People often say, come to the bottle of dry red, then do you know what this dry red "dry" means? On a professional level, it is related to the sugar content of wine. In fact, after understanding this problem, it will be much more convenient to buy wine and order wine in the future. That being the case, let's not see where this "dry" is sacred?
1. "Dry" is related to the sugar content (residual sugar) of the wine
What we usually call "dry red" should be called dry red wine, and this "dry type" refers to the wine's low residual sugar content and almost no sweetness. So, what is the concept of "residual sugar"?
Simply put, residual sugar (hereinafter referred to as residual sugar) is the sugar content of the wine after fermentation. During the fermentation process, yeast converts the sugar content of the wine into alcohol, and the thoroughness of this conversion determines the residual sugar content of the wine.
After the wine is fermented, the sugar that has not been converted into alcohol is residual sugar. However, there are also some wines with special styles that end fermentation early, retaining some residual sugar to provide a sweet taste, such as port wine.
2. Is there residual sugar in dry red? Why is dry red not sweet?
Even very dry wines contain small amounts of residual sugar. When wine grapes contain multiple atomic sugars, yeast tends to glucose and fructose, etc., while other sugars are not converted by the reaction and remain in the wine. But their number is so small that it is difficult for ordinary people to detect. In addition, wine is a complex beverage, containing a variety of ingredients, fruity, acidity and sweetness can be balanced and neutralized with sweetness, so you will not feel the smell of residual sugar. So, dry red is not sweet is exactly that.
3, according to the residual sugar content, wine is classified as follows:
(1) Dry type (dry/seco)
During fermentation, all sugars are converted into alcohol, and the residual sugar in the wine is small or almost non-existent, that is, dry. Generally, its sugar content is less than 4g/l, there is no sweetness, but it has a clean fruit aroma and wine aroma.
(2) Semi-dry/semi-seco
The sugar content is between 4-12g/l, and if you taste it carefully, you will find some slight sweetness.
(3) Semi-sweet
The sugar content is between 12-50g/l, and the sweetness makes up for the lack of acidity and aroma of the wine, and many Rieslings are semi-sweet.
(4) Sweet
The sugar content is greater than 45g/l, the taste is sweet and rich, and the alcohol content is generally low.
4. Is the quality of sweet wine lower than that of dry wine?
Sweetness can make up for some common flaws in wine, so many cheap wines have a full sweetness. In countries with sweet tastes, winemakers also produce sweeter wines to cater to the tastes of the general public. But this does not mean that the sweetness is not high, and many of the world's most famous wines are sweet, such as some of the top champagnes, German Rieslings, Hungarian tokaji desserts, port wines and sherry.
5. How to distinguish whether the wine is dry or sweet?
Having said all that, the distinction between whether a wine is dry or sweet depends on the residual sugar content. The more thorough the fermentation process of the wine, the more alcohol is converted, the less residual sugar there is, and it is very likely that it is dry. The shorter the fermentation time, or the early termination of fermentation, the more residual sugar, which may be sweet.
Although the residual sugar content is generally not clearly marked on the label, we can judge from its alcohol content. The lower the alcohol content, the higher the residual sugar content. However, some dry wines also have a sweeter taste, which should be brought about by their rich fruity taste.
In addition, most red wines are dry, but there are also sweet types. In general, sweet white wines are still more common than sweet red wines.
Is it a strong and hot "dry", or a luscious and creamy "sweet"?
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