The Rise and Fall of Cabernet

[Thomas]

Re, accuracy in measuring alcohol: ebulliometers are the best in accuracy, but even then the US govt. considers the results imperfect, and so, they allow the wide berth up or down. And, according to Tastevin's post, even the French allow at least .5% leeway.

Many wineries in the US, other than in California, are tiny--their investment in ebbulliometers, and in laboratories, are often nil. Either their local agricultural station offers the service for a fee or they opt for Table Wine on the label or, heaven forbid, they just guess based on the sugar at harvest and the results after fermentation.

wineglut, I checked my notes from when I operated a winery: Table Wine was 7 to 15% alcohol, according to the US govt. (the operative word is Table). Beyond that, it is taxed as what? fortified wine, I suppose. Looked at that way, and considering the 1.5% leeway, a producer would be a fool to claim anything over 15%, unless it was so obvious it would be hard to get away with a lesser claim.

In any event, I stay away from still table wine that exceeds 13% alcohol. I find the heat intrusive, annoying and uncalled for, not to mention the bombastic nature of a product that should be elegant.

Tastevin, unlike in Europe, table wine in the US is not a classification for wine--it refers only to the wine's taxability. In fact, sadly, there are no wine classifications (or DOC regs) in the US.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 03-01-2004).]