What are Ullage and Brix?

Wine like any other type of product or industry, has its own proprietary terms – that are used mostly by professionals to discuss its production, appreciation or chemical makeup.

Two terms that befuddle people are a lot are Ullage and Brix.

What do those words mean? Are they:

A)    A pair of Swedish twins who are there to as Arnold used to say “pump you up”?

B)   The technical terms for pieces of machinery used in wine making as in “just take the Ullage and connect it with the Brix, and the juice will run clear”

C)   Neither of the two above

If you guessed C – no surprise – you’re right.

Here’s what both are respectively.

Ullage. The root of the word comes from the medieval period word oeil – which means eye – as in the eye hole of a barrel. Ullage can mean a barrel that has been emptied a little, or it can refer to the distance between the wine and the cork in a bottle of wine. When a cork has dried out – and more air has come into contact with the wine – the chances for evaporation and greater ullage exist, which is why it is not always a welcome word, when it comes to wine.

Brix – Is the measure of sugar content in grapes. It is represented by the symbol °Bx and is the measured ratio of sugar to water in a given liquid – in this case – grape juice. Grapes are normally harvested in the range of 25-30 Brix however, for dessert wines and ice wines – the levels need to be much higher.

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