In the wine world, there are some fundamental issues that are misrepresented for various reasons, leading consumers to make the wrong choice when buying wine. “The alcohol content of this wine is 14.5 degrees, and the quality is good!” Have you heard of this statement? Are wines with higher alcohol levels really higher quality? Today we will explain this issue in detail.
Sources and Effects of Alcohol
To answer the relationship between the level of alcohol and the quality of wine, we must first know how the alcohol in wine comes from and what it does.
Alcohol is converted from the fermentation of glucose. In addition to being intoxicating, alcohol also makes wines feel warm and plump. Generally speaking, the higher the alcohol content, the fuller the wine. In addition, the more sugar and glycerin in the wine, the more it will increase the weight of the wine.
Generally speaking, the hotter the climate, the more mature the grapes, the higher the alcohol content and the fuller body of the wine. As the global climate warms, many producing regions are facing the challenge of increasing the alcohol content of their wines.
Because the more full-bodied the wine is, the better, it still needs to be balanced. Too much alcohol can often cause an unpleasant burning sensation on the palate.
The damage caused by too much alcohol
Taiwanese wine writer Lin Yusen once emphasized that the most taboo thing about too high alcohol is that after the wine is imported, too much alcohol will produce an unpleasant burning taste in the mouth, which will destroy the balance and detail of the wine.
Wines with heavy tannins or high acidity can also be expected to become more palatable after being cultivated and matured, but if the alcohol is too heavy, it will be difficult to become better in the future. All the wines that are out of balance due to too much alcohol Wine, just open the bottle quickly.
Of course, high alcohol wine has its benefits. Because the volatility of alcohol is good, wines with high alcohol content are usually more intense than ordinary wines because the aroma molecules are more easily emitted.
However, wines with high alcohol content but insufficient aroma often overwhelm other aromas and make the wine look dull. This is especially the case with wines produced in regions where the climate is hot and the grapes ripen very quickly.
In addition, some old wines that are too old and begin to decline, because the aroma is weakened and the wine is out of balance, the alcohol taste will be particularly obvious. Although wine contains alcohol, if alcohol is directly present in the aroma of wine, it will become a negative indicator of a bottle of wine.
Good wine with low alcohol content
British wine writer and Master of Wine Jancis Robinson is also very positive about the role of alcohol in the body of a bottle of wine:
Fortified wines are very full-bodied because they contain added alcohol. Outside of fortified wines, most of the heaviest wines are red wines, including Amarone in Italy, Hermitage and Châteauneuf du Pape in the Rhone Valley, late-harvest Zinfandel in California, and many Spanish and Argentine wines. Red wine, as well as typical Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah from California, Australia and South Africa.
The best white Burgundy wines, Sauternes, and especially California Chardonnays, are also very full. In fact, high alcohol content can make some wines taste a little sweet.
However, most German wines are very light and some of them are actually only 8% alcohol. Germany’s very thick noble rot sweet wine and ice wine have relatively low alcohol concentration, but the sugar and glycerin in the wine also have the function of making the wine fuller. The low alcohol content has not prevented excellent German wines from becoming the world’s top wines.
What exactly is necessary to make a good wine?
Therefore, to sum up, the main elements that make up the taste of wine: acidity, sweetness, alcohol and tannins are balanced and coordinated with each other to form a balanced taste, which is a necessary condition for a good bottle of wine.
Just as there are few true golden rules in the world of wine, more advanced wine lovers and professionals can appreciate that different types of wine differ in the main elements that make up the palate. For example, sparkling wines have the stimulation of bubbles, dessert wines have a higher sweetness, and fortified wines are especially high in alcohol… Each type of wine has its own balanced structure in different forms. And every time you taste it, you can increase your personal perception.
Next time, when tasting fine wine, remember to be more patient to feel the expression of various elements in the wine in your mouth, I believe it will give you more harvest. You will never again agree that the quality of a wine can be judged by the performance of a single element.
Post time: Mar-22-2022