Alcohol Percentage

[brappy]

I guess my point is this:

What I look for in a wine is taste and balance. So, if the wine is excellent to my palate and is perfectly balanced, the alcohol percentage is irrelevant. High alcohol does NOT equate to imbalance nor to a noticable hot characteristic which could affect the taste.

I do believe different varietals, different terrior, different climates, etc. can affect the level of alcohol that will bring the perfect balance in a wine. For example, Riesling from Germany has an incredibly low alc. % (9-10%) yet has a great taste and balance and as an added bonus; these wines can age for quite some time. On the other side of the spectrum, some Aussie shiraz at that same level of alc.% (9-10%)would be so green, the wine would be undrinkable. Aussie shiraz usaully sits at over 14% and sometimes much higher. GOOD Aussie shiraz is balanced and in spite of the higher alcohol, there is no "heat" on the palate, just great juice. These wines also age well. I could give other examples, but these 2 seemed to be good oposite examples. If I'm off on this, let me know.

InnKeeper, I will post the alc% in my notes to keep with the tradition of this board. I can understand one's unwanted high alcohol in wine for a plethora of reasons ie:driving, work next day, kids, etc. But, No one should expect the wines to be out of balance by the alc% alone. I highly suggest tasting the wines and making up your mind then. Your last statement is an opinion I don't share. I don't see the industry having a problem over higher alcohol wines for the reasons I gave above.

Kcwhippet, I believe your summary of wine making changes to be accurate and well stated. If I may, just one question: What do YOU think of the result of these new wine making techniques? Or even easier, do you like the wines better now or before?

And Foodie, This practice has been done for a long time and wine makers I've talked to don't seem to be overly concerned with thier wine aging. But what you say is a logical concern and one that I'll have to research a bit (I know next to nothing about this)just to satisfy my curiosity.

I hope I don't seem too argumentitive in this post. Discussions like this teaches me quite a bit about this pleasure hobby that we all seem to spend too much money and time on. Thanks for the quick, well thought out replies!

brap

[This message has been edited by brappy (edited 11-14-2005).]