Dry, Sweet, Bold or Crisp?

A dry wine has little or no sugar left in it. During fermentation, yeast turns the natural sugar in grape juice into alcohol. When it converts nearly all of it, the wine is dry. If fermentation stops early, or the grapes were extra ripe, some sweetness stays behind. Most red and white wines are dry, including nearly every Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and Chablis.

Fruity is not the same as sweet

This is the most common mix-up in wine. A Sauvignon Blanc can smell of passionfruit and a Shiraz of ripe plums, yet both are completely dry. Your nose picks up the fruit; your tongue decides the sweetness. If you are not sure, notice the tip of your tongue: that is where sweetness shows first.

From dry to sweet: the scale

• Dry: no noticeable sweetness. Most reds, crisp whites and Brut sparkling wines.
• Off-dry: a gentle touch of sweetness that rounds out the fruit. Many German Kabinett Rieslings and aromatic whites such as Gewürztraminer.
• Sweet sparkling: Moscato d’Asti from Piedmont is lightly fizzy, grapey, low in alcohol (around 5%) and naturally sweet. It’s the answer for anyone searching for a sweet sparkling wine.
• Sweet and dessert wines: rich, honeyed wines such as Tuscan Vin Santo, and fortified wines such as Tawny Port, made to sip with dessert or cheese.

Try: Saracco Moscato d’Asti · Gunderloch Jean Baptiste Riesling Kabinett · Tenute Rossetti Vin Santo del Chianti (375 ml)

The sparkling wine label trap

Sparkling wine labels use their own sweetness words, and one of them is famously confusing. From driest to sweetest: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Dry, Dry (Sec), Demi-Sec and Doux. Yes, “Extra Dry” is actually a little sweeter than “Brut”. So if you like your bubbles crisp and bone dry, look for Brut. If you prefer a softer, fruitier Prosecco, Extra Dry is the one.

Try: Bottega Prosecco Millesimato Brut · Corte Giara Prosecco Millesimato Extra Dry

Riesling is the other wine where the label matters. It can be bone dry or very sweet, so look for “Trocken” (dry) on German labels, or “Kabinett” for a lighter, often lightly sweet style. For our sweetest wines, see Dessert Wines.

Body is how heavy or rich a wine feels in your mouth. Think of skimmed milk, whole milk and cream: all milk, but each with a very different weight. Alcohol is the biggest driver of body, so the label is a handy clue. Wines under about 12.5% alcohol usually feel lighter, while those at 14% and above usually feel full.

• Light-bodied: Pinot Noir, Gamay (Beaujolais), Sauvignon Blanc, Prosecco. Fresh and easy, and great in Singapore’s heat.
• Medium-bodied: Merlot, Sangiovese (Chianti), unoaked Chardonnay. The most food-friendly middle ground.
• Full-bodied: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Amarone and oaked Chardonnay. Rich, warming and made for hearty food.

Try: Domaine des Nugues Beaujolais Villages · Tenuta di Arceno Chianti Classico · Kaesler Stonehorse Shiraz · Montresor Amarone della Valpolicella

Tannins are natural compounds from grape skins, seeds and oak barrels. You don’t taste them so much as feel them: the drying, slightly grippy sensation on your gums, much like a strong cup of black tea. They are mainly found in red wines, because reds are made with the grape skins and whites are not.

• Firm tannins: Nebbiolo (Barolo and Barbaresco), Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz.
• Soft tannins: Pinot Noir, Gamay, Merlot, Primitivo.

Tannins soften as a wine ages, and they soften with food too. Protein and fat smooth them out, which is why a bold Cabernet tastes so good with steak. If a young, powerful red feels harsh, pour it into a decanter or jug 30 to 60 minutes before serving.

Try: Oddero Barolo · Uggiano Falconeri Cabernet Sauvignon · Borgo del Mandorlo Primitivo di Manduria

Acidity is what makes a wine taste fresh and makes your mouth water, like a squeeze of lemon. Wines with high acidity are called crisp. Classic examples are Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, Chablis, Riesling and most sparkling wines. Grapes grown in cooler places keep more of their acidity.

Smooth usually describes reds with soft tannins, gentle acidity and ripe fruit, often from warmer, sunnier regions. Primitivo from southern Italy, Merlot and many Australian Shiraz fit the bill. Crisp wines are brilliant with fried and oily food, because the acidity cuts through the richness like lime on a plate of fritters.

Try: Dominique et Janine Crochet Sancerre · Julie Fevre Chablis · Rosa del Golfo Primitivo · Uggiano Petraia Merlot

Many wines spend time in oak barrels before bottling. Oak adds flavours of vanilla, toast, spice and sometimes coconut, and gives the wine a rounder, creamier feel. Wines aged in stainless steel tanks instead keep their fruit pure, fresh and zesty.

Chardonnay shows the difference best. Most Chablis sees little or no new oak, so it tastes of green apple, lemon and chalk. A Meursault or a Margaret River Chardonnay from Leeuwin Estate, aged in oak, is richer, nuttier and more buttery. On labels, words such as “barrel-aged”, “barrel-fermented” or the Spanish “Crianza” and “Reserva” point to time in oak.

Try: Roland Lavantureux Chablis · Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay

Tilt your glass against something white, such as a napkin or a sheet of paper, and look at the colour. It hints at the grape, the age and the style.

• Reds: a pale, see-through ruby usually means a lighter wine such as Pinot Noir. Deep purple or inky red means a bolder, fuller wine such as Shiraz, Malbec or Primitivo. As reds age, they turn towards brick and garnet at the edges.
• Whites: pale lemon with green hints suggests a young, crisp wine. Deeper gold suggests oak, age or sweetness, and dessert wines such as Vin Santo glow amber.
• Rosé: from pale salmon to deep pink. The colour shows how long the juice stayed with the red grape skins, not how sweet the wine is.

Colour is a clue, not a rule. Barolo looks surprisingly pale in the glass, yet it is one of the most powerful, tannic reds in the world.