Why do some people think Pinot Grigio is sweet???

[Andrew_Morris]

@PeterJ

@Andrew Morris

@PeterJ

Had it happen again just yesterday with a Lake County wine that is 56% Pinot Grigio, 31% Sauvignon Blanc, 13% Gewürztraminer. Female customer, late 30-ish, tried a taste and said it was “too sweet”. Residual Sugar: 0.8%. Very sensitive palate or fruitiness = sweet?

IMHO, it is not necessarily a choice between your 2 options. 0.8% RS is plenty of sugar to make a wine taste too sweet, depending on the person and lots of other factors. Particularly if it has low/moderate acid. Aromas and alc. also affect the perception. What was the stated alc? Did they give any other specs on the the wine? TA? pH?

This is from the fact sheet:

TA: 6.5/ml
PH: 3.2
Alcohol: 13.3%
Residual Sugar: 0.8%

I know my palate is not as sensitive as my wife’s, so I generally suspect my own reaction, but this wine is pretty straight forward. I find it “citrus-y” and crisp, so I presume that’s mostly the acid; and it is “fruity”. Really interested in the relationship between the other factors.

The alc is not a big factor, the pH and TA would tell us that this is a fairly tart wine, so this is exactly they type that some can notice the sweetness and some can’t, depending on their sugar threshold and if they have had a chance to calibrate with measured samples.

[Daniel_Osman]

@Andrew Morris

I think that each of the above reasons is part of the explanation.

I serve dry, VERY tart white wines and Rosés with fruit aroma and some claim they are sweet. Smells like something sweet means it is sweet is very common.

Another factor could be that some of the cheaper ones (others perhaps, too) might actually be slightly sweet. Lots of commercially available white wine is between .4-.6% RS. I test other wines for RS and am surprised from time to time with how much is there. Reds included.

I consider .2% or less to be dry.

Yeah I agree.