Baumé [Bé]

Baumé & Brix are unit of measurement for the amount of sugar in grape juice and fermenting wine.

Chief Wine Hacker

« Back to Wine Words Index

Baumé, pronounced Boh-May, & Brix are units of measurement for the amount of sugar in grape juice and fermenting wine.

1°Bé = 1.8°Brix = 18 grams per litre sugar.

Depending on the efficiency of the yeast in converting sugar to alcohol 1°Bé will produce 1-1.1% alcohol. So fruit picked at 12°Bé will result in a wine with 12-13.5% Alcohol.

We measure Baumé & Brix using hydrometers that float in juice and wine.

On the left is a hydrometer and thermometer just about to measure the Baumé and temperature of the fermenting wine. On the right a hydrometer measuring the Baumé of a juice sample to check the sugar levels before picking. You can see it is at about 12.4°Bé. Enough sugar to make a wine with somewhere between 12.4-13.5% alcohol.

The Mega Technical Bit

The reading needs to be adjusted for the temperature of the liquid. We’re measuring the density of the liquid which will be more dense at lower temperatures and less dense at higher temperatures. As fermentation progresses alcohol production reduces the density of the liquid. By the end of fermentation, a hydrometer will need to read negative to indicate all the sugar has been consumed.

A hydrometer can not accurately measure very low levels of sugar. Other tests have to be used to determine precisely how many grams per litre of sugar remain in the wine.

 

Synonyms:
Brix
« Back to Wine Words Index

Feeling Thirsty?

Wendouree Shiraz 2000

Wendouree Shiraz 2000

Shiraz/Syrah | South Australia, Australia

AP Birks Wendouree Cellars produce some of the very few wines I’ll buy without tasting! The wines are something special. A celebration of an incredible old vineyard with plantings from the late 1800s. Tony & Lita are custodians of something truly special!From 1893 and 1919 plantings.Which leaves the Shiraz. No words required! One of the World's best, I'd drink it over other Shiraz that is perhaps more well known globally every day of the week and twice on Sunday! The tannins are in
$510
Add to cart
More Info
Domaine Guy Amiot et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru 'Les Vergers' 2017
Lovers of flavourful Chardonnay will be happy here! Amiot 'Les Vergers' sits toward the more generous end of the spectrum. Tasting this reminded me of a chat I had with Franco d'Anna about the pendulum from riper to lean styles at a time when many were pushing the boundaries of the lean side to an extreme. 'Chardonnay should have flavour' he proclaimed.Lovers of flavourful Chardonnay will be happy here. Vergers should have a solid line of acid and this does. Full of riper stone fruit, melon,
$261
$251ea in any 3+
$241ea in any 6+
Add to cart
More Info
David Duband Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru 'Clos Sorbé' 2018
‘A fresh, cool and more elegant array is comprised by notes of both red and dark pinot fruit along with background floral and earth suggestions. The succulent, round and delicious middle weight flavors are finer if less powerful, all wrapped in a lingering finish that progressively tightens up as it sits on the palate to the point that it becomes quite compact. This will definitely need a few years to unwind. Drink 2028+.’ Burghound.com January 2020.
$260
$250ea in any 3+
$240ea in any 6+
Add to cart
More Info
Champagne Benoît Marguet Ambonnay Brut Zero Grand Cru 2018
Of the Champagne Marguet villages level bottlings, the Ambonnay, is made from the domaine’s own vineyards. Consequently, this is always one of the finest of this level from Benoît.The 2018 vintage of Benoît Marguet’s villages level bottling of Ambonnay is composed from a blend of sixty-three percent pinot noir and thirty-seven percent chardonnay. It was disgorged in February of 2023 after three and a half years aging sur latte. The wine is still young, but already very easy to drin
$238
$228ea in any 3+
$218ea in any 6+
Add to cart
More Info