"aesthete8" > wrote in message
...
> "French vintners, for instance, have seen the taste and alcohol
> content change for some wines, and are worried they could see more
> competition as climate change makes areas of northern Europe
> friendlier to wine-growing."
>
> http://www.businessweek.com/ap/finan.../D9KF2OF80.htm
>
Some time ago I was at a wine tasting where I discovered that some white
Loire wines reached a whopping 15% Alc. The grower readily admitted that
sugar and consequently alcohol levels had soared over the last decades.
It was more for the matter of fun that I replied "Sure you won't add any
water during fermentation?" and he answered: "Definitely not, but in the old
days, we would only harvest on dry days. Now we don't mind if it is raining
and some water is on the grapes"
Yves