Why dry wine is called dry

Perhaps the first thing we learn about wine, when they begin to wonder - is the division into a sweet and dry. If sweet like everything is clear, in the dry, many difficulties arise. In fact, there is a crucial one single factor: the absence of sugar.

Any wine starts with the grape juice, and there are a lot of natural sugars. In the process of yeast fermentation process them in alcohol. If you want a sweet wine, fermentation is stopped before the yeast converts the sugar. The part that remains in the drink, called residual sugar.

do not interrupt the fermentation to produce a dry wine - so that all the sugar has turned to alcohol. And initially take less sweet grapes.

So dry wine - it's just the wine, which has almost no residual sugar. It savory taste.

according to the decreeCOMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2016/2006 of 19 December 2006 EU on the labeling of wines, the dry is considered the drink, which contains 4-9 grams of sugar per liter. In the semi-dry sugar of 12-18 grams per liter, and semisweet - 18-45. Wines with a high sugar content are called sweet. In this case, the lack of sweetness (dry wine) does not mean that there will not be fruit notes. Think fruit juice - it can be savory, but still rich in taste. It is the same with dry wine.

But if the wine leaves mouth dryness, It does not mean that it is dry. In it's just a lot of tannins. These substances are found in grape skins, seeds and crests (brushes, for which the berries are attached to the branch). After pressing the grapes all on time is left in the juice. The longer the peel and the seeds are soaked in it, the more tannins in it will get and the more tart and astringent to taste the finished wine.

If you want to better understand what a tannic taste, pour boiling water black tea and leave it a little longer. After the first sip, you will experience a specific bitter taste and dry mouth. Remember these feelings, they will help to determine the tannin wines.

The fortress is also often considered an indicator of dryness, but this is not true. Dry wine is not necessarily stronger than the sweet.

So it might seem because of the high content of alcohol in the mouth remains the most dry sensation that can be easily attributed to dry wine. But by itself it does not say anything. There is a very strong and at the same time sweet wines, such as port wine.

As for exactly the word "dry", there is no accurate data about where it occurred. According to one hypothesis, the name came about because in a fully fault ( "dry") fermented sugar.