At first we assumed that wines would become more balanced if we got anywhere in the 13–14% alcohol range—a preference bell curve. Not so. After thousands of blending trials, we finally had to admit the obvious—and it was the last thing we were expecting. Every wine has discrete balance points we all can identify where the astringency abates and the flavors are married and harmonious. In such a series, the wines adjacent to the harmonious spots taste especially disharmonious: 0.1% alcohol too high is hot and bitter, and 0.1% too low is harsh and sour (fig. 19). In
