A smooth wine doesn't mean it is sweet.

Many times we hear about soft wines. We think they are sweet, but the surprise is that they are often completely dry. In fact, there is often confusion between softness and sweetness. These are two completely different sensations that affect different senses. Sweetness is a primary sensation that is perceived on the tip of the tongue. Softness, on the other hand, is a tactile sensation perceived between the tongue and the palate. Sweetness therefore always requires a more or less high residual sugar content. When we talk about sugars, we are particularly referring to fructose or glucose. For example, think of some sweet wines such as Sicilian passito wines. Softness, however, always relates to the concentration of glycerol in the wine. A colorless, tasteless, and odorless substance that has important viscosity and enhances the delicate and round smoothness of the wine on the palate. Glycerol often forms from dried grapes and can also be found in sweet wines.

Sweet and soft. But glycerol also comes from long aging processes in barrel or barrique, and therefore we can also find it in great red wines such as Barolo, Brunello, Bordeaux, or Bourgogne, which are decidedly dry wines, without a residual sugar content. Amarone is a wine that always contains large quantities of it due to being made from dried grapes and is appreciated precisely for this enveloping and warm softness, aided by the alcohol that makes it smoother on the palate.

Even white wines can be soft. An example is the Alsatian wines that always maintain a particular richness due to a significant amount of glycerol. 

So, just to make a good impression, when you drink a dry white wine that feels particular and round, say that it is soft. Let's leave the sweetness to the sweet wines!

Fabio De Vecchi