Defining what is and is not table wine

[KMP]

I am not all that surprised that yet another well exposed wino here in the US has jumped on the bandwagon against wines with alcohol above 14-14.5%. There have been quite a few over the last year or two – Darrell Corti of Corti Bros stated that his shop would no longer sell wines above 14.5% and Randy Dunn of Dunn Vineyards wrote a letter to the US media saying “The current fad of higher and higher alcohol wines should stop. Most wine drinkers do not really appreciate wines that are 15 -16. +% alcohol.” But an article by Lettie Teague in The Wall Street Journal adds some new and clearly ridiculous twists to the madness. Link to article here.

Now I confess that I am not a big fan of richly flavored Pinot Noir wines that don’t express their varietal character all that well. Some of them have alcohols above 14% and while I struggle to appreciate them as wines that I can identify by grape variety that does not mean that they are not tasty examples of the winemaker’s art. But it would be pure folly on my part to advocate that Pinot Noir with more than 14% alcohol not be made. It would also be very petty of me to state that such wines won’t find a place in my cellar. I’d be even more suspect if I was to use federal labeling laws, which dictate that 14% alcohol and below is table wine, to justify my position. But the real evidence of my foolishness would be for me to apply my 14% rule only as I saw fit – which is what guys like Corti and now Rajat Parr, wine director of the San Francisco-based Michael Mina restaurant group, do. These guys really do define what a wine snob truly is.

Mike

[smithy]

The odd DRC Grand Echesaux I've seen was greater than 14.5%
Can't be any good!

[Waiters Friend]

I believe in Australia there was a reduction in the minimum alcoholic strength of fortified wines (port, muscats, sherry, etc), from 18% to 15.5%. It's ironic that many table wines (here and in the USA) achieve and surpass that level of alcohol, without being fortified. The defining factor seems to be if it is naturally fermented vs fortified with spirit.

Cheers

Allan

[smithy]

The 15.5 % was so that we could enjoy Flor Sherry at cask strength. ie they don't have to be topped up to 17-18 when they come off flor to keep them stable.
My definition of fortified wine is easy..they have added spirit rather than being 100% naturally fermented.
cheers
Smithy

[dazza1968]

Wow this question seems to get bashed around and i wonder maybe its a way to keep australian wine in a certain place ? a bit like what the u.s.a have been trying to do to Car maker Toyota ? We make some wonderful reds that do offer higher Alc but hey alot of them handle Alc well Like Greenock Creek wines ? and Marco Cirillo Grenache and then their is the willow bridge black dog 01 which may i say i took over to a wedding in the Barossa and was well respected by the wine makers etc from Various vineyards :mrgreen .

Is this only a problem if the wine is kept for extended long tern cellaring ?

Let the critics bash this around LOL

Regards Dazza