A glass less heady
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
10 years ago it was a rare thing to see a wine on the shelves at 14% or above excluding fortified wines and Amarones. Nowadays a huge proportion of our wines are coming from the warmer climes of South America, South Africa and Australia and in these warm climates sugar levels go up and therefore the final alcohol levels in the wine. In Europe too, in order to compete, there is a general desire to make richer, fruitier “International Style Wines”. Facilitated by improved vineyard management and better understanding of wine science grapes are very often picked at super-ripeness meaning rich wines but naturally higher alcohol.
With many of the nation’s most popular wines comfortably pushing the 14% alcohol mark there is now a rapidly growing backlash towards lower percentages. An increasingly large sector of the wine drinking populous are now actively seeking out these wines, with the alcohol level becoming just as important as price and style when choosing a wine.
The good news is there are plenty of decent choices out there especially if you use 12.5% as your high watermark thus including many esteemed Bordeaux and fine Italian wines. Indeed Bordeaux is a good place to begin with, there are a lot of good value, mid-weight reds coming in around 12.5% and most dry whites being reliably 12 or 12.5%. If you want to splash out without creeping up the alcohol ladder the likes of Château Leoville Barton and Château Chasse-Spleen rarely exceed 12.5%. Most dry white Bordeaux is also rarely above 12.5% and these can excellent food-friendly, Sauvignon dominated wines.
Elsewhere in France there are a multitude of Sauvignon/Sauvignon style and Cabernet Franc wines coming in at 12 % or less and from the central Loire Chinon and Saumur offers classic dry reds under 12.5% and often very good value for money.
Italy too offers plenty of choice with quite a few very decent Valpolicellas sitting at 12-12.5%, the same goes for Bardolino. As for the whites, many Luganas, Soaves and some Pinot Grigios sit around the 12 mark but can be as low as 11%. However if you want to go very low then try a Moscato d’Asti (5%), essentially a dessert wine but extremely delicious at that, match with fruit sorbet or lemon meringue and serve well chilled
Lastly Germany, due to its cool climate and fondness for sweeter styles is a great source for lower alcohol wines; the classic off-dry styles come in at only 8.5% and many of the dry Rieslings (trockens) are around the 12 mark. So don’t despair if you live in fear of high alcohol wines, seek out cool-climate wines and you will be rewarded with classic styles and sensible alcohol levels.