The alcohol content of wine has spiked considerably. “There’s pressure on winemakers from critics for intense flavors, and that means riper grapes,” explains Marnie Old, the director of wine studies at the French Culinary Institute, in New York City, and a coauthor of He Said Beer, She Said Wine (DK Publishing, $25). “So during the past few years, winemakers have been leaving grapes on the vines well after they would typically be picked, and that translates into fuller-bodied wines and more alcohol.” Thanks to scientific advances in farming, it’s now less risky to postpone a harvest. Warmer climates also play a role, so a Riesling from California is going to be much more potent than a traditional one from a cooler climate, like Germany. Very Low (under 12.5 percent) Sparkling: Italian Asti, Italian Prosecco.White: French Vouvray and Muscadet, German Riesling, Portuguese Vinho Verde, Spanish Txacolina.Rosé: California White Zinfandel, Portuguese rosés. Moderately Low (12.5 to 13.5 percent)

Sparkling: California sparkling wine, French Champagne, Spanish Cava.White: Austrian Grüner Veltliner, Australian Riesling, French Alsace white, French Loire and Bordeaux whites, French white Burgundy, Italian Pinot Grigio, New York Riesling, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Oregon Pinot Gris, South African Sauvignon Blanc, Spanish Albarino.Rosé: French rosés, Spanish rosés.Red: French Beaujolais and Burgundy, French Bordeaux, Italian Chianti, Spanish Rioja. High (13.5 to 14.5 percent) White: Australian Chardonnay, California Chardonnay, California Pinot Gris, California Sauvignon Blanc, California Viognier, Chilean Chardonnay, French Sauternes, South African Chenin Blanc.Red: Argentine Malbec, Australian Shiraz, California Cabernet Sauvignon, California Pinot Noir, California Syrah, Chilean Merlot, French Rhône red, Italian Barolo. Very High (more than 14.5 percent) White: French Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise (fortified), Portuguese Madeira (fortified), Spanish sherry (fortified).

Red: California Petite Sirah, California Zinfandel, Italian Amarone, Portuguese port (fortified).The Lightest to the Strongest Wine It’s a little known fact that the world’s largest wine producer, E. J.Gallo, built their empire off the success of their white wine called Thunderbird. best natural wine londonThe wine was originally designed to appeal to a young market and has now garnered cult status as a “bum wine.”buy wine to age Why was Thunderbird such a success? top 10 costly wine in worldWell, simply put it has 20% alcohol by volume (ABV). good wine for romantic dateLet’s take a look at alcohol levels are in wine from the lightest to the strongest. best wine for girl indian

Truth be told, alcohol content in wine ranges wildly from as low as 5.5% to 23% ABV. There are several factors that affect the alcohol content of wine including the style of wine, quality level, and climate where the grapes grow.where can you buy wine in nj How much wine should we be drinking?best way to ship wine in canada The rule of thumb is that a glass of wine is worth one standard drink and women get one of these a night and men get two. the best wine bar in londonHowever, this makes the assumption that the wine is only 12% ABV. red wine glass picSo if you’re drinking a high-alcohol wine like Port or Thunderbird (at 20% ABV), the recommended serving size is about half.

Yep, sometimes it’s better to get a lower alcohol wine, especially if you love to drink. You can drink more light-alcohol wine with the same effect as one glass of high-alcohol wine. Under the 10% ABV level, most wines will be light in body and sweet. German Kabinett Riesling (at 8% ABV) and Italian Moscato d’Asti (at 5.5% ABV) are typical examples of light-alcohol wines. The reason why these wines tend to be sweet is from the leftover grape sugar in the wine after the desired alcohol-level is reached. Leftover sweetness in wine is called residual sugar (RS) and comes from the sweetness of grapes at harvest time. Moscato d’Asti 5.5% ABV (lightly sparkling sweet white from Italy) Brachetto d’Acqui 6.5% ABV (lightly sparkling sweet red from Italy) Kabinett Riesling 8% ABV (light sweet German Riesling) Spätlese Riesling 8.5% ABV (rich sweet German Riesling) Alsace Blanc 9%–10% ABV (France) Muscadet 9.5% ABV (France) Wines ranging from 10–11.5% ABV are usually produced when less-sweet grapes are used to make wine.

It’s pretty common to see white wines with medium-low alcohol from cooler climate regions like France, Northern Italy and Germany. There are also several sparkling wines in this alcohol content category because the wine producers pick the grapes a little earlier in the season to insure that the wines stay zesty with higher acidity to compliment the bubbles. Touraine and Cheverny (Sauvignon Blanc from Loire, France) If you live in the US, you might believe that these numbers seem a little low, but for the rest of the world 11.5%–13.5% ABV is the average. In fact, the US standard serving of wine is a glass (5 oz) of medium alcohol-content wine. Most European wines will be in this range, as well as dry American bargain wines. Bordeaux (Cabernet-Merlot blend from France) Bourgogne (Pinot Noir or Chardonay from France) Côte du Rhône (France) Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir (Oregon) This is the average range of dry American wines and other warm climate growing regions including Argentina, Australia, Spain and Southern Italy.

Regions with warmer climates will produce sweeter grapes which in turn increases the potential alcohol content of the wine. Chardonnay (California and Washington) Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (California and Washington) Garnacha/Grenache (Spain and Australia) Amarone della Valpolicella (Italy) Brunello di Montalcino (Italy) High alcohol wines are made one of two possible ways: naturally or with fortification. Fortified wine is when a neutral spirit (usually a distilled grape brandy) is added to wine to increase the alcohol content. The original purpose for fortifying wine was to preserve the flavor of wines during the age of exploration. High alcohol dessert wines like Port, Marsala, Madeira and Sherry are commonly fortified and so are aromatized wines (aka vermouth). It’s more rare to find a natural high alcohol wine, but they do exist, thanks to science! Shiraz ~15.5% ABV (Australia) Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre 15.5% ABV (California and Australia)