I've heard that In natural the process of wine making alcohol rate can reach up to 15%, is it true?
2006-10-02 20:15:36 · 6 answers · asked by Ramin 1 in Food & Drink ➔ Beer, Wine & Spirits
If you are talking about natural wine, and not fortified wine ,then 15% alcohol by volume is common -- just look for New World wines on the store shelves.
The maximum alcohol in natural wine is controlled by two things. The amount of sugar in the grapes and the type of yeast.
Alcohol in wine is created by the conversion of sugar in the grape juice by the action of yeasts. So the first factor is the amount of sugar.
The second is how efficient yeast is at doing the conversion. Since the most important (until recently) wine producing areas for centuries were in cool regions, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Germany and Champagne yeast companies have continuously breeding strains that would create more alcohol from sugar.
Yeast cannot live above a certain level of alcohol and fermentation will naturally stop when that level is reached. But certain strains have been developed which can survive at higher levels.
Wine alcohol has been increasing over the past decade. Wines which were 11.5-12% ten years ago are now 13.5%-14% now, and new world wines labelled as 15 and 15.5% are common.
This is because of improvements in grape growing, and picking them riper with higher sugar levels, combined with use of modern yeasts.
So currently the highest natural alcohol level is probably 17.5% - 18% but could go higher with a grape with higher levels of sugar and a strain of yeast that can handle it.
High alcohol is recognised by many as a problem by the industry and various actions are being considered.
Alcohol levels on wine labels are not necessarily 100% accurate -- some leeway is allowed (1.5% when under 14% and 1% when above in USA) and wineries use this legal leeway sometime to show a lower alcohol level than the wine actually contains. Thus a wine shown as 15% could perhaps actually be 16%.
(Fortified wines are natural wines that have had brandy added to them. A natural wine with very high alcohol level may be taxed at the same level as a fortified wine but that doesn't make it a fortified wine.)
2006-10-02 22:06:46 · answer #1 · answered by Pontac 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Still wine can have an alcohol rating of 16.5% alc. 15% is standard for most red zinfandels from California. The more alcohol is in a wine, the more taxes a winery has to pay to the gov't so they try not to get over 15%.
If it is over 17%, it is not considered wine - but a fortified wine - i.e. Port, Sherry, Madeira.
2006-10-03 03:56:31 · answer #2 · answered by Michelle T 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Naturally fermented, depending on the yeast and the process, yes...wine can have up to around 15%, though it generally doesn't (11-13% is more typical).
Fortified dessert wines such as port and sherry have brandy added to bring them up to around 18-22% alcohol.
Other wines such as Cisco, MD20/20, Thunderbird, etc., are also fortified with neutral spirits to raise the alcohol content. None of these are fermented to these levels.
There are rare exceptions, such as Sam Adams Utopia beer...they used a very careful and controlled brewing process and very unique yeasts to brew a beer that's 24% alcohol.
http://www.realbeer.com/library/beerbreak/archives/beerbreak20020214.php
2006-10-03 13:38:42 · answer #3 · answered by Trid 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would like to have a glass of wine right now
2014-07-15 01:53:20 · answer #4 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually port wine yeast is able to do 16%, but most wines are below this concentration as the various yeast die off.
2006-10-03 05:36:45 · answer #5 · answered by Frank 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
no its not md 20/20 is a bum wine and it reaches 18% i think it can be up to 20%
2006-10-03 03:17:59 · answer #6 · answered by a.hawari@sbcglobal.net 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋