Definition: Dry

An Anglo-Saxon expression used to describe dry wines with no perceptible sweetness. Dry wines have less than 4 g/l of residual sugar, or slightly more for relatively acidic wines, as the acidity counterbalances the sweetness. Generally speaking, all red wines are dry. On the other hand, white, rosé, sparkling and fortified wines vary greatly from bone dry to dry, medium dry, medium sweet and sweet. It should also be noted that for port and other fortified wines, the term dry corresponds more to our concept of medium dry.