California's big reds are coming on strong these days as winemakers pursue riper, fuller-flavored fruit.
A number of wines have been creeping past 14% alcohol and even into the 15% to 16% range, as opposed to the tamer 12% to 13% of years past. This is largely because vintners wait longer to pick their grapes. More mature fruit is thought to make tastier wine, but it also means higher sugar levels, which comes with the side effect of pumping up the alcohol. Warmer harvests only increase the phenomenon.
Some are calling for a halt to the so-called "hot wines."
"I just hate high-alcohol wines," said Randy Dunn, founder of Dunn Vineyards. He fired off an open letter last year urging consumers to demand wines of 14% alcohol or less.
Darrell Corti, president of Corti Brothers, a Sacramento wine and food market, is also in the less-is-more camp. He announced last year that his store wouldn't carry table wines with more than 14.5% alcohol.
Still, big reds, many of which are highly rated by critics, have their champions.
"They fill your mouth with flavor; you can chew on them. They linger on your palate when you're drinking them, and that's what Napa is known for -- its big, chewy cabs," said Doug White, director of operations for the Vintner's Collective, a Napa tasting room for boutique wineries.
For those who don't like the big wines, some have an issue with the style of higher-alcohol vintages and others are wary of the punch they can pack.
One definition of the "right" alcohol level is if two people can finish a bottle and "wish there was a little bit more," Dunn said. "You don't do that with a 15.5% or 16% alcohol wine. You'd be lying on the floor."
It's not always easy to tell how much alcohol is in a wine.
Wines containing 7% to 14% alcohol can be labeled just "table wine" or "light wine," as opposed to listing the alcohol content, under federal regulations. When a percentage is listed it can be off by as much as 1.5%, a tolerance granted because one batch of wine can differ from another, said Art Resnick, spokesman for the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in Washington, D.C. Wines over 14% alcohol, which fall into a higher tax category, must list alcohol levels with a tolerance of plus or minus 1%.
The higher-alcohol trend goes back about 10 years when growers started letting grapes stay on the vines longer to develop the full flavor of the fruit, said Kenneth Fugelsang, professor of enology and wine master of the commercial winery run by Cal State Fresno.
