A couple of quesitons about wine and alcohol

I know there have been a great many threads in the past about the steady upward creep of alcohol levels in wine. I have noticed over the last few weeks that more and more red wines, in particular, display obvious, and in many cases, annoying alcohol levels, sometimes obvious enough to overpower or overshadow other features of the wine and ruin the entire experience.

Have others noticed/experienced a similar trend in reds, or have I just been buying crappy reds or am I becoming quite sensitive to obvious and overt displays of alcohol?

On the other hand, I don't seem to notice or mind similarly high acohol levels in white wines. My wife and I greatly enjoyed a white tonight with a 13.5 per cent alcohol level.

Any thoughts on why I would notice alcohol more in a red wine than in a white wine?

All comments/views welcomed.

Thanks.

Bruce
One reason might be 13.5% would be pretty low for a red wine these days!

Try whites at 14.5% (fast becoming the new 'average' for reds) and I think there will be more of a risk of noticing the alcoholic heat.

Flipping the question over, I guess we've all noted the increase in alc % in reds, but has it been as noticeable in whites? I don't see many breaking the 15% mark, which for me is perhaps a psychological barrier, that I've noticed being breached regularly with reds. Maybe there isn't the same critical push for lusciousness in whites?

regards

Ian

[David M. Bueker]

I've seen white wine with 16%. The trend is upwards, but if you consider the normal hang time for flavor development (e.g. Germany's 100 days) coupled with warmer weather this was bound to happen regardless of any perceived spoofulation.

Bruce wrote;
Any thoughts on why I would notice alcohol more in a red wine than in a white wine?

Hi Bruce,
Usually whites are fermented using cooler temperatures, so cooler fermentation temperatures might generate lower alcohol content.

Salute

The issue in California is phenolic development. With our warmer temperatures the sugar develops quickly, but the seeds and stems stay green. Of course in a red wine the wine stays in contact with at least the seeds and sometimes some stems for an extended period, and if these aren't developed it can lead to harsh tannins and vegetal flavors. So the trend has been to let the fruit hang until the phenolics get full development and let the sugars (and therefore the alcohol after fermentation) rise where they will. Until some years ago it was illegal to add water to the ferment in CA, (JU's of course happened anyway) so the wines were often just fermented to dryness with hardy strains of yeast. The fact that certain critics liked these bigger wines didnt' hurt either. So just like with oak, many new world producers figured more is better, so keep the trend going. Hopefully the pendulum will start to swing back toward center like it's doing with oak. (Isn't it?)

John

Any thoughts on why I would notice alcohol more in a red wine than in a white wine?

Bruce:

Do you chill your whites?
That helps mute alcohol's "bite" tro some extent.
Cheers,

i'll add two of many possibilities:
1. red grapes are easier to grow in warmer climates where more sugars are developed leading to more alcohol. white grapes tend to be grown in cooler climates.
2. its cultural - we expect our reds to be 'big' and our whites to be light and refreshing - so that is the way they are made.