The High Alcohol Debate Part 2

Further to my post about ever increasing alcohol levels in wines, I found a really great article on this subject. 

The article is about Hugh Johnson, who apparently has lashed out at the trend of increasing alcohol levels in wine in the 30th anniversary edition of his Pocket Wine Book. He is quoted as saying: “Like human bodies packed with steroid-driven muscle, these wines do not fulfil any useful purpose; they are merely made to win competitions … Mostly what excess alcohol does is muddy the flavours and blur the aromas, so you lose definition and focus and complexity.”

According to Johnson, consumers agree: “We’ve seen a marked fall-off in interest for the really exaggerated wines, that are at 15per cent or 16 per cent. There was a burst of interest because they were getting very high scores from American journalists, but … people have decided, once they’ve got them in their cellars, they don’t really like them.”

It will be interesting to see where the market goes from here. We are keeping a close eye on this subject and will keep you posted!