SC - Re: 14th C Catalan

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

> I am in complete accord therefore with Balthazar's initial 
>  conclusion about the age of "new wine".  However, period
>  wines almost never had a chance to "age and mellow" as
>  an appreciation of vintage wine is almost exclusively a 
>  post-period phenomena made possible by glass bottles
>  and the use of cork stoppers. 

I'm wondering where you estimate the final alcohol content and specific gravity of these period wines.  I agree in advance that there will be wide variation based on wild infections and particular 'yeast cocktail' used.  I suspect that the common yeast would not ferment out as fully as a montrachet that has been hybridized for alcohol resistance.  I' guessing that wines would come in just above strong beers at the neighborhood of 7 to 8% on the average when fully fermented.  My next question regards secondary fermentation. 

A good strong fermentation subsides after a few days and the crwn drops.  Then a big chunk of the fermentation and flavor development comes in the 'secondary fermenter'.  When was the wine kegged or drunk?  In the absence of hydrometers and fermentation locks, there is not a very obvious way to determnine when all activity has stopped.  My reading shows wines are often stored in thos large earthen jars (whose names escapes me)which are not errible air tight, and could allow escaping CO2 from secondary fermenting to escape and not explode the jar as an alarm.

I am just gathering more info t obang against my viewpoints.  I'm curious and trying to find the key to changing my mind sine the assertions make some surface sense, but the conclusive key hasn't come out there yet.

niccolo