What Exactly Makes Wine Dry?

Terminology around wine can sometimes seem complicated, and one word that oftentimes gets used to describe a bottle is the term "dry." When a wine is described as dry, it doesn't have anything to do with its water content, but rather its sugar levels. Simply put, a dry wine has no residual sugar in it, which in turn means that the end product doesn't taste sweet. In non-dry wines, the producer stops the fermentation process just shy of the yeast being able to consume all of the sugar in the base liquid, so the final product still has some sweetness to it.

The most common misunderstanding of the term "dry" is that it leaves a dry feeling in your mouth after you drink it. This is a belief I held for a long time, having not known terribly much about wine. But the truth is, that puckered up feeling you get when you drink certain wines is due to the tannin content in wine; A higher amount of tannins can make your mouth feel dried out after a few sips.

Though dryness means that the yeast has been able to process every last bit of sugar that was originally available to it, that doesn't always mean that a dry wine is going to be heavier on the alcohol. In fact, there are types of very sweet wines classified as "dessert wines," which tend to have a higher alcoholic content and are meant to be enjoyed in small quantities at the end of a meal. This can include sweet red wines and fortified wines, which are the total opposite of dry wines, yet can come on pretty strong (Trust me, I know. I've tried them).

It's really just a matter of personal preference. If you're not a sweet beverage person, a dry wine would be one to pick. (A dry, German riesling goes great with Doritos.) And if you're still somewhat hesitant about that potential unrelated puckering sensation, try asking for a wine that's lower in tannins. If you plan on cooking with the best wine for the job, dry wine is generally a good idea because that way you're not accidentally introducing sugar to a recipe that doesn't call for it. For a bottle that's lower in sugar, but still bold in fruit-forward flavor, a dry wine makes for a tasty choice.