What is a dry wine?

The vast majority of wines we consume are dry, although semi-dry and semi-sweet wines are entering the market with more frequency every day. Those wines can be red, white, rosé, generous, orange, among other varieties.

Dry wine is also known as table wine and is named this way because, unlike sweet wines, it has very little or no sugar at all. It is mainly determined by its taste, although factors such as acidity and alcohol can also influence its perception.

Table wines are known like that because they can accompany any meal and succeed at it, as well as they can be used in the kitchen as an ingredient in various recipes. These can be red and white. The types of dry red wines are Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and in whites we can find Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.

Technical definition of dry wine: dry wines are those wines that after fermentation, the residual sugar left in the wine is less than 4 grams per liter, expressed as fructose or glucose.

How is a dry wine  made?

A dry wine is made in a traditional way. The grape must be fermented, with or without skins depending on the type of wine it is, until the yeasts consume all the sugar in the must. Wine usually has a small amount of residual sugar, which must be less than 4 grams for the wine to be considered as a dry one.

We should not confuse a dry wine with an astringent wine, which is when it leaves a dry feeling on the tongue. This is caused mainly by tannins and not sugar.

How to identify a wine by its sugar content?

As we already said, dry wines are the ones whose residual content does not exceed more than 4 grams per liter, but what about other wines?

Semi-dry ones are wines whose residual sugar content is between 4 and 12 g / l expressed in fructose and glucose.

While the semi-sweet wines are the ones whose residual sugar content is between12 and 45 g / l expressed in fructose and glucose.

On the other hand, Candy wines are those whose residual sugar content is more than 4 grams per liter in fructose and glucose.

Pairing for a dry wine

There is always a perfect time to enjoy a good dry white wine. With a wide range in grape varieties, these wines have as their main characteristic the scarcity of sugar, which makes them dry for excellence.  Dry wine pairings are diverse, from fish, meat, salads, hamburgers, soups and other foods.

First of all, you need to know that there are no rules when it comes to enjoying white wine. In other words, pairing these wines can lead to some of the most exciting and unexpected pairings you have ever tried, and therefore, in the “finding.wine” wine store, there are always the best offers in the market, so you can order right now if you want, using any device with internet and enjoy your preferred wine as soon as possible.

Creativity should never be capped, since the combinations are so many, you should let your imagination fly. However, you must take into account several basic aspects, for instance, a wine should never hide the flavor of our dish, instead it must complement it, so we must find the balance to achieve the perfect harmony between the two.

Great dry wines

The list of the best dry wines is really large, however, for this article purpose, we’ve bothered to gather some info and recommend to you the best of the best dry wines available on market. Keep reading and find out!

Reds

When referring to red wines, we have the Monte Xanic Gran Ricardo 2017. It is a clean and bright wine with a purplish hue and an intense cherry color. The layer is closed. The main feature of the Gran Ricardo is its high quality and customization. For its production, only a part of the vineyards is used, specifically aimed at making this wine.

It is a spectacular wine, very well structured and has great persistence, totally recommended to share and enjoy with family and friends, including a wide range of foods for pairing

Another dry red wine that we can recommend is the Vega Sicilia Reserva Especial 2013; It is a reserve red wine from the Ribera del Duero Origin Designation from the legendary Vega Sicilia Winery. This Reserva Especial comes from the blend of three vintages of the unique red Vega Sicilia: 1996, 1998 and 2002.

This wine is made with temperature-controlled fermentation in wooden containers with native yeasts. The malolactic fermentation phase is carried out in the same way in wooden tanks, and once this phase is finished, it goes through an aging process that can be considered the longest between red wines. It’s almost ten years of aging.

Rosé

Among the best rosé dry wines, we found the 1998 Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame Rose 1998; creamy, complex, fine and elegant. It is the flagship of the famous Veuve Clicquot Maison, a delicate and elegant tribute to all that has made them one of the most important names in the region and the world.

This is rosé champagne that expresses the Maison's historic lands, classified as Grand Cru, where the Pinot Noir grape dominates and is balanced by a touch of Chardonnay. A very good vintage of an emblematic cuvée.

Whites

A dry white wine is characterized by having a lighter texture and for not being voluptuous at all. Something logical, remember, we take into account that its concentration of sugars must be almost imperceptible or, even, zero. They are usually bottles with a pretty marked acidity as a result of the natural fermentation

When we get into the art of wine tasting with a dry white wine, we are able to identify them more easily. We’re talking about wines with an intense retronasal phase, but with a short aftertaste. Or, in other words, there are wines that leave less sensations, aromas and flavors in the mouth once we have swallowed them.

Finally, one more detail that will allow us to identify a dry white wine. Let's appeal to sight. Dry white wines are usually greenish or yellowish. Another fantastic feature that lets us know whether or not we are in front of a bottle of these characteristics.

There are definitely an immense amount of wines as well as types. Dry wines are just one from the rest. We hope you’ve liked this article and make sure to check the wines we recommended. Have a good and happy toast!