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Determination of alcohol

See under alcohol content.

The alcohol content in wine refers to the proportion of ethanol; the main type of alcohol present. The theoretically achievable alcohol content of a wine can already be calculated in the grapes by the must weight. It results from the sugar (fructose and glucose) in the must, which is converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide during fermentation. In the 19th century, a system was developed by the chemist Joseph Gay-Lussac (1778-1850) that represents the alcohol content in degrees (°), which is still partly used in Anglo-American countries. Today, however, the indication in percent by volume is internationally common and standardised within the EU. The measurement is made at a temperature of 20 °Celsius.

Definition of terms

There are four different terms for alcohol content. The main interest is in how much alcohol is actually contained in the drink. In most countries, the actual alcohol content is indicated on the label:

actual alcohol content
Pure alcohol actually contained in the grape must or wine.

Potential alcohol content
Theoretical proportion that would be additionally possible by complete fermentation of the residual sugar. In Italy, this value is often given after the existing alcohol content in the form of e.g. "14% vol+4". In this specific case, this means a residual sugar of the equivalent of 4% alcohol, which is about 65 g (1% alcohol corresponds to 16 to 17 g sugar).

Total alcohol content
Sum of existing and potential alcohol content.

Natural alcohol content
Total alcohol content before any enrichment.

During fermentation, 10 grams of sugar per 1,000 grams of must yield 0.66% alcohol by volume. A content of 8 grams of alcohol per litre corresponds to about 1° or 1% vol. The conversion formula is % vol x 7.894 = grams of alcohol per litre (g/l) of wine. At 12% vol, this gives 94.7 g/l. In a 0.75 litre bottle of wine, this is 71 g of pure alcohol. An eighth of wine contains approximately the same amount of grams of alcohol as it has percent by volume. This means that in an eighth of wine with 12% vol. there are 12 g of alcohol. A...

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Dr. Christa Hanten

For my many years of work as an editor with a wine and culinary focus, I always like to inform myself about special questions at Wine lexicon. Spontaneous reading and following links often leads to exciting discoveries in the wide world of wine.

Dr. Christa Hanten
Fachjournalistin, Lektorin und Verkosterin, Wien

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