—Miki F., Glenpool, Okla. Dear Miki, All of these terms—dry, sweet and semi-dry—refer to a level of sweetness or residual sugar in a wine. A wine is considered “dry” when all of the grape sugar is converted to alcohol during fermentation, while a sweet wine still has some residual sugar.
Whether a wine is considered ‘dry’ or not depends on the amount of residual sugar it has. Technically, wines with less than 10 grams per liter are considered ‘dry,’ those with more than 30 grams per liter are ‘sweet’ or dessert wines, and anything in between is considered ‘off-dry.’
How do you know if a wine is sweet or dry?
You can use wine tech sheets to find the exact number. (So useful!) When reading a tech sheet: Below 1% sweetness, wines are considered dry. Above 3% sweetness, wines taste “off-dry,” or semi-sweet. Wines above 5% sweetness are noticeably sweet! Dessert wines start at around 7–9% sweetness.
What is a good percentage of sweetness in wine?
1 Below 1% sweetness, wines are considered dry. 2 Above 3% sweetness, wines taste “off-dry,” or semi-sweet. 3 Wines above 5% sweetness are noticeably sweet! 4 Dessert wines start at around 7–9% sweetness. 5 By the way, 1% sweetness is equal to 10 g/L residual sugar (RS). 6 1% sweetness is a little less than 2 carbs per 5 oz serving (~150 ml)
How much sugar is in a dessert wine?
Dessert wines start at around 7–9% sweetness. By the way, 1% sweetness is equal to 10 g/L residual sugar (RS). By the way, the average wine drinker can’t detect sweetness levels below 1.5%.
What determines the sweetness of a wine?
The maker of a wine determines its sweetness. Popular varietal wines and styles tend to share the same sweetness level. Wine sweetness ranges from virtually nothing to upwards of 70% sweetness (like a rare bottle of Spanish PX! ).