All about dry red wines
Dry red wine is more preferable drink for society rather than sweet ones. The survey on my blog also asserts this assumption.
What is dry red wine? This is a drink made of red grape varieties. To produce this wine type winemakers ferment grapes till all sugar content is consumed. When the level of sugar content is between 0 – 1.3 percent, wine is said to be dry. The less residual sugar in wine, the dryer it is. During the fermentation process sugar contained into grapes is converted to alcohol; tannin and skin color are extracted from grapes. The time of this process varies depending on the type of wine you wish to produce; sometimes it may take several weeks. The longer the fermentation the more flavored and colored the wine will be made.
The most distinguishable characteristic of this wine type is its flavor. When you smell it you should feel the pleasant bouquet, it should be smelled pleasantly. It should have the aroma of sweetness without containing the sugar taste. The taste of grapes should give wine more flavors. When tasting dry wine you should be able to feel all the flavors that are presented into this drink. Dry wine makes the meal more delicious, wine flavor must not be overwhelmed by the taste of food.
Types of Dry Red Wines
Cabernet Sauvignon known as the king of red wines is the most common and highly regarded dry red wine variety. This wine attracted people’s attention and has become popular since 18th century as it was the most favorite wine of those days in Bordeaux. Cabernet grapes are still very popular in today’s major wine producing countries and wine made with this grape have a great popularity among wine enthusiasts. In some countries wine makers use to blend it with other grape varieties like Merlot. But in some wine regions, for example, in California, wines are produced using 100 % of Cabernet. Wine produced from this variety is distinguished as a complex and hearty, full bodied wine. While tasting it you feel intense and complex aromas and flavors. Also Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the wines having the high alcohol levels.
Pinot Noir is one of the delicate dry red wines, having different flavor varieties. The words “Pinot Noir” have the French origin, meaning “pine” and “black” because of the dark purpled color. The grape itself has also the French origin, exactly the Burgundy wine region. But today this variety is spread in all wine producing countries, especially in regions having cooler climates. Pinot Noir wines are among the most favorite dry reds for wine drinkers. This type is favored because of its light to medium body and having delicious and varied aromas of fruit and herbals. Especially it has the aroma of black fruit, cherry and raspberry.
Shiraz is wine with one of the highest levels of tannin, with some bitterness, but this bitter taste is balanced by the fruit aromas. Shiraz or Syrah grapes are originated from France and are spread all over the Europe, but this variety is the most popular in Australia as the darkest skinned grape. The medium to full bodied wine has the flavors ranging from violets to berries, or chocolate. The region where the grapes are grown impacts whether the wines will be fruity or acidic.
Merlot – wine with low acidic content has become one of the most popular and demanded dry red wine since the last decade, as it’s a drinkable wine type. The name has the French origin “Terdus Merula”, that meant black bird. Merlot grapes are popular in all wine producing regions as it gives winemakers a good potential to use it as varietal or blending with other varieties. Merlot wines have the black cherry and herbs rich flavors and tend to be a fruity and acidic wine, especially when it’s grown in cold climate regions.
Besides dry red wines are very popular and favored by wine lovers, this type of wine is widely used in different cuisines for cooking meals. The function of wine in cooking is to give more aromas and flavors to food and to make it more delicious. I’ll talk more about the role of dry wine in cooking in my later posts.
