One
Drink wine at the table and know some common names.
In the previous article, I talked about the difference between red wine, wine, and sparkling wine.
This article will talk about "dry red, dry white, half dry, half sweet, sweet white", which means that these names represent.
When drinking, you often hear what Bordeaux dry red, so-and-so castle dry red, Cabernet Sauvignon dry red and the like, many imported wines on the Chinese label, but also written on the words "dry red", "dry white" and so on.
Needless to say, the words "dry red" and "dry white" on the bottle are written on it large and obviously.
Some people will wonder, "Dry red, white dry, semi-sweet, what do these words mean?" ”
There are also friends who have been drinking red wine for more than ten years, and asked me at the liquor bureau, "Xiaobian, why is this red wine called dry red, and what is the origin?" ”
These questions seem simple, but they are a long story.
Two
Dry red, dry white, semi-dry, semi-sweet, sweet white, etc., these names are abbreviations.
The full name should be dry red wine, dry white wine, semi-dry wine, semi-sweet wine, sweet white wine. On the Chinese label of the bottle of imported wine, or on the label of domestic wine, it will be marked like this.
But in wine science, the more detailed names are, all dry red wine, all dry white wine, semi-dry wine, semi-sweet wine, sweet white wine.
Looking at this, some people will say, "Xiaobian, you will make us dizzy like this." ”
In fact, it is also very simple.
These names are based on the sugar content of the wine, the low sugar content in the wine is called dry type, and the high content is called sweet type.
Whether it is red wine, white wine, or rosé wine, it can be divided into four types, dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet, sweet, as shown in the following figure.
Per 1 liter (L) of wine, those containing less than 4 grams (g) of sugar are dry wines, and those containing sugar between 4 and 12 grams are semi-dry wines.
Per 1 liter (L) of wine, which contains more than 40 grams (g) of sugar, is a sweet wine, and contains between 12 and 40 grams of sugar, it is a semi-sweet wine.
Three
Dry red is the abbreviation of dry red wine.
In 1 liter of wine, the sugar content is less than 4 grams, and the human taste can hardly drink the sweetness in dry red.
In China, the most drunk wine on the table is dry red wine, whether it is imported wine or domestic wine.
The most well-known is also dry red, TV, newspapers, bus platforms, etc. there are advertisements for dry red wine.
The world's top red wines are also dry red wine types, Lafite red is dry red, Romani Conte red is dry red, Penfolds red wine is also dry red.
As long as the red wine we drink, almost all of them are dry red wine, and some will also mark the red wine label with the word "dry red wine", as shown above.
In China, dry red has also become synonymous with red wine, as soon as you say dry red, you know that it is red wine.
Four
"Xiaobian, why can't you see sweet red wine?" I haven't seen either half dry red or half sweet red," more than one friend asked me this question while drinking.
In foreign countries, there are semi-dry red, semi-sweet red, sweet red, but account for a very small proportion, such as some reinforced sweet red wine, port wine and so on.
In the final analysis, the market demand is very low, and the Western public does not like red wine with a little sweetness.
This has something to do with the Western diet, you think, European and American people like to eat steak, eat a piece of beef, and then drink sweet red wine, beef is delicious, but also covered up by sweetness, drink half dry red, half sweet red, sweet red, eat what dish is a taste, sweet!
Because of this, the European and American tables put sweet wine at the end and drink it as an after-dinner wine.
Drinking red wine, in fact, mainly drinks the flavor of tannins, or the comprehensive taste of tannins.
But just as the so-called "one sweet covers all the ugliness", red wine is sweet, you can't taste the various tastes of tannins, just like in high school, girls are wrapped in loose school uniforms, no matter how good the figure, you can't see it.
When winemaking in various wineries, the various subtle flavors of red wine are competed, but under the influence of sweetness, any winemaking methods that winemakers rack their brains to improve become futile.
Of course, it is also related that the previous winemaking process is not advanced enough, and it is impossible to achieve a perfect balance between sweetness, alcohol and acidity.
Therefore, Western winemakers have been desperately trying to squeeze sugar out of red wine for hundreds of years, and more and more dry red wines have emerged.
Five
Among the white wines, there are four types, dry white wine, semi-dry white wine, semi-sweet white wine, and sweet white wine.
Sugar content below 4 grams per liter is dry white, between 4 grams and 12 grams per liter is semi-dry white, between 12 grams and 40 grams of semi-sweet white, 40 grams per liter or more sweet white.
Distinguishing between different types of white wine is also very simple, many will be noted on the white wine label, pay attention to see if there are the following words on it.
"Dry" in English, "Sec" in French, "Seco" in Spanish, and "Troken" in German all mean "dry".
The English word "Semi dry", the French word "Demi Sec", and the German "Halbtroken" all mean "semi-dry".
"Sweet" in English, "Liquorous" and "Meulloux" in French, and "Dolce" in Italian all mean "sweet".
Dry white wines from some English-speaking countries are labeled "dry white wine", as shown above
Some Semi-dry white wines from English-speaking countries will be labeled "Semi dry", as shown above
Some semi-sweet white wines from English-speaking countries are labeled "Semi Sweet", as shown above
Some English-speaking sweet white wines are labeled "Sweet Wine", as shown above
Six
Rosé wine, like white wine, is also divided into four types, dry rosé, semi-dry rosé, semi-sweet rosé, and sweet rosé.
The label on the wine label is also the same as that of white wine, and I will not repeat it here.
As for, someone asked, "Is it the same with sparkling wine?" ”
Sparkling wine is not the same, the classification method in terms of sugar content is different from the four types of still wine, which will be discussed in another article.