It keeps on baffling me, too. There is not only climate change, there's physiological ripeness vs. alcoholic ripeness, there's the german tradition of must weight as a measure of wine quality, there's the disturbing fact that often the better the producer (and who's better than Molitor), the graver the problem, because those are used to pushing hard for ripeness.
While I find it terribly hard to make sense of all this, I'm also finding it ever easier to take a stand: Just saying no to high alcohol. I've already given up on southern Rhone reds after a few tries, and just yesterday, I decided against ordering a few Pinot Noirs from a Rheinhessen producer because they were 14% across the board. If reasons for high alcohol are varied, so are counter-measures, e.g. harvest earlier, try biodynamic wineyard management, move to cooler sites and so on. As a wine snob, I expect the best wine growers and makers to get their act together, and find out what will work. As a consumer and customer, this is arrogance I feel I can afford.
Take a stand
It keeps on baffling me, too. There is not only climate change, there's physiological ripeness vs. alcoholic ripeness, there's the german tradition of must weight as a measure of wine quality, there's the disturbing fact that often the better the producer (and who's better than Molitor), the graver the problem, because those are used to pushing hard for ripeness.
While I find it terribly hard to make sense of all this, I'm also finding it ever easier to take a stand: Just saying no to high alcohol. I've already given up on southern Rhone reds after a few tries, and just yesterday, I decided against ordering a few Pinot Noirs from a Rheinhessen producer because they were 14% across the board. If reasons for high alcohol are varied, so are counter-measures, e.g. harvest earlier, try biodynamic wineyard management, move to cooler sites and so on. As a wine snob, I expect the best wine growers and makers to get their act together, and find out what will work. As a consumer and customer, this is arrogance I feel I can afford.
Love the photo work, by the way.