September 13, 2006

Too Much Booze in Your Wine?

Back when we worked at Liquor Snob we would have scoffed at you if you ever told us there was such thing as too much booze in your drink. After all, it's all about the buzz right?

Maybe not. Wine guy Hugh Johnson is launching a campaign against wine makers, sayiing they're making wine with an alcohol content that is too high, thus ruining the flavor.

Hugh Johnson, who has won a string of awards in a career spanning four decades, compares today's new higher-strength wines to steroid-packed bodybuilders.

His attack is echoed by other critics, who say new wine-making techniques and the tastes of US judges have combined to make "dull-tasting rocket fuel", at the expense of more enjoyable tipples.

The rise in alcohol levels began with the arrival of Australian and other New World wines on the British market. Unlike traditional cool-climate French winemakers, who sought subtlety rather than strength, Australian mass producers used fully ripe grapes from high-temperature vineyards.

from The Australian

For the record, Mr. Johnson is staging his attack to coincide with the release of the 30th Anniversary edition of his Pocket Wine Guide (available at Amazon). The book is highly respected, but is it cynical on our part to say we smell tasteful publicity stunt in the air?

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