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WINEMAKING the cohort that dumps sugar and cream into its java. By combining the behavioral data from the survey—what kinds of wine people declared they did and didn't like to drink—with the physiological profiles inferred from responses about coffee, salt and the like, they were able to construct four wine drinker "phenotypes." At opposite ends are Sweets—highly taste sensitive, preferring sweeter wines—and Tolerants—much less sensitive, able to tolerate harsh flavors and fond of big, red wines. In between are Hyper- Sensitives and Sensitives. How these categories are distributed in the real population—as opposed to the online survey population— is guesswork, but Hanni's hunch is that Tolerants are a small mi- nority, maybe 15%, almost all male, and that all the other phenotypes, including the Sweets, are larger. Even though the Tolerants are often short on taste buds, their taste in wine domi- nates ratings, wine lists, wine education and wine pricing. For Hanni, this peculiar hierarchy not only flies in the face of phys- iological facts, Hundreds of years ago vintners added sugar to their wines in the cellar —often in the form of honey. QualityStainless_Apr05 3/9/05 11:12 AM it ignores a huge potential mar- ket for light- er, sweeter wines. And the reign of the Toler- Page 1 Quality - Value - Experience Quality Stainless Tanks • Professionally crafted • Perfomance guaranteed • Custom designs & features • Quick & competitive pricing • Repairs & modifications • Special application tanks • Stainless winery equipment • Tanks in stock for immediate shipping from 500 to 10,000 gallon capacity Quality Stainless Tanks 510 Caletti Avenue • Windsor, CA 95492 Phone: 707.837.2721 • Fax: 707.837.2733 Toll-Free: 877.598.0672 www.qualitystainless.com winetanks@aol.com Fabricated Stainless Cooperage Custom ants is anything but tolerant: "Try going into an upscale, white tablecloth restaurant," Hanni challenged the symposium attend- ees, "ask for a White Zinfandel, and see how you're treated." Sugar and history So if any of this is remotely true, how the heck did the Tolerants—the fans of killer Cabernet—become the masters of the wine universe? Big, powerful, dry reds—from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Tuscany, Piedmont and Napa—have been the benchmark wines for "seri- ous" wine drinkers for so long that it seems to be forever. But in fact, wine historians generally agree that the drys have only been dominant since World War II. Most ancient wines—and certainly the most famous ones, like the Roman Falernian—were undoubtedly sweet. Many of the earliest sweeties were made by drying and withering grapes; one striking legacy of this technical breakthrough is, as Corti noted, the 27 defined, regulated types of passito wines still being pro- duced in Italy. Others got their sugar added in the cellar, often in the form of honey. Bonus sugar had the virtue of covering up faults (which were undoubtedly many), but the greatest value of extra sweetness was stability, allowing wines to survive trade and transit and improve for years and years. Later on, fortification with spirits became another means to stability. Wine writer and historian Thomas Pellechia thinks that a subtle shift in wine styles probably started in the 12th and 13th centu- ries, with an expansion of vineyards in cooler parts of Europe such as Germany and northern France. Whereas the warmer Med- iterranean climes of the oldest wines naturally lent themselves to syrupy styles, the newer vineyards and the grapes favored there began the transition to more modern styles. By the 18th century, Patent # 7357069 Inspired Design Our spirals made from Premium, American or French Oak deliver 100% new barrel flavor (8 months) in as little as six weeks. Now you can boast authentic oak flavor using neutral barrels or tanks – with rapid, controllable and predictable results. www.InfusionSpiral.com (800) 201-7125 West Coast–New York–Texas Len Napolitano (805) 712-4471 len@thebarrelmill.com Four toast levels Economical Sustainable Time-saving Wines & Vines MARCH 2011 57