As one who has attended many wine tastings, both as a taster and a pourer, I’ve heard many people say they “don’t like dry wines.” Being curious, I’ve often asked some of these folks what they mean by a dry wine. Usually, they tell me they don’t like wines that leave their mouths dried out, and the wines are usually red. I give them a sample of a Sauvignon Blanc or a Chardonnay, and they like it–even though I know the wine is dry. (By the way–kudos to these individuals for knowing what they like and don’t like, even if the wine terminology is misapplied.)
For some reason, the wine world likes to use confusing definitions in this instance. So, let’s try to lift some of the fog and explain what “dry” means. When wine is made, the sugars in the grape juice are consumed by yeast, and the result is alcohol. Winemakers can choose to allow this process (called fermentation) to continue until all of the sugars are eaten by the yeast. The resulting wine is called “dry.” A winemaker can also choose to stop fermentation before all of the sugars have been used up, leaving what we call residual sugars. These wines are called “sweet” or sometimes “off-dry” if the residual sugars are really low.
Makes tons of sense, doesn’t it? A wine with residual sugars is called sweet, while a wine with no residual sugars is called dry. If we were going to use terms that made sense, we would call these wines with no residual sugars something that indicates the wines aren’t sweet. But instead, we use the term dry.
The sad thing is that the term dry is easily misunderstood. A wine novice tries a red wine, does not appreciate the drying effects of the tannins, hears that the wine is “dry,” and then assumes all dry wines produce that effect. The wine drinker could go for years without enjoying Sauvignon Blancs, Chardonnays, Gewürtztraminers, and more–all because she thinks she won’t like them.
After all these years, I do not expect to be able to force the wine world to change its ways, but I hope to encourage wine novices to understand what a dry wine really is, and that it has nothing to do with tannins in red wine that dry out the mouth. With this misunderstanding cleared up, a wine drinker can speak the same language as the wine seller.
If you don’t care for the drying effect, you actually don’t like wines with a lot of tannins. You can ask the wine provider (wine shop, tasting room employee, etc.) for a wine that doesn’t have much in the way of tannins. You’ll be guided toward wines that won’t dry your mouth out, yet are properly known as dry. The benefit is that your wine horizons can be opened and you can better describe what you like and don’t like.
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