Alcohol Wines
Let's say for a moment that the restaurant you've reserved for Valentine's Day has on its wine list a highly sought after, critically acclaimed cabernet or chardonnay you've been dying to try. It's one of those cult wines, maybe from Napa, with big, bold flavors, monster tannins, lots of oak and 15% alcohol.
Skip it. Find something on the list with 12% or 13% alcohol instead.
That's the advice of Bartholomew Broadbent, whose San Francisco based import company handles brands from all over the world. One or two percent alcohol doesn't sound like much of a difference, but the effect on the palate, as well as the brain, can be profound.
Not only do high alcohol wines overpower your food, Broadbent observes, but just a couple of glasses could be New Balance Stockists London enough to turn Valentine's Day into a trip to the emergency room if you're driving to and from the restaurant. Certainly, there are better ways to say, "I love you."
For a white, try something like a Gazella Vinho Verde from Portugal, which has only 9% alcohol, or just about any sauvignon blanc from France's Sancerre region. Those wines usually have alcohol levels no higher that 13%. For a red, try the Heron pinot noir, from the Languedoc region of France, which boasts an alcohol level in the 13% range.
Critics deserve some of the blame for the trend toward high alcohol content wines. When they conduct their blind tastings, they might have 20 or more glasses of wine in front of them. The wines that stand out from the monotony earn higher ratings, and one element that can enliven an otherwise tired palate is, you guessed it, a higher alcohol content.
Wineries are keenly aware of this, and, in search of higher critical praise (and, in turn, sales), they push the envelope. When grapes are still on the vine, their sugar content rises as they ripen. That sugar is what's converted to alcohol as part of the fermentation process, after the grapes are picked and crushed. In general, the later in the season the grapes are picked, the higher the sugar content, and therefore the higher the alcohol level in the finished wine.
The cycle: Higher alcohol in the wine yields a higher score from a critic; a higher score equals higher sales for the winery; the next vintage rolls around, and the winery lets the grapes ripen a bit longer than the year before (weather permitting).
Not every winery adheres to this strategy, but it's an easily identifiable trend. Look at a few of the Buy Vibram Online big name producers, from Napa to Europe to South America. One of the most universally acclaimed wines among critics was the 2003 Domaine de Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee da Capo 2003, which sports a mouth singeing 16.1% alcohol.
It fries the brain too. "Whereas at 12.5% alcohol, a couple can Pandora Charms Australia Online easily drink a bottle of red and be none the worse, at 14.5% a couple will be feeling intoxicated," says Broadbent. It only sounds like a small difference, but two people who decide to drink an entire bottle of a 12.5% wine, he says, could still consume more than two vodka tonics before reaching the same blood alcohol level as they would had they consumed only the 14.5% alcohol wine.
If you don't want to take his word for it, take a doctor's. Gaffney, who says Vibram Australia Online he is 5 feet 9 inches and weighs 178, told Broadbent that after two glasses of 12.5% alcohol wine on an empty stomach, his blood alcohol limit was only .05 after an hour. After two glasses of a 15.1% wine, he was over the legal Tiffany And Co Uk driving limit of .08 after an hour.
Unfortunately, most restaurant wine lists don't display alcohol percentages. Broadbent is trying to change this (clearly, he loves a Sisyphean battle), but until they come around, he suggests simply challenging the wait staff or sommelier to suggest low alcohol wines on the list.
"The No. 1 criteria I have in selecting a wine to drink with a meal is the alcohol content," he says.
Of course, keep in mind that after trying some of these wines, like the Barboursville cabernet franc from Virginia (13.1%), you might find that high alcohol wines are much more to Christian Louboutin Pigalle 85 your liking and preference. Just make sure that if you're eating out, you take a cab to and from the restaurant.
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