We got into the sweet/dry discussion without finishing it.  Many American wine growers do not have the proper grapes or enough sunshine to grow dry/sweet balanced wines (except in California).  That is one reason the American wine drinking public has a hard time finding good semi-dry or semi-sweet wines.  The Germans on the other hand have had generations to resolve that problem and have found good grapes and growing conditions to satisfy both ends of the spectrum. 

Sweetness in white wine should be natural as it comes best from the sugar produced by the sun shining on the grapes.  If it is, the sweetness will be matched by a natural fruit tartness to give all the pleasure of a good, garden-grown apple.  Unfortunately a lot of wine has sugar added in processing.  There is nothing illegal or dishonest about this because American’s believe in ingenuity in creating just about everything.  And no truth in labeling has been determined for American wines of any condition or background.  But sweetened rather than naturally sweet wine will always show its pedigree in a certain sugary artificiality, most noticeable in the aftertaste. 

Dryness comes from letting the wine go on fermenting until all the grape sugar is used up.  This should leave plenty of fruity favors to complement the tartness, but a lot of cheaper dry wines lack this and end up empty of taste leaving only the tastes of stringency (tartness) and alcohol and little else.  Remember that the best value in whites of most countries is rarely the driest or the sweetest but something with a touch of the natural sugar left to give it body, breadth, and interest. 

An exception to this rule is Germany which has mastered the creation of dry as well as super sweet wines.  Germany has a variety of white grape called Baccus which is naturally less sweet and in areas where little sun peaks around their hills produces a marvelous wine which is not lip-puckeringly dry and it can be very pleasurable with a broad and complicated flavor palate.  The other sweet end is their ice wines which were discussed earlier in the Taste Sensation series.  Also, wines from the Franken area tend to be very dry and also have a broad taste diversity.  If the wine is a German Riesling, look for the cabinet distinction on the label as they tend to be the driest of their quality designated wines.  I myself look for ausleses rather than späteleses because the latter tend to be sweeter than the former. though I like a somewhat sweeter wine. having developed my taste preferences in Germany rather than in America.

Germany has developed some excellent reds as well.  Their Dornfelder wines often get a “My God” reaction from first time drinkers because they are very slightly sweet but have a naturally velvety consistency that can be found in no other wines.  Their range of flavors is extremely broad and their finish is so consistent with their aroma and taste that   their bottles often empty before any other wines white or red.  In fact I often have trouble keeping them in stock. 

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