Wines
-
'98 Trittenheimer
Apotheke Riesling Spatlese (Weingut Milz-Laurentiushof, Germany)
-
Kendall
Jackson Johannisberg Riesling
-
'99 Huia
Riesling (New Zealand)
Try
This
Taste the three
wines above in order. Does the first wine taste sweet at all? Which
tastes sweeter, the second or the third wine?
What's
Going On?
When picked,
wine grapes are naturally very sweet. During fermentation, some
or all of the sugar in the grapes in converted to alcohol. The amount
of sugar left over after fermentation is called residual sugar.
The Huia Riesling has no residual sugar (called "dry"),
but both the Kendall Jackson and the German Spatlese have about
the same amount of residual sugar, making them taste a bit sweet.
Did the Kendall Jackson taste sweeter to you than the Spatlese?
The German wine has more acid to counteract, or balance, the sugar
so it seems less sweet.
|