The Alcohol Sweet-Spot
Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 6:44 pm
Last week I had a very interesting conversation with a Senior Winemaker of a well-known South Australian label, which brought up a new slant on the familiar subject of high alcohol levels.
It all began when I expressed my thoughts that their latest release 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon was showing its 14.5% alcohol wildly at the moment; I picked up a large spike of heat and steely/mouthwash characters that dominated/contaminated the mid-palate and finish. I wondered if the wine was showing this disjointed and obvious alcohol at such an early stage of its life (under screwcap) could it possibly improve or get worse with bottle age. There’s been some recent comments about some big alcohol 1998s beginning to fall apart already – not as in oxidation, but where the balance between fruit, acid, tannin and alcohol are irreversibly split. The Winemaker pointed out that the 1999 flagship Cabernet Sauvignon had a higher alcohol level – but of course that wine had more powerful fruit to achieve a greater balance. This led to an explanation of what they were trying to achieve through vineyard and winery management, and how at least one major corporate identity was embarking on a very different course of action.
The winery is trying to achieve ripely flavoured wines on a consistent basis, and trying to avoid harsh tannins and greenness that’s seen as a big negative in this country. In a cool vintage such as 2002 this can result in some big alcohol wines in trying to achieve this ripeness – this topic is well covered by Ric Einstein’s 2003 articles “A wake up call to some Winemakers” and “Green is not a four letter word” at http://www.torbwine.com
The Winemaker went on to explain how fermentation in open tanks can help get rid of this alcohol which is bubbled off with CO2; however in closed tanks when the trapped CO2 hits the top, ethanol forms on the surface and drips back down the walls into the fermenting wine. This could be a big problem, right?
It appears some Chemists have found a way of extracting the excess alcohol from the wines, and have been selling these methods – apparently they hold seminars titled “Finding the alcohol sweet-spot”. At least one of Australia’s big multinational wine companies have been brewing some immensely alcoholic wines to achieve maximum fruit flavours, and then tapped off the excess alcohol for use in other products (such as pre-mixed alcohol drinks). The wines are winning gold medals and critical acclaim and are low enough in alcohol to break into certain overseas markets, and they’ve also got a great source of spirit to use/sell for other products.
Is this another example of Australian ingenuity in wine production, or is it a case of the Chemists going too far? As a nation we’ve always been on the cutting edge of science when it comes to winemaking dating back to the work of legends Max Schubert and Ray Beckwith, yet the Winemaker in question certainly gave the impression he wasn’t impressed with these latest developments. Is this a fantastic concept of dealing with increased alcohol levels as a by-product of our quest for ripe wine flavours, or is it somehow a form of cheating?
Cheers
Ian
It all began when I expressed my thoughts that their latest release 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon was showing its 14.5% alcohol wildly at the moment; I picked up a large spike of heat and steely/mouthwash characters that dominated/contaminated the mid-palate and finish. I wondered if the wine was showing this disjointed and obvious alcohol at such an early stage of its life (under screwcap) could it possibly improve or get worse with bottle age. There’s been some recent comments about some big alcohol 1998s beginning to fall apart already – not as in oxidation, but where the balance between fruit, acid, tannin and alcohol are irreversibly split. The Winemaker pointed out that the 1999 flagship Cabernet Sauvignon had a higher alcohol level – but of course that wine had more powerful fruit to achieve a greater balance. This led to an explanation of what they were trying to achieve through vineyard and winery management, and how at least one major corporate identity was embarking on a very different course of action.
The winery is trying to achieve ripely flavoured wines on a consistent basis, and trying to avoid harsh tannins and greenness that’s seen as a big negative in this country. In a cool vintage such as 2002 this can result in some big alcohol wines in trying to achieve this ripeness – this topic is well covered by Ric Einstein’s 2003 articles “A wake up call to some Winemakers” and “Green is not a four letter word” at http://www.torbwine.com
The Winemaker went on to explain how fermentation in open tanks can help get rid of this alcohol which is bubbled off with CO2; however in closed tanks when the trapped CO2 hits the top, ethanol forms on the surface and drips back down the walls into the fermenting wine. This could be a big problem, right?
It appears some Chemists have found a way of extracting the excess alcohol from the wines, and have been selling these methods – apparently they hold seminars titled “Finding the alcohol sweet-spot”. At least one of Australia’s big multinational wine companies have been brewing some immensely alcoholic wines to achieve maximum fruit flavours, and then tapped off the excess alcohol for use in other products (such as pre-mixed alcohol drinks). The wines are winning gold medals and critical acclaim and are low enough in alcohol to break into certain overseas markets, and they’ve also got a great source of spirit to use/sell for other products.
Is this another example of Australian ingenuity in wine production, or is it a case of the Chemists going too far? As a nation we’ve always been on the cutting edge of science when it comes to winemaking dating back to the work of legends Max Schubert and Ray Beckwith, yet the Winemaker in question certainly gave the impression he wasn’t impressed with these latest developments. Is this a fantastic concept of dealing with increased alcohol levels as a by-product of our quest for ripe wine flavours, or is it somehow a form of cheating?
Cheers
Ian
