Hi-Lo alcohol

There’s has been an interesting debate about the levels of alcohol in wine. As usual the cart has been placed firmly before the horse; it is as if supermarkets and winemakers sometimes feel the need to perceive trends without analysing the data in an intelligent way. For the issue in question should not be about alcohol levels in wine, it should be about balance. Just because people may have fallen out of love with clomping, full-bodied Dollies does not mean that they necessarily want to graduate to Kate Mosses.

According to Decanter: “Nearly half of UK wine drinkers said they would buy a wine with an alcohol level of just 9% abv – provided that taste is not compromised – a new survey has revealed”.

Some 42% of the 800 wine drinkers surveyed said they would ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ buy a 9% abv wine, while 59% of all respondents claimed they liked the concept of such a wine.

Which all goes to prove that sloppy inferences derive from sloppy surveys. Read the above again and see if it makes sense.

Jamie Goode notes that while techniques that reduce alcohol in a finished wine seem quite manipulative, the results are much better than those obtained by picking grapes very early, which is used for some of the lower alcohol wines found on supermarket shelves. But as one contributor to Jamie’s blog wrote, “Alcohol is a core component to wine. It adds body, alters the volatility of aromatic compounds and brings flavour components to the wine. While removing alcohol through newer methods may not “damage” the wine per se it will most definitely not be the same product less the intoxicating effect of alcohol. It will be product with very different mouth feel, aromatics and flavour profiles than its brethren.”

I am not a fan of using techniques to correct “nature’s deficiencies”. Reverse osmosis, spinning cones, chaptalisation, acidification – the attempt to bring balance by the back door – strips the identity of the wine and transforms it into an homogenous product. It is a lazy way of making wine.

Fundamentally, it is all about the fruit, stupid. The recipe is simple, but the attention to detail is crucial and the work is arduous. Preconditions include locating the right micro-climate for your vines and matching the right grape variety to the right soil and the right climate; ensuring the natural health of the vine by farming organically (at the very least) a process which allows the vine to find its own physiological balance. Be proactive in the vineyard, know every vine in every plot, and harvest when the grapes are ripe, but not over-ripe. If all the correct practices are observed in the vineyard you will not need to manipulate further and alcohol, acids and fruit extract should be in relative harmony.

There are, of course, wines that are naturally low in alcohol: one thinks of German Rieslings and Moscato d’Asti, but lightness does not presuppose balance. Mouthfeel and texture is crucial; wine should taste as if it has reached a natural level of ripeness, otherwise it is hollow and attenuated. Even wines with moderate alcohol (12.5-13%) can taste heavy and undifferentiated without the structural corset of natural acidity. The abv is really a red herring.

These hot topic forums invariably look at treating the symptoms rather than the disease. The health analogy is a pertinent one. One presumes that one of the reasons for reducing alcohol in wines is the socially responsible idea to reduce the number of units we consume in a week. The answer is simple. Drink less wine, but drink better quality. Curing wines of their alcoholic content is the counsel of mediocrity.

CDP wines that trip the light fantastic:

Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Kabinett, Donnhoff
Txacoli di Guetaria, Bodegas Ameztoi
Vin de Pays de l’Ardeche, Syrah, Romaneaux-Destezet
Lambrusco, Cantine Ceci
Chasselas sans soufre Pierre Frick
Teran, Benjamin Zidarich
Moscato d’Asti Vigna Vecchia, Ca d’ Gal
Luke Lambert Yarra Valley Syrah
Prosecco di Conegliano, Casa Coste Piane
Muscadet sur lie, Domaine du Verger
Blanc de Morgex Vini Estremi, Cave de Vin Blanc
Marcillac Lo Sang del Pais, Domaine du Cros