Netscape Forum Poll: Preferred alcohol content

[Robin Garr]

Following up on the current WLDG thread about rising alcohol content, which I'll also take on in today's <i>30 Second Wine Advisor</i> as soon as I can get to it, this week's Netscape/CompuServe WineLovers Community poll invites you to select the range of alcohol content that you generally prefer in your table wines. (Excluding fortified wines, which fall in a different normal range.) It's easy to vote - there's no need to register or log in - so we hope you'll take a moment to express your preference. Feel free to add a comment if you like!

Click to vote in Netscape Forum poll

[David M. Bueker]

7.5-8.5% heh, heh

Robin, I know it's tough to come up with a poll like this when whites and reds have different ranges. I answered for reds 12 to 14 for, but would have been much lower if I drank more whites.

Like David -- not a bad role model, BTW. :-)

[Robin Garr]

Robin, I know it's tough to come up with a poll like this when whites and reds have different ranges. I answered for reds 12 to 14 for, but would have been much lower if I drank more whites.

Like David -- not a bad role model, BTW.

Bob, I know I've said this before, but one of the aspects that makes these simple, non-scientific polls interesting is that it sometime requires us to think about our preferences a little more deeply in order to come up with the one, simple, single answer that fits <i>best</i>, deliberately depriving ourselves of room for nuance and exception and asterisks.

"one, simple, single answer that fits best, deliberately depriving ourselves of room for nuance and exception and asterisks."

No nuances, exceptions or asterisks will be expressed at the polling place, Robin.

Just a note on WLDG that I'm learning that many whites are pushing into the 12-14 range, even beyond.

My answer is meaningless, or at least deeply misleading, unless one knows whether I'm answering for reds or whites.

Interesting poll nonetheless. Thanks. Bob

[Robin Garr]

My answer is meaningless, or at least deeply misleading, unless one knows whether I'm answering for reds or whites.

Quite the contrary, Bob. Forcing you to make the hard choice and pick the ONE level that suits you best among all wines - even if it's a narrow call - makes you stop and think and analyze your preferences, and that's A Good Thing.

[Jenise]

Not to put you on the spot, but how come no overlap, Robin?

I would be willing to bet that most people on this board drink primarily red wine, and the red wines this board loves are primarily in the range of the low 12's to the mid-to-high 13's. You would know that, so it seems you deliberately designed the categories to split the average right down the middle. Is the idea to get us to commit to whether or not we'd side with slightly hotter than average or slightly cooler? I took it that way and voted cooler, but I'd have wished for odd-numbered categories and a choice like 11-13%.

[Robin Garr]

Not to put you on the spot, but how come no overlap, Robin?

I would be willing to bet that most people on this board drink primarily red wine, and the red wines this board loves are primarily in the range of the low 12's to the mid-to-high 13's. You would know that, so it seems you deliberately designed the categories to split the average right down the middle. Is the idea to get us to commit to whether or not we'd side with slightly hotter than average or slightly cooler? I took it that way and voted cooler, but I'd have wished for odd-numbered categories and a choice like 11-13%.

Well, you may be attributing to me more careful thought than I actually put into it.

But that said, I actually thought that 12-14% would do just what you said.

Really, I just took 8% as an obvious bottom line that incorporates good, low-alch Germans, and 14% as a reasonable top end beyond which everyone would agree that a (table) wine is high-alcohol. Then I divided the space into even segments of 2 points each.

I'll confess, though, that having done that, I looked at it and thought, briefly, something along the lines of, "Good! If I had an 11-13 category, just about everyone would choose it, and what fun is that?"

[Jenise]

"Good! If I had an 11-13 category, just about everyone would choose it, and what fun is that?"

You're a sadist!

Of course we don't have to vote in the poll and can just write what we like anyway
Between 12-14% for reds or 12-13% for whites usually doesn't warrant any thought (with certain exceptions e.g. German riesling). Exceptions to this might warrant a raise of an eye-brow depending on the grape/region. Anything over 15% though, would have me reaching for the asbestos suit and lead decanter (no really, the word crystal is intentionally missing ). I'll acknowledge it's still possible to make balanced wines at levels of alc above 15%, but they don't tend to appeal to me.

regards

Ian

[Jenise]

I'll acknowledge it's still possible to make balanced wines at levels of alc above 15%, but they don't tend to appeal to me.

Ian, I've just had it doubly proven that they don't appeal to me either. I recently spent three days in one of California's popular hot climate wine regions where an abv of 14% is fairly low, even for a white, and reds routinely run 15-16.5%. I did not expect to like the wines as I've hardly ever enjoyed a wine from there. I just went to have fun with friends. But over the course of three days' tasting, I got kind of used to the style and even liked a few enough to buy 8-9 bottles. Relatively few where most of my more open-minded friends bought three or more cases, but still more than zero. The wines had definitely lowered my defenses. Then on the way home, say 100 miles away and into a cooler wine region, we stopped at the home of friends of friends and they served a local pinot noir that was absolutely delicious, full of bright red fruit, vibrant acidity and probably no more than 13.5% alcohol. Tasting it was like waking up from a dream in which you found out that the person you just had sex in some dark closet was not who you thought it was--THIS was my kind of wine, not those others. And so I went to the car and pulled out a bottle of wine I'd liked enough to spend $35 on just the day before and opened it for our friends. As feared, it tasted like purple glop.

I'll acknowledge it's still possible to make balanced wines at levels of alc above 15%, but they don't tend to appeal to me.

Ian, I've just had it doubly proven that they don't appeal to me either. I recently spent three days in one of California's popular hot climate wine regions where an abv of 14% is fairly low, even for a white, and reds routinely run 15-16.5%. I did not expect to like the wines as I've hardly ever enjoyed a wine from there. I just went to have fun with friends. But over the course of three days' tasting, I got kind of used to the style and even liked a few enough to buy 8-9 bottles. Relatively few where most of my more open-minded friends bought three or more cases, but still more than zero. The wines had definitely lowered my defenses. Then on the way home, say 100 miles away and into a cooler wine region, we stopped at the home of friends of friends and they served a local pinot noir that was absolutely delicious, full of bright red fruit, vibrant acidity and probably no more than 13.5% alcohol. Tasting it was like waking up from a dream in which you found out that the person you just had sex in some dark closet was not who you thought it was--THIS was my kind of wine, not those others. And so I went to the car and pulled out a bottle of wine I'd liked enough to spend $35 on just the day before and opened it for our friends. As feared, it tasted like purple glop.

Jenise
Only 8 more bottles to go
By the way, go easy on those dreams
regards
Ian

Good poll.

If I see something above 14%, I feel like I am going to taste alcohol. But this "bite" is cool for a rare steak.

What happens to alcohol as a wine ages?

I voted 12-14. Maybe because I began my wine journey with California cabs and zins, I tend to prefer bigger wines, but I can tell when a wine is too big and I don't like off-balanced alcohol in the profile. I wonder too sometimes if my experience with high-proof spirits had dulled my sensitivity to higher alcohol levels in wine?

[Jenise]

I wonder too sometimes if my experience with high-proof spirits had dulled my sensitivity to higher alcohol levels in wine?

I suspect that's the case, in the same way that even a low alcohol wine can taste fairly alcoholic after you've gone without for a little while.

I'm sure you are right Jenise -- I've never liked anything above 20% much, except tiny sips of Madeira and Port. I generally prefer wines at 12% or below with only a few exceptions.