Wine sweetness (or wine dryness) is determined not only by the amount of sugar in a wine, but also by acidity, alcohol content, and the presence of compounds called tannins. Below is an easy to read wine sweetness chart showing most popular varieties of red and white wines, and how sweet or dry they taste. Keep in mind that individual wine types can vary between makers, so this chart should be used as a general reference to help you pick a wine suited to your tastes.To simplify the concept of wine sweetness, you can compare wines on this chart. Although not all wine conform to the generalizations within, you can still learn a great deal about how to find wine in the sweetness range you prefer. Some wines are so dry that they scrape the moisture from your tongue and make the inside of your mouth stick to your teeth. On the other end of the spectrum, some wines are so sweet that they stick to the sides of your glass like motor oil. Why Some Dry Wines Taste More Dry Than Others

Wine writers have put words to the concept of dryness for years and food scientists have actually studied why some wines taste more dry than others. Both groups claim that aroma, tannin and acidity are key components to why a wine tastes ‘dry.’ You Might Be More Sensitive to Tannin Than Your Friends What’s interesting about tannin is that a recent study demonstrated that some people have higher sensitivities to tannin based on the amount of proteins naturally present in their saliva. People with more proteins in their saliva do not feel the drying effect of tannin as much as people with less. Another interesting fact is that the taste of tannin is reduced when paired with salty and fatty foods. Acidity Tricks Our Perception of SweetnessA wine that has higher acidity will taste more ‘dry’ than a wine with less acidity. Several producers of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc will leave a couple of grams of residual sugar in their wines because the acidity is so high.

Our Noses Prime Our Sense of Taste Our sense of smell also greatly affects our perception of sweetness. As you can imagine, a wine that smells sweeter will also taste sweeter. Wine varieties are often referred to as ‘Aromatic’ because of their sweet floral aromas. dry red wine no 1A few examples of this are Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Muscat.best wine for valentine Do you like this post?best affordable wine bars nycEver find one size is too small and the next size is too large? That's because the chances of every guy fitting perfectly into small, medium, large, and extra large are next to nothing. What if there ... Check out all of our products > Red Wines From Lightest to Boldest (Chart) Identify similar tasting red wines based on their intensity from lightest to boldest.

The Spectrum of Boldness in Red Wines Just 32 red wine varieties make up a majority of the wine available in the international market. If all red wines were placed on this chart, there would be hundreds! This chart interprets the range of styles available in dry red wine. Although it’s possible to find a wine that doesn’t line up exactly as depicted, the chart can help explain that certain wines will always be lighter-bodied than others. Where does boldness in wine come from? A combination of several fundamental traits in wine define how bold it is. For example, the tannin level in wine is one of the indications of boldness, and so is high alcohol. On the lighter side, you’ll typically see wines with lower alcohol, less tannin and higher acidity. Another common way to identify a wine’s position in the spectrum has to do with its dominant fruit characteristics: Wines with red fruit flavors tend to be lighter bodied Wines with black fruit flavors tend to be fuller bodied

Interesting Things About Climate and Wine Grapes The fascinating thing about wine grapes is the wide range of climates in which they can grow. However, you’ll notice that certain varieties grow only in cool climates and vice versa. This chart shows us several red wine varieties and the climate types they prefer. Jones et all 2006 Here are a few useful takeaways from this chart: Pinot Noir does not appear to grow alongside Cabernet Sauvignon We can expect Cabernet Franc to have higher stylistic range based its ability to grow in varied climates. Merlot can grow in cooler climates than Cabernet Sauvignon Bolder wine varieties tend to grow in warmer climates Lighter-bodied wine varieties tend to grow in cooler climates Now that we know that certain grape varieties grow best in certain types of climates, let’s take a closer look at which wine regions are cool climate and which are warm climate on a map of the world. Warm Climate vs. Cool Climate Wine Regions

With hundreds of varieties of red wine grapes, there is as much red wine information to learn about as there are red grapes planted in all corners of the globe. That being said, you’ll likely encounter only a handful of these grapes most often. In our red wine basics section, we cover the flavor profiles and regions of the most common red wine grapes. You can certainly choose to discover more beyond this short list, but for a quick and easy red wine 101, the following will fit the bill. Along with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Cabernet Franc is part of the essential blending triad that makes up the majority of the Bordeaux blend (and Meritage) red wines produced in the United States. On its own, Cabernet Franc is a more tannic, earthy cousin to Cabernet Sauvignon. In warmer sites outside of Europe, its most distinctive attributes are its pure notes of violets and blueberry, and its ripe tannins often carry the scent of fresh roasted coffee. It is made (though rarely labeled) as a varietal in Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur-Champigny, where it is hard and tannic and can evoke an austere minerality.

In Pomerol and Saint-Émilion it is featured in blends with Merlot, adding a spicy, pungent, sometimes minty note. The primary component of great Bordeaux and the defining grape of the Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon is grown all over the world, but rarely achieves greatness. It ripens late and can be quite weedy and even vegetal in cooler climate regions such as Chile. In Bordeaux and Tuscany it is almost always blended to soften its intensely astringent tannins. The Napa style is dense, purple-black, jammy and tasting of currants and black cherries. Thick and ripe, layered with expensive new oak scents and flavors, it has almost single-handedly created the phenomenon of the cult wineries. In Washington, the best Cabernet straddles the border between the ripeness of California versions and the nuanced herb, leaf, and olive flavors of great Bordeaux. The grape of Beaujolais, Gamay is often made to be drunk quite young, and shows bright, tangy, fruit-driven flavors of strawberry, raspberry, and sweet cherries.

When made by the method known as carbonic maceration, young Gamay has a slight effervescence and a distinct smell of bananas. Beaujolais Nouveau, released each year shortly after harvest, is the most famous example. Old vine Grenache makes some of the greatest red wines of both Spain and Australia, and is an important component of Châteauneuf du Pape, Gigondas, and Côtes du Rhône in France. An early-ripening grape, it tends toward high alcohol and low acidity. At its best it creates very fruity, spicy, bold-flavored wines somewhat reminiscent of a softer, less-intense version of Syrah. One of the lesser blending grapes of Bordeaux, Malbec has risen to prominence in Argentina, where it makes spicy, tart red wines that take well to aging in new oak barrels. Elsewhere it remains a minor player, though a few varietally labeled Malbecs are made in California and Washington. Merlot is the Chardonnay of reds, easy to pronounce, easy to like, agreeable, and versatile, but mostly lacking any substantive character of its own.

The great exception is Chateau Pétrus, where it comprises 95 percent of the blend. Varietal Merlot rose to popularity in the 1990s but too many insipid, watery, over-priced Merlots have taken the bloom off the rose. Outside of Bordeaux, it is at its very best in Washington state, where it ripens beautifully and creates plump, powerful wines that can age for a decade or more. This Mediterranean red grape is especially popular in France and Spain, making medium-bodied, lightly spicy wines with pretty, cherry-flavored fruit. The best sites also add a distinctive, gravelly minerality to the fruit. Some old vine plantings of Mourvèdre remain in California and also in Australia, where it is generally featured in a blend with Shiraz and Grenache. The principal grape of Barolo, Barbaresco, and Gattinara (all made in the Piedmont region of Italy), Nebbiolo unquestionably belongs with the great red wines of the world, but has proven almost impossible to grow anywhere else. California versions, despite decades of effort, remain light, thin and generic.

Pinot Noir is the grape that winemakers love to hate; it is the prettiest, sexiest, most demanding, and least predictable of all. The template for great Pinot Noir is Burgundy, but even there the grape is flighty, fragile, and prone to obstinately weedy flavors. It is a principal component of many Champagnes and other sparkling wines, but can also be ripened to produce wines of surprising density and even jammyness in California, New Zealand, and warm sites in Oregon. Pinot Noir is best expressed as a pure varietal, and is often featured as a single-vineyard wine in Oregon and California, emulating the hundreds of tiny appellations of Burgundy. When at its best, Pinot has an ethereal delicacy yet can age for decades; it is most memorably described as “the iron fist in the velvet glove.” The principal grape of Tuscany, where it is the primary component of Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino. Sangiovese is relatively light in color and quite firmly acidic. In Italy it shows distinctive flavors of pie cherry, anise, and tobacco;

elsewhere it can be rather plain and undistinguished, though some promising bottles have come from Washington’s Walla Walla Valley. Many of Italy’s “Super Tuscan”  red blends marry Sangiovese to Cabernet Sauvignon, a combination that both strengthens the Sangiovese and smooths out the Cabernet. Plantings of Syrah have exploded in California and Washington, where sappy, spicy, peppery, luscious versions are being made. Known as Shiraz in Australia, it is unarguably that country’s claim to enological fame. Australian Shiraz is made in every conceivable style, from light and fruity to dense and tarry; it is made as a deep red, tannic sparkling wine, and also as a fortified “Port”. In the northern Rhône, the most extraordinary expressions of the grape are produced, especially in Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, where its peppery, dense, spicy fruit is layered into unbelievably complex wines streaked with mineral, smoked meat, tar, wild herb, and leather. For decades Zinfandel was California’s grape, though now it is grown all over the west coast of the United States, in Australia, Italy, and elsewhere, and its ancestry has been traced to Croatia.