White Wine

White wine is made by pressing the grapes and fermenting only the juice, with the skins and seeds removed first. Most white wine comes from green or yellow grapes, though a dark grape can make white wine too if it is pressed quickly, because the color sits in the skins, not the juice. With no skins in the tank, the wine picks up almost no tannin, which is why white feels lighter and less grippy than red.

Dry vs sweet

Whether a white is dry or sweet comes down to how much sugar is left when fermentation stops. A dry wine is fermented until the yeast has used up nearly all the sugar. A sweet wine is stopped early or made from very ripe grapes, so sugar remains. “Dry white wine” is the most searched phrase in this category, and it describes the sugar, not a grape: Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio and most Chardonnay are made dry. Riesling covers the full range, from bone dry to dessert sweet, and the label rarely says which. Moscato is almost always sweet.

How white wine is made

After pressing, the juice is cleared and fermented, usually cool in stainless steel to preserve fruit aroma. Chardonnay is often fermented or aged in oak, which adds barrel tannin and a buttery or toasty character. Some whites also go through malolactic fermentation, but many are blocked from it to keep their acidity. Because white wine has little natural tannin or polyphenol to protect it, winemakers add sulfur dioxide to keep it from browning and spoiling.

Sulfites in white wine

This is why the profile here rates sulfites very high. EU limits for dry wine allow up to 200 mg/L of sulfur dioxide in white, against 150 mg/L for red, and the polyphenols in red wine act as antioxidants that white lacks. In the US, any wine with 10 parts per million or more must carry a “contains sulfites” statement, and nearly every bottle does. For people who react to sulfites, such as some asthmatics, white wine is the likelier trigger.

Calories, carbs and sugar

In a dry white the calories are mostly alcohol, which carries about 7 calories per gram, so a 13.5% Chardonnay has more than a 10.5% Riesling. In a sweet white the sugar adds on top. Residual sugar is the variable that decides which bottle is heavier, and it is the one most producers do not print. Our full ranking is in the healthiest white wine.

Hangover profile

Lower histamine and tannin than red, with fining agents such as egg, milk or fish products rarely disclosed on labels. For the head-to-head, see red wine vs white wine.