Riesling from Alsace, Germany or Austria can produce a stunning array of different wines, from bone dry to late-harvest sweet white wine to ice wine. The German wine classification breaks down the different Riesling types into 6 “Prädikat” designations based on the amount of residual sugar, in descending order: Kabinett Riesling (the driest category), Spatlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese and Eiswein (sweet ice wine). One of the most versatile grape varieties, with a remarkable ability to express the entire range of this sweetness spectrum, is Riesling. Sweet whites pair beautifully with even spicier dishes, pungent blue cheeses and fatty foie gras. These include luscious, dense, golden wines like Tokaji Aszu, Sauternes and noble-rot Chenin Blanc from the Loire. “Off-dry” whites like Gewurztraminer from Alsace and “medium sweet” whites like Muscat often make for the best pairings with slightly spicy cuisines, like Thai or Vietnamese food.Ī “sweet” white wine has over 120 grams of residual sugar per liter. A “medium-sweet” wine will have 35-120 grams per liter of residual sugar, revealing a more intense sweetness on the palate. These wines will offer a mild sensation of sweetness. In an “off-dry” or “semi-dry” white wine, the fermentation is halted before the full conversion of grape sugar to alcohol, leaving behind 17-35 grams per liter of residual sugar. These wines tend to pair best with light appetizers and fresh seafood, like oysters and whitefish. Sauvignon Blanc grapes, Pinot Grigio from Italy and Chardonnay from Chablis make some of the driest white wines in the world. A “dry” wine will have only 0-17 grams per liter of residual sugar. This means that the overall taste of sweet/sour in a glass of white wine results mostly from a delicate interplay between the wine’s acidity and sugar content.Ī white wine is considered “bone dry” when 100% of the grape’s natural sugar has been converted to alcohol during the fermentation process, leaving only 0-1 gram per liter of residual sugar behind. To what do these terms refer? While tannins (along with acidity) help suppress the sensation of sweetness in red wines, white wines are produced with much shorter (if any) maceration periods, resulting in much fewer (if any) tannins in the glass. You may have heard the terms “dry,” “off-dry” or “sweet” in descriptions of different white wine types. Discover the many different aspects of viticulture and winemaking that come together to define the style of a white wine, as well as the aromas, flavors and textures you sense in the glass. Join us on an adventure in the world of white wine. To help guide you in the direction of the right bottle for any occasion, we’ve broken down the main white wine types by sweetness, body, grape varietal, geography, terroir and winemaking style. With a vast array of white grape varieties, terroirs of origin, and winemaking styles to choose from, it can be difficult to known which white wine types to purchase.
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