The Official Wine Thread - Page 1017

Do some producers let the grapes ferment to the point of a low alcohol level and then remove the excess sugar? Is this possible? I tend to like wines that aren't very hot, but are still dry. Perhaps the sugar is just low and I perceive them as dry. I am sure it is different with each varietal as well.

i don't know if there's a method to do this, but it may be a way of correcting a mistake. Else I'd just assume a producer would pick the grapes before they're too ripe, unless it's a style they're going for.

That's a good question and I'm not sure. I'm thinking they cannot but I could well be wrong.

In Napa, the excuse given is always "Well, with global warming it's always so hot and the grapes get super ripe, and what can we do?" Left unsaid is the fact that the reviewers who make or break Napa (*cough* RP *cough*) favor "big" and one essential component of "big" is high alc.

They are not all terrible, I have to say, but most of them are not my thing.

I think "big" isn't always an alcohol threshold though. I have had some hot wines that tasted like a spirit and also had hot wines that I wouldn't have been able to tell they had so much alcohol. I guess it goes back to these words like "integration" and "balanced" which I am not so sure I even understand what people mean when they say it, but I do know that there is some aspect to the wine making process that smooths the spikes so to speak.

not always, but I'd argue a majority of the time. Not usually a lot of subtleties when a cabernet is pushing 16%.

To get "big" you need a lot of fruit and ripeness. With that has to come ETOH as all that sugar will be there.

for me, I may change my mind in 10 minutes:

Balance: the individual components of a wine (be it the acidity, the oak, flavor compounds, tannins, residual sugar levels, etc, etc.) are all "in line" to make a great wine and you don't have on individual component or components that are really stark. The one element that probably gets a pass here is tannins since they're expected in a lot of young wines. I'd argue that sometimes the idea of balance is a personal thing as there's a lot of wines out there that people really enjoy but I find them out of balance and not enjoyable.

Integration: the individual components of a wine work harmoniously with each other. You can have really good balance between acidity and flavor compounds, but that doesn't mean they're enjoyable together. Sometimes it just doesn't work out and it makes the wine feel disjointed.

Speaking of warming and impact, interesting the rate at which French champagne producers are buying up southern England right now.

The single vineyard and grand crus are definitely not everyday drinkers and I think they need to be drunk with food. On their own they can be somewhat cloying and viscous even with the sweetness held in check. This past weekend I opened an '05 Brand Riesling to serve apres-ski with coq au riesling - it was magical.

All bumping 14.5 to 15 now, I believe.

Almost forgot. Thanks for the recommendation. This was great actually. It reminded me of some Napa Cabs I have had. Here's a shot of a messy tablecloth created by two slobs:

That glassware... Glad the wine was good though!

Ah, yes, it's good. I was seriously happy when I saw it in Maastricht for 9.75€ on offer. In Germany it ranges from 13€ (online) to 15-17€ (offline). If you haven't tried the Villa Antinori bianco yet, do so. It's great too. Santa Cristina is also quite solid and costs less. Their rosato, rosso (both Toscana) and bianco (Umbria) are all good. Haven't had their Chianti yet. And yeah, it's Antinori too.