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Feature Article
Alcohol percentages noted on lablels seem to be dropping after rising for many years.
Goldfarb’s Pressing Matters
Are Hot Wines Getting “Warm”?
Alcohol levels in U.S. wines have increased in the past decade. Look on the shelf of any wine store to see the evidence, as alcohol percentages noted on labels commonly stay above 14 percent. But those numbers seem to be coming down now. Well, maybe.
by
Alan Goldfarb
December 21, 2006
There’s been lots of chatter about “hangtime” or prolonged maturation of grapes, a topic promulgated by certain growers and thereby fostered by a small cadre of wine writers – yours truly among them. Thus, if my very informal survey is any indication, we may be witnessing the beginning of a trend that will see alcohol levels drop over the next few vintages.
It used to be, of course, that the gold standard – read French – was usually set at about 12.5 percent alcohol. In a good year, this would be an integral component that would produce what was thought to be a balanced wine. But with new world sensibilities of flavor and fiercely fought commerce--and given the inherent warmer climates of California, Australia and South America--alcohol levels have crept to 15 and even 16 percent – unheard of before in a non-dessert wine.
Given that 14 percent is the U.S. Tax and Trade Bureau’s (TTB) tariff-related demarcation point between “table wine” and “dessert wine”; and that 14 percent is a kind of Maginot line or a tacit point at which some wine critics begin to blanch, anything under 14 percent in wines from the Napa Valley becomes a magnet for further inspection.
For instance, wines such as Elkhorn Peak’s 2002 Pinot Noir, which came in at a listed 13 percent (the lowest percentage incidentally, in the survey), and the ’03 Amici Cabernet Sauvignon and the ’03 Corison Kronos Cabernet (both at 13.4), all exhibited perfect pitch – or balance. That is, in addition to the restrained alcohol levels not contributing to the sweetness or hotness of the wine, the fruit was bright but not overly ripe, and the acids – TA (total acidity – a measure of all the acids) and the pH (a measurement of the acidity in grape juice) – served contrapuntally. (See Alan Goldfarb’s reviews of these wines at Elkhorn Peak Cellars, Amici, Corison Winery.)
(Note: While conducting the survey I kept in mind that some winemakers may or may not have manipulated their wines in the cellar to achieve better balance; or fudged the numbers for the taxman. As for alcohol levels, they can be reduced by the use of technical devices such as by reverse osmosis or through a spinning cone, or by adding water. All methods, which are commonly known to be used, are legal but have restrictions. As for the tax implications, the Feds require an approximately 50 percent higher tax on alcohol levels above 14.001 percent. That can total as much as $3.73 per case, but is discounted for smaller wineries. Additionally, winemakers are legally afforded a leeway on labels of 1 to 1.5 percent either way.)
So, are alcohol levels trending down? Given that my survey is nothing more than a straw poll and certainly not based upon scientific data, I asked several industry sources if they are witnessing what I am.
“Yes I do think it’s a trend. … From our standpoint -- Pinot Noir production -- we’re looking to get back to lower alcohol-content wines,” says Ken Nerlove, the owner of Elkhorn Peak Winery in Jamieson Canyon. “You need to have the alcohol in the wine, but when you start to get to higher levels, you start to get that hot taste and that’s not considered a taste you want.
“We’ve tended to pick the grapes at a lower sugar level to keep alcohol down. This year we picked our grapes at 24.5 Brix which gives you 12.25 percent alcohol. (Which, by the time the wine is finished, should come in just under 14). “Our winemaker (Kent Rasmussen) feels you get a better balanced wine (with lower alcohol levels) and we feel the public is getting away from high alcohol wine.”
However, Allen Price, the winemaker at Casa Nuestra northeast of St. Helena, doesn’t think we’re seeing a trend of lower alcohol wines, although it is his practice to try and keep his wines under 14 percent.
“No, it’s not a trend. The trend is still strong to go way over 14, which is pursuing the holy grail of wines of special interest,” Price believes. “I don’t think the backlash has hit yet.”
By “special interest,” Price refers to the so-called “cult” wines, wines that are extremely hard to find, extremely expensive, and can be extremely high in alcohol. They are wines that are favored by the few who have disposable income, as well as by collectors. He insists that he doesn’t make wines with high alcohol in the interest of what he calls “relief of people.” By which he means, “That’s about intoxication and palate fatigue (and) that happens above 14 percent.
“These wines of special interest show well, but if you are going to try two sips of them, you’re going to risk a backlash of palate fatigue.
“If you’re under 14 percent, it makes the wine a lot more drinkable. You do sacrifice some of the richness though if you stay in that department. Wines, particularly reds, get richer if you go 14, 15, 16. …But alcohol is part of the flavor. Consequently, we try to keep our wines at about 13.6, 13.7.”
Charles Smith, the co-owner and winemaker at Smith-Madrone Winery on Spring Mountain, is also a believer that alcohol is a necessary component to being “part of the flavor.”
“Some of the over-14 percent wines are very good. That’s undeniable,” Smith concurs. “It’s possible to have a very high-alcohol wine in the 14.5-14.8 range that’s “moderate, relatively speaking.”
The pH and TA levels have to be in balance with the alcohol, says Smith, who has always strived to keep his wines relatively low in alcohol. However, he concedes even his wines are “creeping up” and stepping into that field mined with 14-point wines. “We’re susceptible,” is how he puts it. “We have to compete. I admire some of those wines. I have to confess our wines are going up, too. I would say that literally no one is picking Cab at 23.5 brix any longer. It’s just not happening. “The new 23.5 is 25.”
Thus, Smith thinks, “… There are wines that are very ripe and very high in alcohol and then there’s a group of wines for me that don’t work. The pHs are too high, the TAs are too low, there’s no backbone and they’re made to drink and drink now. … They’ve pushed it over the cliff. I find after the first sip or two they just don’t have enough grip.”
Cathy Corison of Corison Winery, just south of St. Helena, believes that she’s witnessing a “sea change” of less alcoholic wines. She herself is a believer in lower alcohol. But she’s emphatic that there’s room for all types of wines; and that a wine should not be scrutinized on alcohol alone.
“It’s a sense I have that people are pulling back to what I think are more balanced wines. (But) I don’t think looking at the alcohol on the label tells the whole story,” she says in a phone call from very snowy Aspen where she was visiting for a tasting.
“There’s room for all different styles of wine. There’s a place for all those styles – made well,” she tells Appellation America. “Wines with higher alcohol can be delicious. I don’t advocate the loss of any of the wonderful diversity of all these wines in the world.
“(But) the balance point varies a lot. People should be tasting for balance and not get tangled up in looking for (the alcohol content).”
Corison says she’s “astonished” that once 12.5 percent alcohol in a ripe year in France, for instance, was the standard. Now, “we think of 14 percent as low alcohol.” She tries to make her wines at or near 14 percent, but most times in California, she believes it’s not a possibility.
“If I could make wines with low alcohol, I would,” she insists. “I make them the way I’ve been making them for the last three decades. … I don’t make my wines in a manipulated way. I ferment, and press grapes. In the Napa Valley most years are properly ripe for my style (and my wines) run about 14 percent or slightly less. To make them less, I’d have to get the grapes from someplace else.”
Bob Kreisher would no doubt argue that what his company does is not manipulation, as long as it makes a better wine and one that fits the style of his winemaker clients.
“I do believe that there is a trend back toward balance. Part of it is that some people are realizing that wine made from grapes that are hung too long lacks minerality and the ability to age, as well as some depth and complexity. This is the price paid for excessive fruit and soft roundness,” writes Kreisher in an e-mail. He’s the director of marketing and sales for a Sonoma County firm called Vinovation that “fine tunes” alcohol by the use of reverse osmosis. The procedure “adjusts” the alcohol content of wine by filtering it and separating it.
“They (his clients) are also realizing there are other ways to achieve these qualities (of minerality and aging potential),” he claims. “There are more and more premium Napa producers who are using our services (we have had over 1000 wineries in California alone as customers).
“Recently, we did a job on a very high end Napa estate Cab where we reduced the alcohol from 15.3 percent to 14.4 percent. When we do this, we help the winemaker find the exact alcohol level that gives them the style they want.”
But that style is not the one that Charles Smith tries to achieve. He admits that he was surprised that our informal survey revealed that as much as 20 percent of the red Napa Valley wines that crossed our desk this year were under 14 percent.
“It (our informal survey) confirms it’s not just a new paradigm; it’s clearly the dominant mode of new winemaking these days,” he acknowledges. “I didn’t know it was as extreme as that. I guess I should have suspected. I didn’t understand how widespread the new higher sugars were.
“It never dawned on me that it was as high as 20 percent (under 14). You have a good random sampling. It’s interesting and it’s good that (the wine media) write about this stuff critically. Otherwise, everyone’s slavishly giving in to the new paradigm manifested in globalization of wine. I don’t want to see everybody’s wine coming out the same.”
Smith then chuckles and declares that this new paradigm “Is freakin’ un-American!
“We believe in individual style and small appellations. In Europe, the uniqueness will suffer in places like Cinque Terra and Cahors. Do any of us want to see them be seduced by the new style? “You are in danger when you’re going high-alcohol. There’s a tendency for a sameness to creep in.”
~ Alan Goldfarb, Regional Correspondent
To comment on Alan’s writings and thoughts, contact him at a.goldfarb @appellationamerica.com
It used to be, of course, that the gold standard – read French – was usually set at about 12.5 percent alcohol. In a good year, this would be an integral component that would produce what was thought to be a balanced wine. But with new world sensibilities of flavor and fiercely fought commerce--and given the inherent warmer climates of California, Australia and South America--alcohol levels have crept to 15 and even 16 percent – unheard of before in a non-dessert wine. Given that 14 percent is the U.S. Tax and Trade Bureau’s (TTB) tariff-related demarcation point between “table wine” and “dessert wine”; and that 14 percent is a kind of Maginot line or a tacit point at which some wine critics begin to blanch, anything under 14 percent in wines from the Napa Valley becomes a magnet for further inspection.
For instance, wines such as Elkhorn Peak’s 2002 Pinot Noir, which came in at a listed 13 percent (the lowest percentage incidentally, in the survey), and the ’03 Amici Cabernet Sauvignon and the ’03 Corison Kronos Cabernet (both at 13.4), all exhibited perfect pitch – or balance. That is, in addition to the restrained alcohol levels not contributing to the sweetness or hotness of the wine, the fruit was bright but not overly ripe, and the acids – TA (total acidity – a measure of all the acids) and the pH (a measurement of the acidity in grape juice) – served contrapuntally. (See Alan Goldfarb’s reviews of these wines at Elkhorn Peak Cellars, Amici, Corison Winery.)
(Note: While conducting the survey I kept in mind that some winemakers may or may not have manipulated their wines in the cellar to achieve better balance; or fudged the numbers for the taxman. As for alcohol levels, they can be reduced by the use of technical devices such as by reverse osmosis or through a spinning cone, or by adding water. All methods, which are commonly known to be used, are legal but have restrictions. As for the tax implications, the Feds require an approximately 50 percent higher tax on alcohol levels above 14.001 percent. That can total as much as $3.73 per case, but is discounted for smaller wineries. Additionally, winemakers are legally afforded a leeway on labels of 1 to 1.5 percent either way.)
So, are alcohol levels trending down? Given that my survey is nothing more than a straw poll and certainly not based upon scientific data, I asked several industry sources if they are witnessing what I am.
“Yes I do think it’s a trend. … From our standpoint -- Pinot Noir production -- we’re looking to get back to lower alcohol-content wines,” says Ken Nerlove, the owner of Elkhorn Peak Winery in Jamieson Canyon. “You need to have the alcohol in the wine, but when you start to get to higher levels, you start to get that hot taste and that’s not considered a taste you want.
“We’ve tended to pick the grapes at a lower sugar level to keep alcohol down. This year we picked our grapes at 24.5 Brix which gives you 12.25 percent alcohol. (Which, by the time the wine is finished, should come in just under 14). “Our winemaker (Kent Rasmussen) feels you get a better balanced wine (with lower alcohol levels) and we feel the public is getting away from high alcohol wine.”
However, Allen Price, the winemaker at Casa Nuestra northeast of St. Helena, doesn’t think we’re seeing a trend of lower alcohol wines, although it is his practice to try and keep his wines under 14 percent. “No, it’s not a trend. The trend is still strong to go way over 14, which is pursuing the holy grail of wines of special interest,” Price believes. “I don’t think the backlash has hit yet.”
By “special interest,” Price refers to the so-called “cult” wines, wines that are extremely hard to find, extremely expensive, and can be extremely high in alcohol. They are wines that are favored by the few who have disposable income, as well as by collectors. He insists that he doesn’t make wines with high alcohol in the interest of what he calls “relief of people.” By which he means, “That’s about intoxication and palate fatigue (and) that happens above 14 percent.
“These wines of special interest show well, but if you are going to try two sips of them, you’re going to risk a backlash of palate fatigue.
“If you’re under 14 percent, it makes the wine a lot more drinkable. You do sacrifice some of the richness though if you stay in that department. Wines, particularly reds, get richer if you go 14, 15, 16. …But alcohol is part of the flavor. Consequently, we try to keep our wines at about 13.6, 13.7.” Charles Smith, the co-owner and winemaker at Smith-Madrone Winery on Spring Mountain, is also a believer that alcohol is a necessary component to being “part of the flavor.”
“Some of the over-14 percent wines are very good. That’s undeniable,” Smith concurs. “It’s possible to have a very high-alcohol wine in the 14.5-14.8 range that’s “moderate, relatively speaking.”
The pH and TA levels have to be in balance with the alcohol, says Smith, who has always strived to keep his wines relatively low in alcohol. However, he concedes even his wines are “creeping up” and stepping into that field mined with 14-point wines. “We’re susceptible,” is how he puts it. “We have to compete. I admire some of those wines. I have to confess our wines are going up, too. I would say that literally no one is picking Cab at 23.5 brix any longer. It’s just not happening. “The new 23.5 is 25.”
Thus, Smith thinks, “… There are wines that are very ripe and very high in alcohol and then there’s a group of wines for me that don’t work. The pHs are too high, the TAs are too low, there’s no backbone and they’re made to drink and drink now. … They’ve pushed it over the cliff. I find after the first sip or two they just don’t have enough grip.”
Cathy Corison of Corison Winery, just south of St. Helena, believes that she’s witnessing a “sea change” of less alcoholic wines. She herself is a believer in lower alcohol. But she’s emphatic that there’s room for all types of wines; and that a wine should not be scrutinized on alcohol alone.
“It’s a sense I have that people are pulling back to what I think are more balanced wines. (But) I don’t think looking at the alcohol on the label tells the whole story,” she says in a phone call from very snowy Aspen where she was visiting for a tasting.
“There’s room for all different styles of wine. There’s a place for all those styles – made well,” she tells Appellation America. “Wines with higher alcohol can be delicious. I don’t advocate the loss of any of the wonderful diversity of all these wines in the world.
“(But) the balance point varies a lot. People should be tasting for balance and not get tangled up in looking for (the alcohol content).”
Corison says she’s “astonished” that once 12.5 percent alcohol in a ripe year in France, for instance, was the standard. Now, “we think of 14 percent as low alcohol.” She tries to make her wines at or near 14 percent, but most times in California, she believes it’s not a possibility.
“If I could make wines with low alcohol, I would,” she insists. “I make them the way I’ve been making them for the last three decades. … I don’t make my wines in a manipulated way. I ferment, and press grapes. In the Napa Valley most years are properly ripe for my style (and my wines) run about 14 percent or slightly less. To make them less, I’d have to get the grapes from someplace else.”
Bob Kreisher would no doubt argue that what his company does is not manipulation, as long as it makes a better wine and one that fits the style of his winemaker clients.
“I do believe that there is a trend back toward balance. Part of it is that some people are realizing that wine made from grapes that are hung too long lacks minerality and the ability to age, as well as some depth and complexity. This is the price paid for excessive fruit and soft roundness,” writes Kreisher in an e-mail. He’s the director of marketing and sales for a Sonoma County firm called Vinovation that “fine tunes” alcohol by the use of reverse osmosis. The procedure “adjusts” the alcohol content of wine by filtering it and separating it.
“They (his clients) are also realizing there are other ways to achieve these qualities (of minerality and aging potential),” he claims. “There are more and more premium Napa producers who are using our services (we have had over 1000 wineries in California alone as customers).
“Recently, we did a job on a very high end Napa estate Cab where we reduced the alcohol from 15.3 percent to 14.4 percent. When we do this, we help the winemaker find the exact alcohol level that gives them the style they want.”
But that style is not the one that Charles Smith tries to achieve. He admits that he was surprised that our informal survey revealed that as much as 20 percent of the red Napa Valley wines that crossed our desk this year were under 14 percent.“It (our informal survey) confirms it’s not just a new paradigm; it’s clearly the dominant mode of new winemaking these days,” he acknowledges. “I didn’t know it was as extreme as that. I guess I should have suspected. I didn’t understand how widespread the new higher sugars were.
“It never dawned on me that it was as high as 20 percent (under 14). You have a good random sampling. It’s interesting and it’s good that (the wine media) write about this stuff critically. Otherwise, everyone’s slavishly giving in to the new paradigm manifested in globalization of wine. I don’t want to see everybody’s wine coming out the same.”
Smith then chuckles and declares that this new paradigm “Is freakin’ un-American!
“We believe in individual style and small appellations. In Europe, the uniqueness will suffer in places like Cinque Terra and Cahors. Do any of us want to see them be seduced by the new style? “You are in danger when you’re going high-alcohol. There’s a tendency for a sameness to creep in.”
~ Alan Goldfarb, Regional Correspondent
To comment on Alan’s writings and thoughts, contact him at a.goldfarb @appellationamerica.com
