What Does "Dry" Actually Mean?
hint: it's not tannins
Has someone ever told you that they like “dry” wines?
If you’ve ever nodded along like you knew what that meant, you’re not alone.
First of all, why we collectively decided to describe something inherently “wet” as dry is beyond me. Second of all, in this context, “dry” doesn’t actually refer to the sandpapery-dry-as-the-Sahara-mouthfeel – you’d think it would, right? Alas, sommeliers haven’t made much of an effort to make it less confusing. I have made that mistake as well and it took me going to wine school to learn otherwise.
That mouth-drying thing can actually be attributed to tannins – a group of gritty little compounds called ‘polyphenols’ (which frankly sounds more like a Marvel villain than something in your glass). They’re extracted from the skins, seeds, and stems during the fermentation process and are also found in coffee, tea, and even dark chocolate (if you like these things you’ll probably like tannic wines, too). Oddly enough they act as a defense mechanism for plants against pests, but clearly humans missed that memo.
Ok, so dry wine is NOT that. So what is it?
Dry wine actually has everything to do with sugar – or really, the lack of it.
During the fermentation process, yeast eats the natural grape sugar and converts it into alcohol. Depending on the wine, producers can a) choose to let the yeast eat all of the sugar (resulting in a dry wine), b) stop the fermentation process before all the sugar is converted (resulting in residual sugars), or c) add sugar (a process called chaptalization) which results in higher levels of alcohol. Essentially, the more sugar for the yeast to eat, the greater the ABV. Picture them as tiny, sugar-crazed party guests that turn sweet juice into something far more interesting.
*Mass-produced wines will often times add sugar after the fermentation process is completed to create wines that are more appealing in the consumer market, but these are typically considered to be lower-quality wines. Personally, they are not my favorite – but to each their own. I’m really just thrilled that you’re drinking wine in the first place.
Most dry wines have less than one and a half grams of sugar per glass – essentially nothing. The yeast ate it all and got drunk doing it. Then, you’ve got off-dry wines that have a teensy bit of sugar, semi-sweet wines (like Moscato) with even higher levels of sugar, and then sweet wines, which are basically just dessert in a bottle.
*A good rule of thumb: if a wine tastes fruity, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s sweet. Fruitiness and sweetness are not the same thing, but it’s a common mix-up. You can have a bone-dry Riesling bursting with peach and lime notes, or a sweet red that tastes like jammy cherries and chocolate syrup. The trick is to pay attention to how your mouth feels when you swallow – sweetness lingers while dry wines tend to finish crisp and clean.
So, when somebody says that they like “dry” wines, what they really mean is that they don’t like sweet ones, not necessarily tannic ones.
Now that you know this, too, it will make you 50% more fun (or maybe more insufferable) at dinner parties.
And if you made it this far without rolling your eyes at the word “polyphenol,” you’re my kind of person.
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