Contents
Connoisseurs of grape drinks know that dry wine is considered the most useful, in which the sugar content is reduced to the required minimum.
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What is the difference between dry and semi-sweet wine
At the level of sweetness
Dry wine is called dry precisely because the sugar in it is fermented “dry”. In such a drink, the content of the sweet residue is not more than 4 g / l. Therefore, not everyone likes the taste of such wine. Semi-sweet wine contains between 18 and 45 grams of sugar per litre. Therefore, it has a higher calorie content.
In production technology
For semi-sweet drinks, it will be more labor intensive. Of course, when we are not talking about mediocre wines, in which sugar is added already in finished form. To get a real semi-sweet drink, grape varieties with a high sugar content (at least 20–23%) are selected. Among them, late-ripening varieties are in the lead, such as: Merlot, Muscat, Riesling.
When harvesting raw materials, it is important not to miss the moment when the sweetness ratio reaches its maximum. Sometimes the fruits are specially dried or frozen on the vine so that they are “candied”.
During fermentation, it is necessary to control the ratio of sugar and alcohol in order to catch the moment of perfect balance. At this time, the work of the yeast is stopped by cooling or heating the wort. Next, sulfur dioxide is introduced into it to separate the semi-finished wine product from yeast residues, filtered and wait for natural clarification.
When it comes to dry wine, sugar is allowed to ferment to the end.
Taste
High-quality semi-sweet wines are distinguished by a delicate, fresh, light bouquet with notes of plums, berries, sweet peppers, flowers, and dried fruits. That is why they are so popular.
Only real connoisseurs can appreciate dry ones, since not everyone likes a sour, tart taste.
Health impact
Dry wines contain acids valuable for the body, antioxidants, glucose, fructose, tannins, vitamins, enzymes, and minerals. Therefore, they are considered the most beneficial for health.
The value of semi-sweet drinks is much lower.
Volumetric alcohol content
Both species vary from 8,5 to 15% (according to the Russian classification). However, semi-sweet wines tend to be more mid-range (11-13%), while dry wines typically lean towards the extremes of the range (9-16%).
Do not confuse semi-sweet wines with semi-dry
These are completely different categories.
You can recognize dry wine on foreign labels by the marks dry (English), sec (French), trocken (German), seco (Spanish), and semi-sweet is labeled as medium sweet, semi-sweet, demi-doux, lieblich, semidulce.
Advice from Shake
In a drink with a high level of sweetness, it is easier to mask the low quality of products and violation of technology, which is often used by unscrupulous manufacturers. Therefore, if you are not well versed in alcohol, it is better to give preference to dry wine.
Relevance: 18.01.2020
Tags: wine and vermouth