What does dry really mean?

[lizardbrains]

My husband and I both equate "it hurts when the wine goes down" with "Dry". Would you say this is about right? Or are we way off base? I would like to learn how to express my feelings about wines, but am not quite sure how/where to start. Would a book help? I've done some searching on the web, but there's SO MUCH to look at. Any ideas/suggestions?

[Innkeeper]

Technically dry means that all the sugar in the wine has been fermented into alcohol. Almost all red wine is dry, and most white wine is too. As our friends around here like to point out, some dry wines taste drier than others. This is because of other characteristics of the wine. One that is acid forward will seem drier than one that is fruit forward. The fruit tastes sweeter than the acid.

White wines that are frequently made off dry include riesling, chenin blanc, and gewurtztraminer. White Zinfandel, which is really a rose', is usually off dry too.

[Botafogo]

"Dry" is a nuetral term meaning their is no perceptable sweetness. What you are referring to is astringency or bitterness which means that the wine has an excess (for your palate at that moment with that food) of tannin or acidity. Imagine some lightly roasted, not too extracted coffee: it is not sweet or bitter, it's just there. But, if you dark roast the beans and over extract it in a press it will be bitter and astringent but still have the same amount of sweetness (none).

The purpose of this astringency in wines (from a culinary point of view) is to balance fat in foods: a piece of meat which seems greasy by itself will both taste better with a slightly tannic red and make the red seem to be smoother to your palate. Same with acidic whites and oily or spicy fish. The best wines are one part of a binary flavor bomb and aren't MEANT to show well on their own, food is assumed (even demanded).

Enjoy your research, Roberto

[lizardbrains]

Thanks for the reply. I'm going to have to taste test while reading your post again - so much info.! :-)