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+--- Thread: Rookie dry wine question. (/thread-18831.html)
- Soccermom - 03-25-2005
Hello. I'm new here.
Several months ago I bought a wine that made my lips pucker. I really enjoyed it but I don't remember what type it was. Not for sure but I beleive it was a red wine. I have been trying many type wines and can't find the nice feeling and taste I once had. Any suggestions for that very dry lip feeling?
Also is 'bitter' described as 'dry'?
I'm not much on the bitter taste.
Thanks and I'm happy to find this group!
Here are the latest that I have tried:
Chardonnay, PinotGrigio, Shiraz, Merlot, Zinfindel
- Innkeeper - 03-25-2005
Hi Mom, and welcome to the Wine Board. Bitterness is found in red wine and comes from exposure to grape skins, seeds, stems, et al. It is concentrated in sediment and this should be decanted out. Dry is the condition of wine when all the sugar has been fermented into alcohol. Therefore it is a corallary of sweetness, not bitterness.
The only wine the regularly makes my lips pucker is Petite Sirah. Try the current vintage from Bogel. It runs around $10.
- Thomas - 03-25-2005
Mom--Based on what you say about liking dry but not liking bitter, you might find yourself doing a lot of experimenting before you settle on wine you like--but that's the fun of wine.
Don't think of "dry" as just being a wine with all the sugar fermented out of it; that's only part of the definition. Dry also means the wine might have one or two strong components: tannin or acidity, each of which can cause your mouth to pucker. There are many wines that contain upwards of 1% residual sugar by volume but they still make your mouth pucker because of high acidity.
Bitterness in the finish is often the result of seeds, stems and skin contact, and that is mainly because that is where tannin is found (and in oak barrels too). The hallmark sensation of tannin is to make you pucker; the hallmark taste of it bitterness. Big, young reds can be bitter in the finish.