Learn · Questions
The questions everyone asks about wine
The questions Brazilians most often take to Google, answered in a few lines. Each one has its source and leads to the guide that goes deeper. Tap a question to open it.
Sweet, dry and off-dry
What's the difference between dry and sweet wine?
Only the sugar left over after fermentation: dry doesn't mean strong, sweet doesn't mean weak. Labels follow the scale of up to 4 g/L for dry, 4 to 25 for medium-dry and above 25 for sweet, which came from Decreto 8.198/2014 (revoked in 2025).
Source: Lei 7.678/1988, art. 8; Decreto 8.198/2014 (revoked by 12.709/2025)
Is Malbec dry or sweet?
Dry, almost always: in the house search, dessert Malbec is a rarity. When it's sweet, the label says so.
Source: X-Wines database in the house search, counted on Nov 4, 2026
Is rosé wine sweet?
Rosé is a color, not a sweetness level: it's made from red grapes with little skin contact. There's dry rosé and medium-dry rosé, and the label tells you which.
Read: Rosé, in the glossary · Dry or sweet
Source: The house glossary (entry Rosé)
Is brut sparkling wine sweet?
No: brut is dry. The sweet ones are demi-sec and doux, and the European "extra dry" is sweeter than brut, the trick in the scale.
Source: Reg. (UE) 2019/33, Annex III, part A
Grapes and styles
What's the difference between Malbec, Merlot and Cabernet?
All three are French and related. In the glass, the simplest yardstick is tannin: Cabernet Sauvignon is the one that grips your mouth the most; Merlot and Malbec are softer, Malbec with more color and dark fruit.
Read: Malbec, Merlot or Cabernet →
Source: VIVC (Vitis International Variety Catalogue)
What is tannin?
It's that grip on your tongue and gums, like over-steeped black tea. It comes from the grape's skin, seeds and stems, and from the barrel wood; it's not a flaw or acidity: it's the backbone of a red.
Source: House guide No. 10, with the sources at the bottom
What is perlage?
It's the French word for the little bubbles in sparkling wine. Fine and persistent, rising in a thread, usually means the traditional method; coarse and hurried, the tank. It's no quality yardstick: a good Prosecco has lively bubbles and that's just right.
Source: Comité Champagne; guide No. 12
Are sparkling wine and Champagne the same thing?
All Champagne is sparkling wine, but only the one from the Champagne region, in France, gets the name. Prosecco, cava and Brazilian sparkling wine are cousins from other places; frisante is the relative with less fizz.
Read: Champagne, the region · Perlage and the names of the bubbles
Source: Comité Champagne; Lei 7.678/1988 (frisante and espumante are separate classes)
Why is it called vinho verde ("green wine")?
It's not the color: it's the name of a region in northwest Portugal, demarcated in 1908. Nobody has settled where the name comes from: the green-fruit acidity or the landscape, green even in winter.
Read: The Vinho Verde region →
Source: CVRVV (Comissão de Viticultura da Região dos Vinhos Verdes)
Tawny or ruby Port: what's the difference?
Ruby is the Port of fruit and color, aged in large vats; tawny ages in wood with more air and turns amber, with nuts and caramel. LBV and Vintage belong to the ruby family.
Read: Tawny, Ruby, LBV or Vintage →
Source: IVDP (Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto)
The label and the law
What's the difference between Reserva and Reservado?
For wine made in Brazil, Reservado is a young wine, ready to drink, with 10% alcohol or more. Reserva requires 11% and 12 months of ageing for reds, wood optional. In other countries the rules change.
Read: Reserva wine: what it means →
Source: IN MAPA 14/2018, art. 30
What's the difference between vinho fino and vinho de mesa?
Vinho fino is made from European grapes (Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay); the most common vinho de mesa is from American grapes, like Isabel, Bordô and Niágara. In Brazil, both are categories in the law.
Read: Vinho fino or de mesa? →
Source: Lei 7.678/1988, art. 8
What is DOC?
It's a certificate of origin: it says where the wine comes from and what rules it followed. DOC in Portugal, DOCG in Italy, AOC in France; the name changes, the idea is the same.
Read: DOC, DOCG and Grand Cru →
Source: House guide No. 3, with each country's law at the bottom
Is there alcohol-free wine?
There is, and it's one of the fastest-growing categories in the world. In Brazil, the law doesn't let the label call it "alcohol-free wine": the official name is dealcoholized fermented grape beverage.
Read: Is there alcohol-free wine? →
Source: IN MAPA 14/2018; guide No. 6
Serving and storing
How many glasses are in a bottle of wine?
Five glasses of 150 ml, the most common serving pour. Sparkling, served in a smaller pour, gives six; a magnum, ten.
Read: How many glasses are in a bottle →
Source: 750 ml ÷ 150 ml; guide No. 17
How many bottles of wine per person at a party?
Half a bottle per person who drinks, plus one sparkling for every six people for the toast. Festinha does the math by the food and the occasion.
Read: Festinha, the wine calculator →
Source: House rule (5 glasses per bottle, 6 for the toast)
How long does open wine last?
Stoppered and in the fridge, red included: sparkling 1 to 3 days; white, rosé and red 3 to 5; tawny Port and oloroso Sherry, weeks; Madeira, months. Vintage Port and Fino Sherry last like a red, a few days. The enemy is air.
Read: How long does open wine last →
Source: House guide No. 8, with the sources at the bottom
What's the right temperature for red wine?
16 to 18 °C for full-bodied and 12 to 14 for light. "Room temperature" meant Europe's: in Brazil, red goes in the fridge for about 20 minutes. To chill fast, a bucket with water, ice and salt.
Read: Wine temperature · How to chill it fast
Source: Guides No. 9 and 16 (Cook's Illustrated temperature test)
How do you open wine without a corkscrew?
The safest way is a long screw and pliers or a hammer, like pulling a nail. Pushing the cork in works too; if it crumbles, strain through a coffee filter.
Source: Wine Spectator; Decanter (at the bottom of guide No. 15)
Wine and your body
Does wine make you fat? How many calories in a glass?
A 150 ml glass of dry red has about 125 kcal; a 13% bottle, around 600. Wine's calories are almost all alcohol; in sweet wine, the sugar adds up.
Read: Does wine make you fat? →
Source: House guide No. 13 (calculated from the alcohol content, sources at the bottom)
Is wine good for the heart?
That idea fell apart. In 2023, the WHO wrote that, for health, there is no safe level of alcohol. Wine is for enjoying, not medicine.
Source: WHO, Jan 2023; IARC (alcohol in Group 1)
Why does wine give you a headache?
Nobody knows for sure. Sulfites explain it poorly (red has less than white); what is known is that alcohol dehydrates. A glass of water between one glass of wine and the next helps, and a headache that keeps coming back is a talk for your doctor.
Read: Why does wine give you a headache? →
Source: NIAAA (Hangovers); Vally & Misso (sulfites); guide No. 21
Can you mix wine with Sprite?
You can. It's your wine, and mixing is a tradition across half the world: sangria, tinto de verano, spritz and our own quentão. Liked it? Good for you for finding out what you like.
Source: Reg. (UE) 251/2014; IN MAPA 14/2018
Choosing and buying
What's the best wine?
The best one is the one you like. For a yardstick, the house search shows the rating from people who drank it (X-Wines) and says whether the wine is among the top 10% or below average.
Source: X-Wines (de Azambuja, Morais and Filipe, 2023)
How do you choose a good, cheap wine?
At the supermarket, look at the country, the grape and the alcohol content; be wary of a pompous label. And ask the house search: it tells you the rating and the price range of each bottle.
Read: How to choose at the supermarket →
Source: House guide No. 14
Which wine is good for someone just starting out?
Start with what you already like and taste with attention: some people prefer sweet, some prefer dry. A red full of tannin is what feels strangest at first, and that's fine.
Read: Wine for beginners · Your Palate
Source: Hayes & Pickering 2012; Pickering & Hayes 2017
Which wine goes with churrasco, pizza or cheese?
Churrasco calls for a red with tannin (Malbec, Cabernet, Tannat); tomato pizza, a red with acidity (Sangiovese); with a cheese board, white is the safest bet. Pairing is a suggestion, never a law.
Read: Churrasco · Pizza · Pasta · Cheese · Bacalhau
Source: At the table guides (WSET, consortia, a 2016 French study)
Which wine to give as a gift?
It depends on how much the person knows: for someone who knows wine, one of the best rated; for someone starting out, a well-known, easy one. Gift a Wine asks and picks with a checked price.
Source: Price ranges checked by the house
How many bottles of wine can I bring back from a trip?
Up to 12 liters of alcoholic beverages per person over 18, about 16 bottles, within the US$ 1,000 shopping allowance for air travel. And the bottle goes in checked luggage, not your carry-on; the exception is duty free, in the sealed bag with the receipt.
Source: Receita Federal (traveler's baggage); ANAC, Resolution 515/2019, art. 5 (liquids in carry-on bags)
And the house
Vinhozinho or vinhosinho?
With a z: Vinhozinho, since 2012. Mais Vinho · Menos Frescura.
Source: The house itself
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