Thoughts?
Seems to me that lower ABV is better suited to some sites than others.
Seems the monks’ solution for low alcohol wines was the best one… Champagne.
+1
While it is true enough that Champagne is on the low side, I don’t think that was the problem they solved. I think the problem they solved was how to make delicious wine from under-ripe grapes.
I prefer lower alcohol wines for any number of reasons, the most important of which is taste. So long as Americans (I know that it was a UK paper) continue to eat a more healthy diet with less beef, the low alcohol trend should continue.
I don’t think it’s a trend, I think it’s a correction in the marketplace. The array was skewed by certain overly influential critics. Now it’s normalizing to the consumers. That won’t change the range of ripeness. It just means there’s more quality options for people who prefer moderate to lower ABV wines. (It’s been pointed out that the lower priced end of the market didn’t see much of the move to higher ABV in the first place.)
By figuring it out, I assume you’re referring to reverse osmosis, Andrew?
Love this title…I hope so
I think people get far too wrapped up in a number on the label. I’ll bet the average person here couldn’t properly guess ABV if they were served wines blind. Balance isn’t necessarily achieved by lowering alc levels. You just get wine that’s easier to make balanced. A good winemaker can make balanced wine that is high in alc as well. It might have flavor, Heaven forbid, but it will be delicious.
The wines being discussed here are box car Chilean wines and they are at 13% and 14%. I suppose if one compares that to CA wines at 15% and 16%, that’s low alcohol. But it hardly proves that the taste of the larger market is changing. I wish it was, but this article doesn’t show it.
I might not be able to tell the difference with one sip, but I can surely feel the difference after a few glasses.
In my own wines it seems noticeable alcohol sensations in the aromatics are pretty consistent once I start approaching 14%. When I taste through the wines I always use burgundy stems and the higher alcohol wines are really apparent with those. By contrast, “heat” on the palate seems less linear with percentage and that’s probably where winemaking choices and grape quality come into play.
Aren’t you picking sooner looking for a lighter styled wine? A later pick with higher ripeness will have more fruit behind the alc to balance it out. Right? When made correctly of course.
When it gets into this type of mainstream media, it usually means the fad is flying over the shark tank on it’s motorcycle… 
“Lighter” is relative. From the beginning Ive picked less ripe than all the other producers who source from the same vineyards. Sometimes by weeks. But I still picked some in the 24/24.5 brix range and I’ve found I wasn’t a huge fan of the heat I would notice in the Burgundy stems. Based on the results from last year Im picking more in the 21 to 23 brix range.
On the palate Im seeing that pattern but less with the aromatics. I notice heat on the nose even in the aromatically robust wines. But if I’m intellectually honest though, I can’t be sure if that’s a universe pattern or a manner in which my winemaking can improve.
Looking at the bigger picture, the thing with alcohol is that high alcohol in itself isn’t always an issue but rather how it correlates to other ripeness parameters. For example, (and it depends on the vineyard) I’m starting notice an aromatic shift in the nature of Zinfandel at the 23ish range. I like how the wines smell better at a lower ripeness that is not connected to “heat” at all but rather fruit/floral character. A silly analogy is with black cherry tomatoes. They simply taste better to me with lower ripeness than higher ripeness. A flavor profile shift occurs with at some point in the ripeness of those.
In some cases u may be correct…but if you see the evolution of (for example) St. Emilion wines, many of them kept creeping up in alcohol rendering them flabby/spoofed/alcoholic/new world…Same with some CDP(07 yikes)…maybe the winemakers didn’t know how to handle this or it was by design, I do not know…I have to assume Parkers influence was at play here…I stopped buying St. Emilion wine because of it…others I know have either sold or stopped buying also.
Here to stay? Here to stay like (often un-skinny) men wearing skinny jeans? Or here to stay like the internet? As to the vast majority of the wine, there is nothing new, just changing trends.
For 15-20 years, the winemakers pushing boundaries were increasing ripeness, body and concentration—and by extension alcohol. Those wines became mainstream, and now the winemakers pushing boundaries are doing so in the other direction.
The wine market might become less flexible over time, especially in the US given the sheer growth overall in the last 20 years. Styles will most likely become more international than regional–we already talk about Northern Rhone-style Syrah from California.
But this has all happened before, and it will all happen again, albeit with new twists and in differing degrees.
What?
Volatile aromatic compounds develop, then begin to dissipate. How that plays out in relation to brix depends on a lot of factors. The quest is when to pick to find an optimal interplay of aromatic complexity, brix, acidity and flavor development.
Q: What’s the difference between cooked lemon juice and fresh lemon juice?
A: The volatile aromatic compounds.
That’s it. That’s why you put some fresh basil leaves on the pasta after it’s cooked. That’s why you add aromatic hops to a brewing beer for just the just minute it’s on the heat, then you start cooling immediately. You may also, or only, cook some basil in the sauce. Different effect. Same with choices for bittering and flavoring hops. A lean, acidic wine with amazing aromatics can be, well, amazing. A big, smooth wine with “lots of flavor” appeals to a lot of people - there be a real refined elegance to it, despite the dearth of this sort of complexity. Some wines, like one I had today, can be a sort of best of both worlds, being big, dense and flavorful while retaining the volatile aromatics. Of course one can pick early and have a lean wine where not much complexity of any sort has developed - even that can be good, sometimes.