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Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 57:4:486-490 (2006)
Copyright © 2006 by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture.
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Technical Brief

A Method for the Estimation of Alcohol in Fortified Wines Using Hydrometer Baumé and Refractometer Brix

Frank Rogerson1,* and Charles Symington1

1 Symington Vinhos, SA, Tr. Barão Forrester – Apartado 26, 4400 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.

* Corresponding author [email: fsr{at}symington.com; fax: 351-22-3776306]

A novel method for the estimation of alcoholic strength of fortified wines has been developed, linking %v/v alcohol to two simple and rapid enological measurements: refractometer apparent Brix and hydrometer apparent °Baumé. The soluble solid content of fortified wines, measured as true Brix (refractometer) and true °Baumé (hydrometer), can be estimated by the application of experimentally determined correction factors, which compensate for alcoholic obscuration. A calibration plot of true °Baumé versus true Brix, for 35 port wines, having diverse apparent °Baumé and % v/v alcohol, was linear with r2 = 0.997. Applying the obscuration formula and rewriting the equation in terms of apparent Baumé and apparent Brix, leads to an expression for alcoholic strength: % Alcohol (v/v) = 1.646 A.Brix – 2.703 A.°Baumé – 1.794. This equation permits the rapid estimation of alcohol content of young fortified wines by two simple measurements: refractometer apparent Brix and hydrometer apparent °Baumé. The method is rapid, economical and extremely portable, and is proposed as a quality-control technique for the three standard fortified wine parameters: % v/v alcohol, hydrometer apparent °Baumé, and refractometer apparent Brix.

Key words: fortified wine, apparent Brix, apparent °Baumé, true Brix, true °Baumé






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Copyright © 2006 by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture.