tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1392866426745021699.post5254517759819601948..comments2024-03-28T07:27:16.088+01:00Comments on The Wine Gourd: What do wine glasses and hamburgers have in common?David Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11578729952036086391noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1392866426745021699.post-38990855316713161542018-01-30T10:18:33.741+01:002018-01-30T10:18:33.741+01:00California-based wine writer W. Blake Gray has bee...California-based wine writer W. Blake Gray has been reporting on the implications of higher alcohol levels in USA wines, given a change in out tax laws.<br /><br />First blog:<br /><br />"Public safety alert: Americans could get more drunk than they expect because of tax law change"<br /><br />Link: http://blog.wblakegray.com/2018/01/public-safety-alert-americans-could-get.html<br /><br />Excerpt:<br /><br />"One important aspect is that it raises the amount of alcohol allowed in "table wine" from 14% to 16%. Previously, wines over 14% were taxed at a higher rate. Now, that higher-taxation line moves to 16%.<br /><br />"By itself, this is a good change that reflects the way wine is made in the United States today. But there's a catch that could be not just bad for wine lovers, but dangerous: label tolerance, or how much a winery is legally allowed to misstate a wine's true alcohol level on the label.<br /><br />"Currently, the label ABV must be accurate within 1.5% for wines under 14% alcohol, and within 1% for wines over 14%. However, because of the difference in taxation, 14% was a dividing line that a winery could not legally cross. A wine labeled at 13.5% alcohol might actually contain 12% or 14%, but it could not contain 14.1%."<br /><br />Second blog:<br /><br />"New wine tax law is more tolerant of alcohol error, apparently"<br /><br />Link: http://blog.wblakegray.com/2018/01/new-wine-tax-law-is-more-tolerant-of.html<br /><br />Excerpt:<br /><br />"... For many years, wine was taxed at about 21 cents per 750 ml bottle if it contained less than 14% alcohol, and 31 cents a bottle if it contained more than 14%.<br /><br />"As part of the tax reform passed by Congress last month, that line of higher taxation moved up to 16%. All wines under 16% alcohol (except sparkling wine, sigh) will be taxed at the lower 21-cent rate. This is good. Winemakers shouldn't have to make decisions based on taxation rate.<br /><br />"However, the label tolerance -- the amount a winery can legally misstate the actual alcohol percentage -- was not addressed in the tax reform. And that was very important. Previously, wines under 14% ABV had a label tolerance of 1.5%, while wines over 14% had a tolerance of 1%. But, and this is key, the label had to be on the correct side of 14%, so that a wine labeled at 13.5% might have 12% alcohol or 14%, but not 14.1%.<br /><br />"Last Friday, the TTB sent out a mailer that answers some questions about the way the tax law will be enforced. ...<br /><br />"What is NOT addressed in this answer is whether or not 14% is a line that cannot be crossed. I'm sorry, but I don't know the answer to that, and the TTB might not yet either.<br /><br />"Previously, the tolerance was based as much on the label ABV as the actual ABV. Both had to be on the same side of 14%. But now, the tolerance is based purely on the actual ABV, apparently.<br /><br />"What this means is that a wine that says 14.5% on the label might actually contain as much as 15.5%, and it might actually contain as little as 13%, which would have been impossible before. <br /><br />"I believe this means almost all wines now have a 2.5% swing in label tolerance from least to most, which is actually larger than before. <br /><br />"In other words, a wine labeled at 13.9% might actually have anywhere from 12.4% to 14.9%."Bob Henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02089688073031173053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1392866426745021699.post-90161436527577799752018-01-29T10:33:04.036+01:002018-01-29T10:33:04.036+01:00"Unfortunately, the so-called 'standard d..."Unfortunately, the so-called 'standard drink' can vary considerably among countries. For example, in the USA a standard drink contains 14 g (0.6 oz) of ethanol, which would be 150 mL (5 fl. oz) of 12% ABV wine. However, in Australia, the standard drink contains only 10 g of ethanol, which is equivalent to 105 mL of wine. So, a bottle of 12% wine in the USA is considered to contain 5 standard drinks but in Australia it contains 7 such drinks. Obviously, with increased alcohol strengths of wine in recent years there are even more standard drinks per bottle these days!"<br /><br />Elaborating on this USA example.<br /><br />In decades past, California vineyard managers and winemakers studiously followed their UC Davis and Fresno State enology professor instructions and chose their harvest date based on the brix reading using a refractometer. By today's standards, those comparatively less ripe grapes resulted in 12% to 13% Alcohol By Volume (ABV) wines.<br /><br />Today in California, vineyard managers choose their harvest date based on what is called the "physiological ripeness" of the grape. These contemporary riper grapes result in 14% to 16% Alcohol By Volume (ABV) wines.<br /><br />By way of example, a 2014 California Zinfandel clocking in at 15% ABV is +20% higher in alcohol per fluid ounce than a 1984 California Zinfandel clocking in at 12.5% ABV.<br /><br />(Aside: The highest naturally attained -- not fortified like Port -- ABV in a California wine was the 1978 Mayacamas "Late Harvest" Zinfandel. See this label photo with its 17% ABV declaration:<br /><br />https://wine-searcher1.freetls.fastly.net/images/labels/75/89/mayacamas-vineyards-late-harvest-zinfandel-napa-valley-usa-10567589.jpg )<br /><br />Today, higher ABV levels combined with more generous (than 5-ounce) pours in larger bowl wine glasses result in more alcohol intake per "glass" of wine consumed.<br /><br />As the writer of a Wall Street Journal article [*] on the subject observed:<br /><br />"A standard 'serving' for an alcoholic beverage is 5 fluid ounces of wine, 12 ounces of regular beer or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All three portions contain 0.6 ounce of alcohol. But glasses today come in so many different shapes and sizes -- tall 'highballs,' wide tumblers, bowl-shaped wine goblets and now the new popular stemless wine glasses -- it's virtually impossible to estimate the right serving amount. Although a traditional wine glass holds about 7 ounces, many wine glasses today hold 16 ounces or more. Beer glasses often hold 20 ounces.<br /><br />"'Often my clients think they are just having one or two drinks, when really they're having more like three or four,' says Lisa R. Young, a New York University nutritionist.<br /><br />"Dr. Young says that a solution is for drinkers at restaurants to count each glass of wine, beer or spirits as two servings."<br /><br />["The Accidental Binge Drinker: How Much We Really Pour," Tara Parker-Pope, The Wall Street Journal "Personal Journal" Section, May 1, 2007, Page D1.<br /><br />Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117797544301787472<br /><br />Related: see David's proffered literature references 13 and 14.]<br />Bob Henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02089688073031173053noreply@blogger.com