The term Dry refers to the abscence of sugar. Most red wines are dry as are most of the better whites. The only wat you'll know about a particular wine is if it has the residual sugar on the label. Any knowledgeablr wine merchant can help you. WW

[Thomas]

jimcoach, technically, the term dry refers to relative acidity more than it does to lack of sugar. The reason for that is that it is virtually impossible to remove all sugar in grape juice during fermentation. But the human tongue does not really register sugar in wine until the residual sweetness is about .5% by volume. Most dry wines contain residual sugars lower than .5% by volume, and because the sugar goes unregistered, the acids (tannic included) are more prominent--the wine is then considered dry.

The reason you see words like "Dry Riesling" on a bottle of that kind of wine is usually not because the wine lacks sugar, but because its acids are usually so high they balance out the sensation of residual sugar that is normally in that kind of wine.

[randery]

Hi coach. Take a look at the label and check the alcohol percentage. Generally a higher percentage of ABV means a drier wine.

[Tyrrell]

While I was familiar with the use of the term dry to denote (white) wines with negligible sugar in them (dry being the opposite of sweet in this case), I had also thought that the term is used to refer to wines that have lots of tannins. I previously thought that this duel meaning was just a peculiarity of the English language, but if I understand you correctly then if I were to drink a young Zinfandel with so many tannins that my mouth feels like it's being sucked into a vacuum cleaner I shouldn't say "Wow! That's really dry!" because I'd be talking about acidity rather than tannins and completely failing to communicate.

Is this correct?

[This message has been edited by Tyrrell (edited 01-05-2004).]

[This message has been edited by Tyrrell (edited 01-05-2004).]

[Innkeeper]

Your wines that are so tannic that they take a layer of enamel off your teeth are better described as closed or immature than dry. Don't want to ague with anyone, but I like my life to be simple, and simply think of dry being the absence of sweet for whatever reason.

[Tyrrell]

Thank you IK

[Thomas]

Tyrell, tannic acid is an acid. The tannins referred to in wine are the result of the tannic acid component. So, while the wine with loads of tannin may be immature, it also is quite dry--that is, if it doesn't also contain lots of residual (or added) sugar; not an impossibility, but not usual.

Other acids that reflect the "dry-ness" of wine (especially whites) include malic and tartaric.

But remember: below .5% sugar by volume, you can't much detect the sweetness, so any wine with so little sugar will be a dry wine. The real conundrum enters the picture when wines contain higher sugars and maybe even high acids.

It is fine to think that dry equates to a lack of sweetness, but it is not an accurate accounting of the situation. In addition, the term dry is often used as a marketing tool for wines that are really sweet--think volumes of low-end Chardonnay; think Champagne. This is because the term is bandied about without technical grounding.

I don't view what I am saying as an argument, IK, Someone asked, I responded with what I understand the answer to be. I truly do not refer to wines as dry or sweet; I refer to their structure and their style. That's my way of identifying the product, and it keeps me insulated from responding directly to marketing.



[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 01-05-2004).]

[Tyrrell]

Tannins are acids... Now everything makes sense. I didn't really expect it to. Thanks Foodie.

[This message has been edited by Tyrrell (edited 01-05-2004).]

[Thomas]

It's the same stuff used to "tan" leather.

You are most welcome, Tyrell.