Alcohol Percentage

[Thomas]

Brappy,

The argument I wish to avoid comes up whenever guys like me mention our disdain for a cultural trend that bigger, bolder, in your face is better, or at least it should cost more [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

I view the high alcohol trend as part of an overall cultural trend which I find distasteful (pun intended). And to expand on what ww said, high alcohol does nothing to ensure aging, so if the wine seems balanced when young it might not be near that balanced when older if the stuff was produced specifically as an in-your-face product.

As an aside--I don't like a lot of what is being produced and then called Pinot Noir. Raspberries, cherries, dark fruits, chocolates, blah, blah, blah--that's Zinfandel or Cabernet Sauvignon. In my opinion, Pinot Noir is best when it is delicate, velvety, subtle, but to many people that is a weak, thin wine. Volnay is neither weak nor thin and that district often expresses what Pinot Noir means to me, at 13% average alc too.