As wines gain weight, Chronicle to print alcohol levels
As wines gain weight, Chronicle to print alcohol levels
Apr 25, 2011 6
Time for a small industry secret: Most of the nation's top winemakers spend their days making dessert wine.
In the eyes of the federal government, that is. As far as the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Trade and Tax Bureau is concerned, any wine with more than 14 percent alcohol must be classified type 88: dessert/port/sherry/(cooking) wine.
Marcassin Pinot? Dessert wine. The Cabernets of To Kalon? You got it.
Silly, perhaps, but wine's alcohol level is plenty serious. Why else would it be the one piece of technical data required by law to be on every bottle?
The easy answer - that taxes are higher on wines with more alcohol - ignores the fact that a lot of wine lovers pay keen attention to the big number in the tiny type.
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