Wine rant.

Can some one please tell me what has happenend to wine in this country and now across the globe.

When I started drinking wine back in the 80's you'd see alcohol contents typically in the 12.5%-13% range with the occasional Old Vine Zin cranked up to 14%ish. I find wines in this ABV range to have the ability to be balanced between fruit, acid and tannin (where applicable). Sure they could occasionally be lean but at least they had the chance to be balanced.

Today, good luck finding a California wine under 14%. It's insane! These wines are huge jam bombs with massive fruit and little structure. Sure everyone likes a big Cabernet with a steak but a 15% fruit and alchohol explosion with little acid or tannin just doesn't work. And what about Pinot Noir. This grape is admittedly a finicky one to use in wine making but when its right , oh man, is it good. What draws me to pinot is the finesse it can show. Great fruit and balance all around.

I took a bottle of a Napa Pinot, from a new vinery owned by a very well know and respected winery that only makes Cabernet (and one that I love by the way) to Schwa a few weeks back. I'm glad we also had a backup bottle beause this was NOT what Pinot Noir was supposed to be. This gigantic jammy wine showed none of the finesse and charecter that a pinot should show. Oh, the ABV, 14.7%. Were they trying to make Cabernet with Pinot fruit? If so please stop.

I was at a Spanish wine seminar months back and spoke with someone from the importer. After tasteing a really nice wine I looked at the ABV out of curiosity was dismayed when I saw it at 14%. I asked the Importer about this and wondered if this higher alcohol content is something this winemaker uses in all of their wines or if thats for the American exports alone. The answer was that this higher ABV is used for the American Exports but that they are seeing higher alcohol levels in the wines kept in Spain too.

Trying to figure out exactly why this is occuring, on a recent trip to Napa/Sonoma I asked many people the question "Why are wines so high in Alcohol today?"

I don't know how much I trusted to few various answers I got but they ranged from; "Well wineries buy their fruit by the ton and if they require the grower to let the fruit hang longer they'll get less tonage per acre of land thus the winemaker pays less to the grower. At the same time the longer hang time produces grapes with a higher brix which results in a higher ABV in the final product." to " Well Robert Parker seems to give giant jammy wines a higher rating and as everyone knows if he rates your wine 92 or higher, well, its a jackpot. So winemakers are appealing to the Parker pallate."

Im not so certain that I believe either of these explainations 100% but I can imagine that these are definately contributing factors to the ABV rocket ship.

Anyway, I just want balanced good wines back.

Sorry I had to get that off my chest!

I have heard this phenomenon derisively referred to as "parkerization". I specifically first heard the term in reference to Spanish wines. I do not profess to know enough about the wine industry to know if Parker is really the driving force behind the marketplace, but the simple existence of the term indicates you are not the only one who is not enamored with the changes in styles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M._ ... on_of_wine

I second your complaint. I think that Parker is in part to blame, but it is also a broader commercialization of the business. Everyone wants their wines to stand out, and the easiest way to do that is to add sugar and dial up the alcohol. Consumers must like them, because the white wine market was taken over by Kendall Jackson clones dumping sugar and wood chips into their grape juice. The key to Australian success has been power and consistency, not finesse.
I like Parker as a guide, because I know that I cant stomach anything that he rates 94 or higher. On the other hand, for some reason, red wines under $15 that he rates between 87-92 tend to be great.

-Will

I have to say, that within the last year or so I've noticed too often that the unmistakeable taste of alcohol has permeated even the most subtle varietals. I can stand some alcohol in my Cabs, or fruit-bomb, or full-bodied varietals because of the overhwleming amount of non-alcohol flavor accompanying the ABV of the wine.

But, I cannot stand a Pinot Noir, Merlot, Chanti, etc. with a high ABV. It just ruins the wine for me. Many of the subtle flavors of these less-powerful varietals is lost with a high ABV and the wine really tastes like grain alcohol with grape juice. Ick.

This is why I can't really stand to drink anything but full-bodied, red varietals.

Bster

WillG wrote:On the other hand, for some reason, red wines under $15 that he rates between 87-92 tend to be great.

I really don't have much knowledge on how Parker rates wines I like, nor do I tend to pay them much heed when purchasing.

But I find this rule of thumb somehow quite believable and potentially very useful.

I'm curious about other opinions on the WillG Corollary.

Can't comment on the WillG corollary 'cause I simply don't rely on Parker but amen to the OP. I can remember buying wine in the late 70s when about the only California producer exceeding 13% was David Bruce and then specifically for his zin. Seems like only yesterday anything over 13.0 was an anomaly. Indeed, my very specific recollection of David Bruce seems testament to the rarity of such higher alcohol wines, at least in those days.

The up-creep (creep-up?) since then has been not only relentless but omnipresent. I'm sick to death of it and whine my little butt off to any sommelier, wine merchant, poor slob on the street, who will listen. Who can taste the wine anymore? Your point is extremely well taken but I fear that the "serious" buyers aren't the people the makers are looking to please any longer. Pity.

Wow, I'm so glad so may others agree with me here.

As stated I have spoken with a good number of people about this and have been told by some that perhaps this will have a pendulum effect and eventually swing back.

We can only hope....and wait.

Just piling on here. Certainly have noticed the same thing.
Was in the wine store in Lincoln Sq. recently getting a bottle to bring to dinner and asked the owner for something (red) that would NOT be a big fruity bomb---e.g. something a bit austere, with some earth, and some structure. He said, except at the very high end, they're just not making them that way anymore because global demand is for meaty, beaty, big and bouncy.

Also going back to the late 70s, I remember that rhone and chiantis and many other under $10 bottles could be had that were a bit rough, rustic, and had interesting woody flavors along with all that smuckers. No longer. I think some of it is the downside of all the technology that has, on balance been good for wine-making. Because while the jam-bombs are everywhere, there is much less chance of getting simply bad, bad wine anymore, even, or especially at the low end. Whereas it used to be a crap shoot.
Now nearly anyone, with today's control over the process, can produce a drinkable, if personality-free bottle. But, alas, that gets us the fuit and alchohol explosion.
I would imagine that global warming has an effect as well. Lots more sugar in the grapes, and more residual sugar even after a whole lot if ithas been converted to alcohol, thereby producing something both high octane, and high yucky fruit.
Disclaimer: The latter is pure amateur theorizing. I am no expert at all on winemaking and chemistry.
But I do miss the old wines. So much PN nowadays tastes like bad Beaujolais. Alas. (Sigh.)

I buy a fair amount of wine from https://www.garagistewine.com/index.php
though it's not a regular style wine shop.
they send out emails, sell you the wine and then
deliver in Fall or in the Spring. Lots of waiting time
so if you need the wine for Saturday, these are not your guys

they are huge fans of wines with lower ETOH
plenty of good wines in the $10 to $20 range with
12% (+-) ABV

FWIW, I think it is illegal to add sugar to grape must in the USA
while in France it's legal. In France you can't add water while in
the USA you can..

Seems to be very hard to get the ripeness needed yet keep the ETOH
at a lower level. Some can and some can't....

This is definitely a trend, and while I think there are plenty of alternatives available, it is a little disconcerting particularly when you look at similar trends in food, beer, and even entertainment.

Everything seems to be trending toward maximum impact, shock factor, and away from subtlety and refinement. In beer brewers try to out do each other with huge barrel aged imperial stouts and massive hop bombs, luckily there is still a lot of creativity in craft brewing and the less assertive styles are still very prevalent, but the trend is definitely towards the huge overwhelming style beers. In food you have fast food joints offering bigger and bigger sandwiches with more and more cheese and bacon, while high end restaurants engage in a pissing contest of who can come up with a more outlandish and ridiculous dining experience that when all is said and done really just takes the focus off the food and on to the chef and the extreme experience he or she is selling.

The good thing is, this is not all that's out there and there is still a ton of choice for those who want it, it's just getting a little harder to find.