November 3, 2017

POETS LEAP Riesling 2016

(Columbia Valley, Washington) $20

Racy, pure, and sensational for the price. During the day on Thanksgiving, this is what I plan to be drinking while I’m cooking.

Under U.S. law, wineries must state the exact percentage of alcohol the wine contains on the wine’s label.

Answer: False.

While it’s true that wineries must state an amount of alcohol, there’s a lot of wiggle room in the percentage stated. In the U.S., wines containing 14% or less alcohol, can be labeled plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. So that “light, elegant” wine you bought which was labeled 12.5 percent alcohol could actually contain 14%. For wines over 14% alcohol, a 1% variance is allowed. So, a wine labeled 14.5% alcohol, could contain 15.5%. No wine (except for fortified wines) is ever over about 16.5% alcohol because at that concentration, yeasts die from the very alcohol they are making, preventing them from making more.

TTB

The acronym for the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. This Federal entity governs most wine legislation including wine labeling and taxation. The TTB is also the department that approves (or denies) applications to create… Continue reading

POETS LEAP Riesling 2016

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