Little percentages mean a lot in wine

The other night we enjoyed a nice dinner out and ordered a bottle of wine we had never had before. It was a local Cabernet Sauvignon that went nicely with our steaks. What was especially notable, however, was how quickly both of your wine nuts felt the effects of the alcohol. Yowza!

We looked at the label and our suspicions were confirmed. The wine had an alcohol content of 14.6%. This literally means that by volume, the wine we were drinking was 14.6% alcohol – specifically, ethanol. That’s pretty high. Most everyday wines are typically in the 10-13% range. One of our favorite light, sweet summer wines is a Moscato that clocks in at just 7% alcohol. Dessert wines, like sherry or port, usually have an alcohol content in the 17-22% range, largely because they are fortified (they have had alcohol purposely added during the processing). But rarely do you finish a bottle in one sitting. There are also some wine makers out there, particularly in California, who are making huge Cabernet and Zinfandel “fruit bombs” that pack a punch with 16-17% alcohol. Bomb is right, cuz that’s what you’ll be after a bottle of wine like that!

So if you are sensitive to alcohol or are just curious, examine a wine’s label for something along the lines of “Alc. 12.4% by vol.” You’ll often find it in tiny print on the edge of the front label, sometimes printed sideways. It can also be found on the back label towards the bottom, near the information about who produced and bottled the wine.