Oechsle scale The mass difference between equivalent volumes of must and water is almost entirely due to the dissolved sugar in the must. Since the alcohol in wine is produced by fermentation of the sugar, the Oechsle scale is used to predict the maximal possible alcohol content of the finished wine. This measure is commonly used to select when to harvest grapes. In the vineyard, the must density is usually measured by using a refractometer by crushing a few grapes between the fingers and letting the must drip onto the glass prism of the refractometer. In countries using the Oechsle scale, the
The Wine Advocate good", are often ignored by consumers. The Wine Advocate The Wine Advocate, fully known as Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and informally abbreviated TWA or WA or more recently as RP, is a global bimonthly wine publication based in the United States featuring the consumer advice of wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr. Initially titled "The Baltimore-Washington Wine Advocate" the first issue was published in 1978. Accepting no advertising, the newsletter publishes in excess of 12,000 reviews per year, utilizing Parker's rating system that employs a 50–100 point quality scale (Parker Points® or simply "RP"). These wine ratings have a significant