US winemakers seek to reduce alcohol content

[T_i_B]

Source: Daily Telegraph

Winemakers in California are attempting to reduce the alcohol level in their notoriously powerful reds and whites.

Californian "monster" wines regularly contain 15% vol alcohol and some are as high as 17%, alarming some of their own producers despite the praise of critics.

The winemakers have responded by picking grapes earlier and employing other tactics designed to produce the more "balanced", lower alcohol wines that are popular in Europe.

They say the move has in part been prompted by demand from American restaurants, which often hire European-trained sommeliers who want lighter wines.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=OW02R32WZGLJBQFIQMFCFFOAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2008/01/11/wvino111.xml

[notadmblnd]

1. Duh....then just serve grape juice

How hard can this shit be?

[napi21]

3. Why can't they just make them with the lower content?

There is a LARGE variation in the alcohol content of different wines!

[Squatch]

5. That's because there's a LARGE variation in the sugar content of different grapes!

Don't want a monster wine? Buy some Gallo.

[KansDem]

15. Don't want wine? Buy Thunderbird.

:hangover:

There's nothing like a cheap-wine hangover to ruin your appetite for wine for years.

[Squatch]

16. Ugh. That nasty stuff won't pass my gums any time soon.

[KansDem]

27. Wish I had heeded that advice before a certain night in 1972...

:hangover:

I couldn't even smell wine for several years after that night without feeling sick!

But I learned two important things:
1) The "best" wine is not refrigerated
2) $1.29 a bottle is not a "good buy."

[geiger]

29. exactly

got crud?

[nealmhughes]

4. Actually, it's pretty hard to get an exact alcohol content!

Fermented to full sugar content one can get at most 19% alcohol before the alcohol kills the yeast and stops fermentation. That is why fortified wines such as port can be so sweet: the fermentation starts with very ripe sugar rich grapes, then is stopped by adding neutral brandy spirits to stop the fermentation and save the sugar content. The drawback: the brandy is much higher in alcohol than the original wine!

The only way is to stop fermentation of wine once the yeast is introduced is by either heat or else to not pick very ripe grapes. The latter can cause a significant loss of taste and the former as well if not controlled very carefully! Yeast starts to die at 120F or so, so one has a choice: cooking wine or else picking early -- or introducing lower sugar vines!

One could always water down the wine and go for flavor and just enough alcohol to preserve the beverage, but why not go to Welch's if you are going to do that!

If people aren't liking the "hot wines" in the US these days, I suggest they never ever try a Sardinian wine!

[DarkTirade]

11. That depends entirely on what kind of yeast is used.

Some yeasts can only handle up to about 10-12% alcohol, and some need more sugar in their environment to survive. Which is why some wines will be sweet and others dry... because some yeasts will die from either lack of sugar even when there's still some sugar left, or because the alcohol content has gotten too high for them.

I learned that one the hard way when I went cheap with my first attempt at homebrewing and didn't get the right yeast... it ended up WAAAAAY too sweet and with not enough alcohol in it. :)

[Squatch]

13. The exact alcohol tolerance is PARTIALLY dependent on the strain of yeast

but is more likely a factor of dissolved O2 and the presence of nutrients in the must (pre-fermented grape juice) than anything else. Without a healthy amount of oxygen and proper balance of nutrients early in the primary fermentation, yeast stagnate, never reproduce, leading to a stuck or prolonged fermentation (which will yield either low alcohol or off flavors or both).

Yeast makers try to market different strains of yeast based on their alcohol tolerance, but proper fermentation can even cause supposedly alcohol-intolerant yeast to produce very high alcohol content. I've routinely taken standard yeasts waaaay beyond their stated alcohol tolerance by ensuring a rapid start to fermentation and constant re-balancing of nutrients in the wort/must.

[DarkTirade]

18. Yeah, I don't always go by what's advertised.

So far I've been trying to brew my stuff as 'natural' as possible without too many additives... but I'm brewing mead so that might not be possible since honey doesn't have all the nutrients yeast need. I'm offsetting it by adding raisins for now, they have all the nutrients of grapes but without the juice that'll change the flavor of the mead too much. My other batch is gonna be easier though, it'll be a cyser. Part cider, part mead. And I'm gonna use unfiltered apple juice, so the apple bits will have plenty of nutrients for the yeast. Still gonna add a few raisins anyway though, just in case. :)

[Squatch]

20. Try unfiltered/unpasteurized honey.

I won the gold medal 3 years ago at the International Amateur Winemaker's competition in the mead category for my buckwheat mead.

My recipe consisted of buckwheat honey, some yeast nutrients (like Go-Ferm), sulfite tabs, water, and yeast. That stuff came out the color of "amber waves of grain" and had the longest finish of any wine I've ever tasted. I had a fairly high OG which brought the final alcohol content to around 14% with about 10% RS. That stuff was scrumptuous and I wish I still had some left.

We moved into a suburban DC townhome a few months ago, so I was forced to offload all my homebrewing stuff. :(

[DarkTirade]

21. Awww, that sucks.

I just moved in with my grandparents to help them out and so now I have a basement with a nice, constant temperature year-round to let my stuff age in. 'Tis quite handy. Also, in the last place I lived the nearest homebrewing equipment store was about an hour drive one way. Now the nearest one is about an hour drive... to go there and back twice. :)

And that was the other thing I did wrong with my first cheapie batch... used cheap store-brand honey. :) That was kinda the point with my test batch, to use cheap ingredients just to get proportions right, but still. I was hoping it would at least be drinkable. The whole thing ended up with a plasticy aftertaste that made it damn near undrinkable. The longer I let it age, the more that taste goes away... but the lack of that taste ends up bringing out the uber-sweetness so it's still near undrinkable. 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. :\ But I've got my (hopefully last) attempt that that recipe going... I used pure, raw honey with a bit of molasses for extra kick. I'm trying to go for a hearty winter mead, but one that can also be mulled so I'm putting a little bit of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice and ginger in there. I was also gonna try and add a little orange peel to offset the sweetness, but I figured I'd try it without first to see how sweet it ends up. I also got a yeast that'll finish dryer and is s'posed to be able to handle more alcohol this time, so as long as I keep the yeast fed properly it should turn out right this time. And if not... well, like I said, brewing store 15 minutes from here. I can get more yeast and some nutrients if I need it.

[Mojorabbit]

23. Does sulfite need to be used?

My last mead was really dry(almosst dusty) and not what I wanted. I am getting ready to harvest some honey from my hive and planning my next batch. I am an amateur when it comes to mead. Hubby brews a fine beer though.

[Squatch]

24. The other option is to boil the honey

I use sulfite to preserve the mouthfeel and nuances of the honey, which can be cooked off if you choose to pasteurize.

[Kolesar]

2. My head hurts just reading this

Fix o' link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/11/wvino111.xml

[geiger]

31. OMG, I had no idea!!!!

It's so interesting, but as a person who has had a little too much to drink from time to time, I am even more fascinated. Thanks for the article and for enlightening us, as usual.

[Kolesar]

34. Yes, my tolerance for the stuff has run away from me

And I am starting to think that even if I don't have a headache or fatigue that I am still somehow "off". My whole persona is about intellect and quickness and a day without those is a day wasted. Hmmm.

[codeindigo]

6. that's ok!

I prefer italian~french~and australian anyway.

[codeindigo]

7. that's ok!

I prefer italian~french~and australian anyway.

[sasquatch]

8. Midlo is going to be pissed

:D

[pleah]

9. Leave the alcohol content alone. If you don't want alcohol in your wine drink grape juice.

[onehandle]

10. I look for wines from Oregon and Washington when I drink 'merican.

There are a few good makers in California. Coppola has a few good wines.

I prefer French wines.


If I want to get drunk on California wine, I'll just pick up a case of "two-buck chuck."

(hic!)

[rayofreason]

12. Napa Valley knockout drops...

...at 15% are really over the top.

I prefer my wines not so "hot" and so lean toward Oregon and Washington, as another poster also remarked.

[Squatch]

14. I love those big wines.

Nothing is better than a monster zin on an autumn day. Nothing but jammy fruit and a nice buzz to enjoy the spectacular colors and temperatures of the fall season.

Right now I'm into field blends like The Prisoner (by Orin Swift Cellars) and CA pinots like Loring's offerings.

[Binka]

22. Etude Is My Wine

The Jammy Yummy 14.9% 2002 Cabernet is fucking great. I have family in the biz and we are tight with this winery. Otherwise I would NEVER be able to afford it, the shit costs over $120.00 a bottle. I got three cases for Christmas. :thumbsup:

[Squatch]

25. Nice!

Loring once sent me a case of his pinots for free because he neglected to send me his annual mailer. I usually buy my full allocation from those guys, so when I missed one year's worth I contacted him and he comped me a whole case.

[KansDem]

17. You know, I wondered why there was no "Merlot-Lite" on the shelves.

Maybe there's a market for it now?

[gratuitous]

19. If ever there was time America needed to get stinking drunk

It would be now. Nice timing, guys.

[dmosh42]

26. They should try reducing the price instead!

I can buy many wines from Australia, Spain and South America that cost half what these Calif wineries charge, and are equal, or better in quality. And that's with the weaker dollar!

[geiger]

28. oh, pls

and tell me which are the 17%. i want them.

[Xithras]

30. Leave my wine alone!

If I want to drink a low-alcohol French wine (and on occasion I do), then I will BUY a low-alcohol French wine. I don't need a Napa branded Euro-style knockoff.

Some of us LIKE the higher alcohol content.

[whatchamacallit]

32. Hmm I don't know...

I'm so accustom to heavy california reds, I don't really dig a lot of the wine when in Italy. I rarely drink until after work, they drink it like water all day long.

[Ignis]

33. Aw hell. This was the only reason for drinking CA wines!

It certainly wasn't for taste, nose, or price when compared with any good, cheap Italian or French export.

[Throd]

35. Dilute it with water you freakin' lightweights!

[Jamastiene]

36. Well, what fun is that ognna be?

:P

[lebkuchen]

37. Alcohol volume in European wines is 12.5%

US friends were wondering why they weren't getting drunk off their first glass.