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Virtual Tasting Premier Host
Cost: Free
Wines at 12.5% ABV or Less by Marty Cook
Our next Wine Wednesday episode, which airs on Wednesday, October 20th at 7:00 PM Eastern/New York Time, will confront the topic of wines at 12.5% Alcohol by Volume (ABV) or Less.
When I first began to explore wine in 1971, wines rarely exceeded 12.5% ABV. Yeast strains at that time only tolerated ABV’s of 13.6% at the top end before they naturally succumbed to the effects of alcohol, whereupon they fell to the floor of the fermenter and subsequently died. So, sitting down with a friend over a bottle of wine in those days left both of you relatively sober. That was before scientists developed yeast strains that could tolerate ABV’s north of 16%.
Several decades ago, New World wine producers began pushing the limits of high-alcohol wines, which was
easy to do in sun and heat-laden areas. This resulted in higher sugar-per-berry content, yielding bigger, bolder fruit bombs of higher ABV and lower acidity. In recent years, however, a backlash among consumers arose that persuaded producers to back off of these techniques.
There are plenty of wines available today at 12.5% ABV or less, albeit, you may have to search a bit. So, the task for our next Wine Wednesday on October 20th at 7:00 PM Eastern/New York Time will be to secure a bottle of wine with an ABV of 12.5% or less that you would like to feature during Wine Wednesday. And, as usual, please send photos of the front and back labels of your wine bottle to WineCat@pa.net by 11 PM Tuesday for inclusion in our weekly PowerPoint presentation.
We look forward to seeing you for Wine Wednesday on October 20th at 7:00 PM Eastern/New York Time for some fun with wine! The Zoom link for this virtual event is shown below.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89425448612?pwd=SW41SHZ5aFpvNkhxTTFlQ0tCMUowUT09
Meeting ID: 894 2544 8612
Passcode: 525858
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Meeting ID: 894 2544 8612
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