I'll Have What She's Having

K

kirk wallace

kirk wallace
Anybody else enjoying the '09 Ganevat J'en Veux? Over two days, it's just delightful. 11.5% abv, virtually weightless but got more spices and flavors than I can track. Savory it sure is, but that does not do it justice. It is like a transparent gluhwein; without the heat, the sweetness or the syrupy, thick texture. Which is to say, it isn't like gluhwein at all, but that is what it put me in the mind of. It has all those spice and tart fruit and citrus rind notes going on -- just not too much of any of them. Utterly weightless, tart, sort of spice laden (that is, just the first whiff of clove and mace without the full hit and length of those slightly oily and sweet spices) with this lovely, fresh earthy core holding everything together. Sounds like a labor of love to make it, what with the little scissors to cut the stems close to the quick so the grape skin is not broken, but what a success. Yes, I want some more.
 
Hmm, had this in London a few weeks ago at Terroirs, and although your description matches what I had, I'd swear the bottle said 9.5% alcohol.
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
Hmm, had this in London a few weeks ago at Terroirs, and although your description matches what I had, I'd swear the bottle said 9.5% alcohol.
Click to expand...
Lets hope that the US importer didn't add any. Maybe one label or the other is wrong?
 
Haven't had a bottle yet, but I have some arriving from Chambers next week - will definitely have to check into one soon. Thanks for the heads up.
 
Importers sometimes have a different alcohol level shown on their label than the alcohol level listed on the producers label. I can only recall seing alcohol levels higher on the importer's label, not lower. I'll guess it's to satsify an ATF requirement.
 
9.5% would be below the table wine category, I believe, and might involve some extra effort with importing. Maybe someone with more knowledge like Oliver can enlighten us.
 
AFAIK the thing the TTB is most interested in is that the label be correct if the wine is over 14%, because in that case the tax is higher. I have never heard of them analysing for accuracy otherwise, ie to check between 9.5 and 11.5. Below 7% isn't legally wine, which makes Moscato d'Asti at 5.5% some kind of fruit juice.

I would have thought they would reject labels that are submitted with different levels of alcohol for the same wine, but I've never seen it, so who knows.
 
originally posted by Oliver McCrum:

I would have thought they would reject labels that are submitted with different levels of alcohol for the same wine, but I've never seen it, so who knows.
Click to expand...
Thanks Oliver and Tom.

In this case, we're talking about what seems to have been different labels for U.S. and U.K., so the U.S. officials presumably wouldn't be aware. Moreover, as many/most of us know from experience, not all bottles are examined for conforming requirements.
 
I don't know whether they test for accuracy but the tolerances are 1%+/- for wines under 14% and 1.5% +/- for wines above 14%. Alternatively a range can be stated with the same tolerances.
 
originally posted by Tom Glasgow:
I don't know whether they test for accuracy but the tolerances are 1%+/- for wines under 14% and 1.5% +/- for wines above 14%. Alternatively a range can be stated with the same tolerances.
Click to expand...
I'd always understood +/- 1.5% across the board, hence the frequently seen "11-14% alcohol." Has there been a change recently?
 
I have definitely witnessed situations where two side by side bottles in the cellar of the same French wine (same vintage, same cru), but with one purchased through the US importer and the other through auction (from a non-US import lot), had two different levels of stated alcohol.
 
And then there was the Dressner imported Antoine Arena (from Corsica) Bianco Gentile that said "Red Chinon Wine" on the back label.
 
Fortunately I did my due diligence on iphone pictures of bottles I consumed at Le Verre Volé in February and indeed the label of '09 J'en Veux !!! says 9.5%. And yeah, I want some more too!
 
originally posted by Peter Creasey:
originally posted by Claude Kolm: I'd always understood +/- 1.5% across the board, hence the frequently seen "11-14% alcohol."
Click to expand...

Claude, I have long thought this to be the case.

. . . . . Pete
Click to expand...
CFR
I got it backwards, it's 1% for wines over 14%, 1.5% for wines under 14%. If I read it correctly you don't need to state the alcohol % if you label it "table" or "light" wine, provided the wine is under 14%.
 
Tom - Thanks for linking to this. I read it (quickly) opposite of the way you read it: i.e., for less than 14%, there is a 1.5% tolerance, and for 14+% the tolerance is only 1%. Did I read it wrong?
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
Tom - Thanks for linking to this. I read it (quickly) opposite of the way you read it: i.e., for less than 14%, there is a 1.5% tolerance, and for 14+% the tolerance is only 1%. Did I read it wrong?
Click to expand...
No, I read it wrong and updated my prior post.
 
The 2009 Cuvée Julien Pinot Noir is sublime. Very primary right now, but beautiful. I'm really looking forward to the J'en Veux now.
 
originally posted by Tom Glasgow:
I got it backwards, it's 1% for wines over 14%, 1.5% for wines under 14%. If I read it correctly you don't need to state the alcohol % if you label it "table" or "light" wine, provided the wine is under 14%.
Click to expand...

Which finally explains the Joseph Swan zin from the 1970s (71? 76?) that was as labeled as "light wine" yet was so un-light as to pack enough punch in one glass to be able to knock me on my ass back in my salad days.

-Eden (those salad days are long gone...lately I've been feeling like I'm in my heavy meat days, or may even be into my cheese course days)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top