There are ethics, and then there are alcohol ethics — and the latter are to be taken quite seriously. Messing with someone’s alcohol can be perfectly termed as a cardinal sin, and it has been reported that vineyards around the world and the wine industry have been bending the truth. There are reports that winemakers are acting a little casually about the information that they share with customers. And the mismanagement is not in regards with the region, vineyard, year and varietal, but with the alcohol content. Many vineyards have been misreporting it for decades.
Lies about wine are hampering the wine industry
The reported percentages on bottles are not exact, and many winemakers have adopted a habit of rounding off the alcohol percentage. The reasons are not specific and include a number of factors, including tastes, expectations, associations, rating systems, and international tax laws. Kate Fuller, a teacher at Montana State University for agricultural economics says, “The errors, whether deemed ‘small’ or ‘large,’ are systematic.” She conducted an extensive research on wine industry on the basis of two theories. The first theory was that wines are getting more alcoholic. The second theory said that winemakers have been inaccurately reporting the alcoholic contents of their wines. The research led to some interesting conclusions.
The research proves that wine has grown boozier with time. The researchers wrote, “There was growth in alcohol percentage in every country.” Some winemakers blame it on climate change and global warming, but that is only the half truth. Winemakers have also said that they had to change the types of grapes. But Fuller and team do not agree completely. “Our findings lead us to think that the rise in alcohol content of wine is primarily man-made, even if as an unintended consequence of choices made by grape growers and winemakers. The palette of the consumer is probably partly to blame. Americans tend to like sweeter beverages. So winemakers might be leaving the grapes on a little longer to get a wine that is a little fruitier and has higher alcohol content,” wrote the research team.
Hiding facts and figures to satisfy consumers
Winemakers, though, have been trying to conceal the fact form the consumers. The research proves that there is discrepancy when you compare the alcohol content indicated and the actual alcohol content. The discrepancies have shocked the researchers, too. “I thought there would be some discrepancies between the actual and reported [alcohol contents], but I didn’t expect so many would be underreporting,” said Fuller. The discrepancies will create a problem if the person plans to have more than a single glass of wine. Co-researcher and author of the study, Alston, says, “I have spoken to many winemakers about this question over the past five years or so. Let me say this: I would expect most winemakers to have a fairly precise idea of the alcohol content of the wines they make.”
Consumers’ behavior is also responsible to some extent. “They want wines with ‘bigger’ or fuller flavors, but they do not want (or at least, do not want to know about) the higher alcohol content that typically comes with those attributes,” said Fuller. “What remains to be resolved is why consumers choose to pay winemakers to lie to them,” the researchers concluded.
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