SC - Grapes

[Philip & Susan Troy]

ChannonM at aol.com wrote:
> 
> In a message dated 11/15/99 8:36:08 PM Eastern Standard Time, troy at asan.com
> writes:
> 
> << yeast strains that
>  can handle such a concentration of alcohol without going dormant and/or
>  dying are champagne yeast strains that wouldn't have been isolated or
>  developed until the 17th century. >>
> 
> So this would mean that this type of wine could not have be of the same
> values (ie sugar content, alcohol percent) as those of the passum we were
> discussing? Or could the same result (dry red) be obtained with a lower
> alcohol content still using the dried grapes as described in the Roman
> passage.

I think what you'd get would be a somewhat heavy, sweet wine with a
moderately low (at least compared to champagne) alcohol content. The
idea was that high-alcohol wines (at least at the stated percentage of
14.5 percent), unless they've been artificially fortified with brandy or
something, would most likely not have existed before the 17th century.

Note that high sugar content needn't necessarily equate to alcohol _or_
sweetness, but this phenomenon is more characteristic of mashed
beverages like ale: you get some heavy sugars that aren't fermentable,
nor do they have a sweet flavor. Ask Wulfrith about _that_ in a couple
of weeks!
  
Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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