Decades ago, a German winemaker pulled a label-less bottle of riesling from a fabric bag, pulled the cork, and asked me to taste it.
It was a time when most imported German rieslings were sweet and the winemaker asked me, “How much sugar do you think this wine has?”
The wine was tart, but I knew that dry German wines could have up to 1% residual sugar. And with high acid, some wines could taste like licking a lemon.
I suspected a trick was afoot. So, I guessed it had 2% to 3% sugar, about 20-30 grams per liter. In most cases such a wine would be slightly sweet.
…