The great alcohol debate

Today, James Laube posts on his Wine Spectator Blog about alcohol levels and asks his readers to let him know their thoughts.

Jim asks in his blog post

"Do you want lower-alcohol wines at the expense of flavor? And what percentage is "ideal"? Do you want 12.5% or 13.5% alcohol Pinots and Cabernets, or would they be weedy and herbal? Can a big, rich wine be balanced? Do you make up your mind about a wine by reading the alcohol content on the label before you taste it, and is that fair to the wine?"

My personal thoughts on alcohol are that I don't believe in drawing an artificial line in the sand on alcohol levels. I think that what matters is that the flavors and balance are good in a wine. The alcohol levels are secondary.

I do believe, though, that many wines that are really high alcohol and being touted as balanced early in their life have great likelihood to fall out of balance as the fruit dissipates over time.

I also think alcohol levels are high these days because winemakers are pushing the envelope of ripeness. To my palate, the results are often hot wines that are so intensely ripe and fruity that they no longer taste and "feel" like they're made of the grape they were. A good example of that is Pinot. I have had Pinots that are so big and hot that they more closely resembled Grenache.

I know I am in the minority, but I am looking for wines that will hold up for many years and deliver a great experience when consumed by representing their varietal and whereabouts. If a wine is made in a must drink now style that is merely pleasurable and satisfying, it is not made for my taste buds.

One winery that I can think of that has consistently produced wines of lower alcohol levels is Williams Selyem. Although they (from a scoring perspective) no longer belong in the top echelon of California Pinot, but they belong in mine. And I interpret the reason for their drop in scores to be their reluctance to produce over-the-top high alcohol wines that wow tasters with "knock your socks off" flavor intensity. Their 2005s and even 2004s are largely labeled under 14% (although I understand there is significant leeway of 1%).