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WINEMAKING Highlights • California wines have risen more than 2% in average alcohol levels since the 1970s. • Many popular explanations don't withstand scrutiny. • Revisiting the forces that contributed to this trend holds wis- dom for our future. sweet wines to be commercially available, igniting a table wine fever that spread throughout the world, dominated by European brands that made them well (Mateus Rosé, Soave, Frascati, Lambrusco), with American imitators clinging to their coattails. In the late 1960s, a handful of pioneers—encouraged by the con- sistent success of BV, Inglenook, Louis Martini and Charles Krug— began to plant fuller bodied varieties in tiny quantities. Cabernet Sauvignon appeared all over Napa in addition to a microscopic bit of Chardonnay here and there. By the early '70s, there were dozens of wineries producing serious wines. American drinking habits were moving away from hard spirits, and baby boomer consumers began opening their budgets to the affordable luxury these wines provided. It didn't take Napa producers long to figure out where their edge was: The Big Wine. The hapless French, by establishing Chardonnay at the top of the varietal pecking order and anointing the weighty Le Montrachet as the best of the best, had left a wide- open door to New World producers. Considerations of finesse and terroir were on nobody's radar. To Chardonnay lovers of the '70s, bigger was better, end of story. New tariff in town Through the efforts of the World Health Organization, Americans decreased their per capita alcohol beverage consumption by more than 20% from 1980 to 2000. This was largely accomplished in a single stroke. When the federal wine tax per gallon soared in 1984 from 17 cents to $1.07, gallon jug prices tripled overnight from $2 to $6. The big bottles immediately disappeared from the shelves as con- sumers shifted en masse to 750ml bottles. We began drinking less and enjoying it more. How? We com- pensated by buying stronger stuff. In the 1980s, Cabernet and Chardonnay were generally picked at 23.5° Brix, resulting in wines around 13.5% alcohol. We had already bumped the octane in a glass of white wine by a point or better. Straw men The shift from light, German-style wines to big French varietals is only half the answer to our puzzle. Today the average alcohol nudges 15% in the premium sector. Where is this alcohol coming from? Countless articles have recently emerged on this topic, each with its own novel slant. Let's look over some reasons the popu- lar press offers up for this trend, and then I'll take us behind the scenes into the minds of today's winemakers. In its December 2006 issue article about the emerging Tulocay AVA, Wine & Spirits magazine implicates global warming in the 2 Barrel Washers • 4 Barrel Washers Barrel Processing Lines • 1/2 Ton Bin Washing Systems 35 lb. Picking Lug Washers • Custom Cellar Equipment Tom Beard Company 1650 Almar Parkway, Santa Rosa, CA 95403 P. 707-573-3150 www.tombeard.com F. 707-573-3140 E. jmendoza@tombeard.com Wines & Vines DeCeMBeR 2011 47