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Dry vs. Sweet Wine: What’s the Difference?
What's the difference between sweet wine and red wine?
The sweetness of a wine is determined by a number of factors, including the grape variety, the climate in which the grapes are grown, and the winemaking process. The main difference has to do with residual sugar, amount of sugar left in the wine following fermentation.
Dry wine? Sweet wine? What does that mean? Many are often confused as to what is the difference. If you also wonder, worry not! This is a simple introduction to the difference between dry and sweet wine and how to choose the right wine accordingly.
Dry vs. Sweet: Sugar content is key
When it comes to wine, one of the most important factors to consider is sweetness. Wines can be classified as either dry or sweet, and the difference between the two is determined by the sugar content or, to be more precise, the amount of residual sugar left in the wine after fermentation.
What is Residual Sugar?
The process of fermentation in winemaking turns grape juice into an alcoholic beverage. This happens due to the action of yeast that transforms the sugar present in the juice into ethanol (alcohol).
Thus, the more you ferment the wine, the more sugar will be transformed, resulting in less residual sugar—low sugar content. Inversely, the less you ferment, the less sugar will be transformed, resulting in more residual sugar—higher sugar content.
There are other factors apart from the length of fermentation that will determine the residual sugar in a wine. The amount of residual sugar in a wine can vary depending on the type of grape, the climate in which it was grown, and the winemaking process.
Dry Wines
Dry wines have very little residual sugar. This means that they taste crisp and refreshing, with no sweetness to speak of. Dry wines are typically made from grapes that have low sugar content, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Pinot Noir.
Sweet Wines
Sweet wines have a higher residual sugar content than dry wines. This gives them a sweet taste, which can range from slightly sweet to very sweet. Sweet wines are typically made from grapes that have high sugar content, such as Riesling, Chenin Blanc, and Moscato.
Dry vs. Sweet
Wines are therefore classified as dry or sweet as per the percentage of residual sugar content.
- Anything below 1% is considered dry
- Below 0.5%, the wine is called “bone dry”
- Above 3%, the wine is “off-dry” or “semi-sweet”
- Anything above 5% is considered sweet
- Between 7-9% wines are “very sweet” (dessert wines)
Other Types of Wines
As you can see, in addition to dry and sweet wines, there are also a few other sub-categories of wine that fall somewhere in between. These include:
Off-dry or Semi-dry wines: These wines have a medium amount of residual sugar, and they taste slightly sweet. Semi-dry wines are often made from grapes that have a medium sugar content, such as Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
Semi-sweet wines: These wines have a higher amount of residual sugar than semi-dry wines, and they taste quite sweet. Semi-sweet wines are often made from grapes that have high sugar content, such as Gewürztraminer.
Very sweet wines: These wines are dessert wines with very amounts of residual sugar. These are wines such as Port or Ice Wine.
How to Choose the Right Wine
The best way to choose the right wine for you is to consider your own personal taste preferences. If you prefer sweet wines, then you will want to choose a wine with higher residual sugar content. If you prefer dry wines, then you will want to choose a wine with very little residual sugar.
Also consider the food you will be pairing the wine with (see Wine and Food Pairing Made Easy).
Find here wine sweetness chart, a simplified version.
[…] Dry vs. Sweet Wine: What’s the Difference? […]
[…] First things first: “sweet” doesn’t mean dessert wine, and “dry” doesn’t mean boring. Sweet wines have more residual sugar, so you’ll notice fruitier, softer flavors. Dry wines have less sugar, which usually makes them more crisp, sometimes tart, and great for pairing with food. A wine being dry doesn’t make it harsh, and a wine being sweet doesn’t mean it’s cloying. There’s a whole spectrum. My advice: taste a little of both and see what your palate prefers. For a deeper dive into how sweetness is measured, check out The Wine Pal’s guide. […]