Alcohol Percentage

[Thomas]

Brappy,

I think Winoweenie nails it a little better than I did. As fruit fades high alcohol begins to take over what may have once seemed balanced.

The reason the fruit fades in wines that have been handled as I stated above is that it is already aged, so to speak, before it is produced into wine--oxidation on the vine, breaking down in structure, overly extracted phenolics, blah, blah, blah. And the fact that water has to be added back, to me, makes balance quite suspect.

This is not so with all of the wines but enough of a majority of them that I've tasted to turn me off to the style.

I'm decidedly in the camp of as little intervention in the process as possible and a lot of delicacy and finesse in the glass. If I go any further, I will be moving into an area that will give rise to argument, so I will stop there.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 11-15-2005).]