What is considered as Strong Wine?

While we have some individuals who prefer non-alcoholic wine or wine with low alcohol levels, there is also a good number of people that long for wine with high alcohol content. The wine with high alcohol content can also be termed as strong wine. Basically, strong wine is characterized by delayed grape harvesting and a prolonged fermentation period as well. Delayed grape harvesting is for ensuring that the wine is prepared from riper grapes, while prolonged fermentation is to ensure 100% conversion of sugar into alcohol. 

The regular wine normally has 8 to 10% alcohol content, while strong wine comes with alcohol content at 13% and above. This means that making strong wine is never a walk in the park as the fermentation process requires quite some nurturing. Below is an in-depth discussion of all that comes into play when strong wine is mentioned. 

Taste 

Anyone that takes wine can attest that the alcohol content in the wine is normally noticed as heat at the back of the mouth. Strong wine comes with a warmer taste, and you should expect to feel a burning sensation at the end of your palate once you take a sip. 

Flavor Increase 

For any strong drink out there, you will realize that there is always some extra flavor, and the same case applies to strong wine. This is usually most important in ensuring the fascination of the wine is maintained. 

For instance, if you use the same amount of berries used in preparing a gallon of regular wine to prepare strong wine, you are likely to end up with watery wine. Hence, more berries are normally used when it comes to strong wine preparation. 

High Fermentation Temperatures 

The fermentation process of strong wine is normally characterized by fermentation temperature a little higher compared to that of regular wine. Whereas 72 degrees Fahrenheit is the usual temperature for fermentation of normal wine, stronger wines require 74 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit. The purpose of the higher levels of temperature is normally to revitalize the yeast to convert more sugar into alcohol even when it reaches its limit.

Besides, grapes that are harvested from warm weather regions also tend to be sweeter, hence producing high alcohol wine. 

Sugar Levels

The alcohol levels in wine normally correlate with the sugar levels of the grapes used during preparation. Strong wine is commonly prepared from grapes with high sugar levels. Basically, the higher the sugar levels, the stronger the wine will be. This is because the wine juice’s sugar is what is converted by yeast into alcohol during fermentation.  

Wrapping up

If you are the type that always looks forward to having a meaningful buzz after a long day after work, then strong wine would be a great option for you. However, don’t forget that strong wine will require you to pair it up with some mixer to ensure that you don’t get blown away. You could also ensure that you are consuming some heavy food if you don’t intend to use a mixer with the wine. Also important to note is that it’s rare to come across a high alcohol natural wine, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist!