Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Alcohol Content?

I was putting together a page for my Booze book on the alcohol content of wine. Well, here's what I got;
a wine with a high alcohol content (14.5% or higher) will tend to be a heavier bodied wine and also drier. The yeast had the opportunity to "eat" more of the sugars.

A wine with a medium alcohol content (11 - 13%) is usually a medium bodied wine.

A low alcohol wine (10%) or less will be lighter bodied and sweeter, more leftover residual sugars.

In some cases, a lower alcohol content wine could mean it was made from under ripe grapes meaning less sugars.

High alcohol content can sometimes indicate a sweet wine as well. Wines over 14% alcohol are either made from grapes left to ripen longer (late harvest wines) or are fortified with a neutral spirit.
Also, a high alcohol content increases the perception of a wine's sweetness.

I think from now on I will include the alcohol content of wines I try, just for giggles. Could make for interesting comparisons.

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