![\"\"](\"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/coffaro_bottle.png\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nCalifornia always produced a lot of high-impact wines; 14.5% is not unusual. But wines north of 15% are more common, and those from areas such as Paso Robles venture into the 16% to 17% range. Even Bordeaux wines that weighed in at 12.5% for decades are now creeping up into the 14% level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This situation does create a problem for people going wine tasting. If each bottle contains a higher percentage of alcohol and tasters consume the same amount as they did in the past, they\u2019re taking on more of an intoxicant. Here are some tips for dealing with the increased alcohol when visiting wineries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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- Ask to see the label of the bottle being served<\/strong>. This is a good idea anyway, since there\u2019s a lot of information on a label. One such bit of data is the alcohol level. Don\u2019t rely on the server to tell you; they usually don\u2019t know. One problem is that the amount of alcohol is often printed in a teeny-weeny font, and it can be anywhere on the bottle, front or back. It\u2019s hard to be unobtrusive when looking forward to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Calibrate intake based on the amount of alcohol<\/strong>. For a particularly big boomer (we\u2019re looking at you, David Coffaro<\/a>) maybe have two sips of each wine instead of three. Or if you\u2019re there for, say, the Cabernet Sauvignon it might make sense to skip the Pinot Noir that the winery is not particularly known for.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Choose wineries to visit with the amount of alcohol in mind<\/strong>. If the plan is to visit a few places that specialize in Zinfandel, for example, it\u2019s clear that there will be big alcohol involved. That grape is so sweet anyway that wines made from it are usually quite potent. So maybe another winery ought to be one that specializes in sparkling wines, which generally are lower in alcohol, in the 12% range or even lower. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- No, white wines are not lighter than reds<\/strong>. Plenty of Chardonnays pack a punch. There\u2019s a Chardonnay from Lewis Cellars, for example, that weighs in at 14.7%. So white wine lovers have to be just as careful as those who prefer a meaty Merlot.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We have noticed, in recent years, that the amount of alcohol in the wine we\u2019re tasting (and drinking at home) is increasing. Now there could be a few reasons for that. Maybe our tastes have just turned towards more alcoholic and therefore more flavorful wines. That\u2019s possible, but we don\u2019t remember a shift in the … Continue reading How Much Alcohol?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2889"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2889"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2895,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2889\/revisions\/2895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Calibrate intake based on the amount of alcohol<\/strong>. For a particularly big boomer (we\u2019re looking at you, David Coffaro<\/a>) maybe have two sips of each wine instead of three. Or if you\u2019re there for, say, the Cabernet Sauvignon it might make sense to skip the Pinot Noir that the winery is not particularly known for.<\/li>\n\n\n\n