Talking of the red wines, we have heard a lot about them. From their texture, taste, and the effects, everything we know till now is just a part of what they are. People are often confused between the “sweet” and “fruity” red wines. And don’t be upset over not being able to find the particular sweet red wine that you are looking for because they are quite rare.
When compared to other dry wines or sweet white wines, they are harder to get. We often refer to them as transitionary wines. With the level of tannin in them and the amount of residual sugar, we can determine how sweet they can be.
Red wines are commonly dry, which is an antipode to the sweet, but I have got something that might help you, so keep reading.
Drinking Temperature for Sweet Red Wines
The serving temperature depends highly upon the tannin level in the red wines. Simply, tannin content is directly proportional to the serving temperature. We need to serve the wine warm if the wine is more tannic.
At the same time, some of the sweet red wines get served chilled around 15°C as a full-body wine. Take a note that if you are doing a sweet red wine as chilled, then refrigerate it for 1 hour in advance so that the taste is at its peak.
To enhance the flavor, try to consider the tannin and texture of the wine. If you make it any warmer than required, your wine will turn soupy, which I think you would not appreciate. And the word “room temperature” is not so accurate so try not to get into it.
How do they make sweeter Red Wine?
We all are familiar with the basics of the brewing of red wines. The grape juice is fermented in some specific conditions to produce different types of wines. But this fermentation makes up for the alcohol content in the wines but not the sweetness.
The grape juice ferments and converts into alcohol, and to make it naturally sweet, we need to stop the process of fermentation a little early. When we halt the fermentation, the remaining part of the sugar in grape juice stays and adds to the sweetness of red wines.
How to choose a sweeter Red Wine?
While making a choice, we don’t need to look out for much. Just remember that we need to read the alcohol by volume percentage in the wine we see. Do you guys know about the average ABV percentage in wines? Well, it’s always something 5.5 to 23.
Now when you know the alcohol volume in your wine, remember that if the rate is high, then the sugar content is low, so the wine will be dry. And if the alcohol percentage is low, then the wine will be sweeter. The tannin content positively affects the taste and aroma of the red wines, so there might be some exceptions to this method.
But in an overall view, this is the best way to determine the sweetness. And if you want to have an aromatic wine, then give a try to fruity wines. Fruity wines affect our taste sense of smell with aroma.
Categories in Red Wines
Apart from the full body and light body, we can categorize red wines as dry, off-dry, and sweet. The sweetest red wines fall under the dessert wine category and can bewitch your taste buds.
From the information below, we can easily choose sweet red wines for the beginners while considering their preferences.
Very Dry or Dry Red Wines
The dry wines are those having almost null sugar content. The grape juice is entirely fermented and converts into alcohol with no residual sugar, making it “not sweet.” Some of the best dry wines out there are Bordeaux from France, Chianti, and Montepulciano from Italy.
Off-Dry or Medium Wines
The wines with a subtle sweetness along with dryness got placed under this umbrella. Some of the well-known off-dry wines are Beaujolais, Burgundy, and Cabernet Franc, hailing from France. Some of the Italian wines are Sangiovese and Valpolicella, which set a milestone in this type. Merlot is an infamous red wine which can get placed in either off-dry or sweet red wines.
Sweet Red Wines and Dessert Wines
The wines with a higher content of residual sugar in them are sweeter and less dry. The extensively known Portugal wine, Port gets mostly served as a dessert wine. Ice Wines are primarily blends of different types of grapes ranging from Riesling and Merlot.
Trivia
● We all have heard that alcohol is not so good for our health, but that’s not the case with red wines. You will be fascinated to know that drinking red wine in a little amount regularly is actually good for your health. It is even considered better than not drinking at all. So, why not? Next time someone asks you out to have some wine, don’t say no.
● The entire tannin content, which we blame for ruining the sweetness, is amazingly beneficial to our health. Women often prefer drinking wines with a bit of high tannin content. The reason is that it slows the skin’s aging and helps to control cholesterol levels.
● Let us compare a bit between the wines. Dry red wines are more beneficial than sweet ones. The wines with lower alcohol percentages are better than those with a higher rate of alcohol.
● I bet that you have heard that wines, when aged for long, are better. But looking from the health’s point of view, young wines are better. So try to have more young wines than the older ones.
● Where do you think the color of wines comes from? It comes from a pigment present in the peel of the grape. An amusing fact is that some red wines get made from white grapes.
● The aromas in the wines are considered an essential part of them. The different smells we experience comes from just the grapes used. Yeah, they add other things too, but most of the time it is only the grapes.
