de-alcoholizing wine
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Approximately 1650 wineries in California have sent wine to facilities that “de-alcoholize” their wines…this information comes from the San Jose Mercury News writer, Laurie Daniel. Why would a winery do this? Well…
Twenty-five years ago, it would have been normal to harvest, say, Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa at about 24 degrees “brix” (the measurement of developed sugars in the grape), which would result in wines that fell within the 12-13% alcohol range. I remember drinking wines such as Heitz Cellars “Martha’s Vineyard” Cabernet Sauvignon 1974 which fell into this range. They were quite stunning, particularly when served in close proximity to more expensive offerings from less than stellar performers in Bordeaux.
These days, I hear tell of “brix” levels over 28 degrees. This is (largely) a result of longer “hang time,” the amount of time the grapes hang on the vine before harvest. The practice has been spreading widely since the mid 1990s, pushed by trendy “flying winemaker” consultant types, and companies like Enologix who claim to have figured out how to achieve “high scores” from wine writers through a mix of planting & winemaking techniques, and chemical analysis.
According to practitioners, a long “hang time” brings about “mature” flavors, but at the expense of high levels of alcohol (and, I might add, a tendency towards “jaminess” that I don’t much care for in wine…it makes it hard to drink and pair with foods). High levels of alcohol (upwards of 17%!) also add a tremendous tax-burden to American producers, particularly those who are making, say 250,000 cases of ONE wine.
Now one could argue (correctly, IMHO), that if “winemakers” weren’t concerned with making beverages that pleased Mr. Parker, and the “Wine Spectator” writers, they’d probably focus more on growing good grapes to begin with (which means, among other things, “pick the freakin’ fruit already!” – it’s ripe enough!), and there’d be less of a problem to begin with.
But in these days of producing predictable, mass-produced beverages out of over-cropped grapes that are sterilized and inoculated with GM yeasts, pumped over sawmill waste, “micro-oxed,” and subject to a whole BUNCH of other industrial techniques, starting out with super-ripe fruit helps hedge all the bets – hence, the practice of de-alcoholization.
Interestingly, a recent study by Ed Weber at the Napa County University of California Cooperative Extension seems to prove that “natural” brix levels reach a plateau at about 25-26 degrees. Further, any further rise in brix is a function of dehydration.
In other words, the “industry” is producing “passito” wines in the vineyards (sweet wines from grapes dried on the vine), and trying, though de-alcoholization (and other mechanical means) to turn them into “table” wines. That’s about the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of, and it’s no wonder so many of the wines taste “dumbed-down.”
I have Paolo DeMarchi on record as saying, “In Italian and in French, we do not have the word, “winemaker.”
To a person, everyone of our producers says the same thing in different words: “We don’t make wine. We prepare the environment for good wine to make itself.”
If anyone still wonders why we chase our particular muse here at Moore Brothers, it’s because we don’t like dumb food, or dumbed-down wine. And we know our customers like smart stuff too.