Oechsle scale The sugar content indicated by the Oechsle scale only refers to the unfermented grape must, never to the finished wine. In Austria the Klosterneuburger Mostwaage (KMW) scale is used. The scale is divided into Klosterneuburger Zuckergrade (°KMW), and very similar to the Oechsle scale (1° KMW =~ 5° Oe). However, the KMW measures the exact sugar content of the must. The Baumé scale is occasionally used in France and by U.S. brewers, and in the New World the Brix scale is used to describe the readings of a refractometer when measuring the sugar content of a given sample. Since a
Phenolic content in wine but "resolve" (through a chemical process called polymerization) into delicious and complex elements of "bottle bouquet" when the wine is cellared under appropriate temperature conditions, preferably in the range of a constant . Such wines mellow and improve with age with the tannic "backbone" helping the wine survive for as long as 40 years or more. In many regions (such as in Bordeaux), tannic grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon are blended with lower-tannin grapes such as Merlot or Cabernet Franc, diluting the tannic characteristics. White wines and wines that are vinified to be drunk young (for examples, see nouveau wines)