Lettie Teague's take on alcohol levels in wine

WINE TALK
21

Reading a number on a label to decide how much you may or may not enjoy a wine is a silly exercise. How many of us have been shocked by a wine served blind on repeated occasions? Its amazing to me that the myth of the percentage on the label is in some way listed to the balance of the wine under it. Pour it in your glass and try it before reading the label. You might shock yourself.

deadhorse

22

True dat, my friend . . .

The problem is that ‘knee jerk’ reactions to alcohol levels are becoming more common place . . . There are some somms that request that any wine you pour for them must have alc levels south of 14% or 13.5% . . . ridiculous, if you ask me . . . .

And just please remember that should someone put 12.2 on a label, this can LEGALLY be up to 13.7 . . . .

One more thing - I’ve tasted some of the ‘rave’ lower alcohol syrahs out there, and though the aromatics were quite enticing and beautiful, they were hard as nails and difficult, and I mean difficult, to drink . . . . so is it better to have ‘an attractive number’ or ‘an attractive wine’?!?!? These two may be the same sometimes, but NOT ALWAYS . . . .

Let er rip, boys and girls . . .

23

My sore spot with this subject is the pass Europe gets on it. I don’t believe their labeling anymore than I believe the labels in the USA. Europe has an image to protect in regards to this and this very telling clip from the article shows why:

He added that his rule didn’t so much apply to European wines but to California producers who he thought had “pushed the envelope” in trying to get wines excessively ripe. “We need to support the producers who are trying to make leaner, lower-alcohol wines in California,” he said.

What was quoted by Dan Posner above is a less delicate way of saying it also. [wink.gif]

24

Oh yeah, our European brethren NEVER produce ripe wines, eh?!?!? Never never never . . . .

[swearing.gif] [swearing.gif] [swearing.gif]

25

Hmmmmmm… there’s a guy in your neighborhood who makes 13.5% Syrah. Been doing it for a few yrs. Goes by the name of Lindquist. You find his wines
hard as nails??? [stirthepothal.gif]
Actually, of the Syrahs I tasted at the Sebastapol Seminar, the Arnot-Roberts were the only ones I found particularly hard.
And, of course, I realize that 13.5% of Bob’s is a generic 13.5%. Never seems to change, year in and year out. The guy must be a magician
to dial it in at that every year!!! [basic-smile.gif]
Look forward to seeing you again in a few weeks.
Tom

26

deadhorse

I seriously don’t get this debate. It’s been said, but I’ll reiterate. If a wine is BALANCED…the alcohol can be at ANY LEVEL and it’s all good.

The other thing I find laughable is the trendy term “hot.”

Really, hot? I love when people say: “this wine was showing hot, would’ve been better at 12% rather than 14.8.”

No… it wouldn’t. It would simply be an entirely different wine. “The wine had good fruit, but it was showing too hot.”

Again, FAIL. Winemaking is a sliding scale between like 3,000 things…change one of them and the wine has a different complexion.
deadhorse deadhorse deadhorse

27

I love acid in my wine, but overly acidic can put a wine out of balance/obscure other flavors just as much as a high pH wine on the other end of the spectrum.



I brought a barrel sample of one of our '08 Zins (now in bottle) to Berserkerfest II and had quite a few people try to guess the alcohol. Only a couple of people guessed by 1%. Some people were off by as much as 3+%. Maybe Zins are more capable of masking heat than some grapes, but just because something is high/low in alcohol does not mean it will be balanced. Remember, balance involves more than one or two components. It includes EVERYTHING in the wine.

28

I guess I was writing mine as you posted yours, and I agree with most of what you said, but some wines do show heat and cannot mask that. It’s just like doing a shot of cheap tequila. It BURNS. It has heat. There are definitely wines like that too. Not saying that reduction of alcohol would not change the wine, but sometimes the apparent alcohol burn is unpleasant and detracts from the overall flavor of the wine.

29

And since I just now bothered to read the article, I find this a rather silly statement:

“While certain grape varieties are naturally higher in sugar than others (Zinfandel versus, say, Pinot Noir)”


Zinfandel is only higher in sugar than Pinot if you pick it at a higher sugar than Pinot. If you are in a warm climate and let your Pinot hang, it can get every bit as high in sugar as Zin. [suicide.gif]

30

Linda,

We are pretty much on the same page. I guess my point is… if the alcohol is out of balance with the other components… it’s simply a poorly made wine…and the idea of “were the alcohol lower” is moot, because…as you know… it’s a give and take between many factors.

I just don’t like this throw-away term of “hot.” And like you mentioned…most people can’t tell you within a few points the “heat” of a wine.

Describing a wine in terms of “heat” is the quickest way to point out an amateur trying too hard.

(I agree that part was totally silly as well)

31

Right, you had a post a bit ago about an experiment in winemaking class where the alcohol was reduced in steps of 0.2%. One step would make the difference between really good wine and a poor one. (I’ve been quoting you on this, as you might’ve noticed [wink.gif] .) So the upshot is what you say, balance involves everything, there is no way to judge a wine by the ABV alone.

That said, it seems (anecdotally) that ABV is creeping up in many wines. Holding everything else fixed, one should go over the line at some point.

32

Well, heat might be a “trendy” term for amateurs, but it is an apt description, and winemakers use it all of the time. [wow.gif]

33

Acid tends to delineate and focus individual flavors while alcohol can obscure them.

34

While I don’t agree with Parr at all when he says “I think 14% is the threshold of a balanced wine” I think some people are bending over the other way too far.
[EDIT: He’s now saying (on Twitter) that he never said this, so…]

Alcohol matters, folks.
After water, it is the single most significant compound in wine, quantitatively speaking.
More importantly, it impacts the sensory profile of a wine in several distinct ways. Experienced tasters can recognize the effects of high alcohol, and can map out their own thresholds. [Experienced tasters also know that the thresholds aren’t absolutes, of course.]

If a serious student of wine knows that chances of liking a wine (based on personal experience)decreases greatly above, for instance, an actual ABV of 15%, then a label reporting 15.1% has got to sound warning bells.

Alcohol matters. And what is written on the label matters (whether or not the declaration is accurate).
Producers should be encouraged to report the abv as accurately as possible.

35

If a serious student of wine knows that chances of liking a wine (based on personal experience)decreases greatly above, for instance, an actual ABV of 15%, then a label reporting 15.1% has got to sound warning bells.

Bruce, I respectfully disagree. In fact, I think the exact opposite. The serious taster/student of wine should know that wine is to be taken on a case to case basis.

A serious student of wine understands that alcohol can be in balance to fruit and acid, no matter how high or low. Each wine is singular, and while generalizations can be made… they are simply assumptions and nothing more.

36

“A serious student of wine understands that alcohol can be in balance to fruit and acid, no matter how high or low.”

This is not a fact but an opinion (or religious creed?). Consider capsicum: is it possible for a dish to be “balanced” by other elements no matter HOW hot it is?

37

After looking up capsicum on google: apples and oranges. neener

38

Not at all: Hangar One Texas Red Grapefruit Vodka is “balanced” but I defy you to drink 8 0z with dinner…

39

Defy me?

Do you want my shipping address? [whistle.gif]

40

Who would want to? I can do 8 oz. of Lagavulin, though.