Wine Terms: Dry

This term refers to the amount of sugar in a wine after fermentation. Dry wine types have sugars that have all been used up to create alcohol. Sweet wine types have not used up all of their sugars to create alcohol. Sweet is commonly confused with fruity but if you try any typical red wine or white wine and compare it to a dessert wine you will taste the difference between this and a fruity drier wine. This is not about the fruitiness of a wine but its sweetness.


Tasting:
Pick a red or a white wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, or Sauvignon Blanc.
Pick a dessert wine or a fortified wine. I would recommend a Muscat Canelli, or a Port, for instance.
Both have distinctly fruity flavors but you will see that the red or white wine lack the sweetness of the dessert wine.




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