An important and objective component of quality control in viticulture. There are various methods for determining the quantity of ingredients in wine in an objective and measurable form using technical, physical, optical and chemical aids. This is in contrast to sensory (organoleptic) testing, in which an assessment is made subjectively using only the human sensory organs. An analytical test is obligatory when awarding the official test number (in Germany) and the state test number (in Austria) for quality wines (and therefore also Prädikat wines). Among other things, the alcohol content (present, total), the total extract, the relative density, the residual sugar, the sulphurous acidity and (only for sparklingwine/sparkling wine) the carbon dioxide pressure are determined.
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