Tom S wrote:

"Giorgio68" wrote in message
...

Skins are so high in polyphenols that 4.000 to 5.000
mg./lt. are normal for grape. To give but a proof of Sagrantino's
awesome raw power as wine grape, it's worth reminding that the minimum
dry extract required by law for Sagrantino di Montefalco Secco Doc is as
high 26 gr./lt., and that oftentimes Sagrantino di Montefalco wines
attain a level of dry extract as high 40-45 gr./lt. ! (it suffices to
note that as an acclaimed and full-bodied wine as Chateau Margaux
1986 carried a "mere" 32 gr./lt. of dry extract).


Hi, Giorgio -

I'm a little confused by these numbers. 4 to 5 mg./liter polyphenols sounds
reasonable, but 40-45 gr./liter of "dry extract"? What's that? Please
define "dry extract".


Hi Tom,


with "dry extract" we refer to the solid compounds in wine, such as
sugars, acids and tannins. The whole that remain after a 180°C heating.


If it's dissolved solids, I would assume that number includes tartaric acid,
but that rarely exceeds 10 gr./liter (except, perhaps, in a German white
wine).


It is so.


Even 26 gr./liter sounds like a lot of dissolved solids for a wine
to contain - especially a dry wine. So what's all the rest of the dissolved
solids?

Tom, the best answer to you is to try to taste a glass of Sagrantino.
In Italy we say "possente", so we can translate it as "powerful".

For instance, from the web site of a winemaker like Arnaldo Caprai we
get, for the Sagrantino 25:


http://snipurl.com/crl7


ANALYTICAL DATA - 2000 vintage
°Alcohol: 14.5 Vol
Total Acid.:5.3 g/l
Final pH:3.65
Phenolics:4200 mg/l
Extract:35,4 (total)


However, I am not able to give you more datails about the specific of
the rest


my 2 cents

--
Giorgio68