Julie Harrison - Lower Alcohol Wines

Lower alcohol wines are starting to become increasingly available in New Zealand. How these are produced varies. Traditionally a wine lower in alcohol would be rather sweet but winemakers can now make dry low alcohol wines.

A while ago I had two glasses of Australian Shiraz and woke up the next morning with a bit of a headache.   I looked at the label and was slightly horrified to see that the wine was 15.5% alcohol – I was almost like drinking port!  After that experience I always like to check the label just to see what the alcohol level of the wine is (a good idea for beer drinkers too, some beers can be 7-8% alcohol).  So why do wines vary in alcohol content?

As grapes ripen there is a decrease in acids and an increase in sugar.   The viticulturist and winemaker decide on when to pick the grapes by looking at sugar level, acidity and flavour.  The higher the sugar the higher the potential amount of alcohol there will be in the final product.  Most red wines and many white wines are fermented to dryness.   This means that during fermentation the yeast uses almost all the sugar in the juice and turns it into alcohol and carbon dioxide.  In the case of my Australian Shiraz the grapes must have been very ripe so there was a lot of sugar.  One way of producing a lower alcohol wine is to pick the grapes before they contain a high level of sugar but this can leave the wine overly acidic and out of balance.

A winemaker can stop the fermentation at anytime depending on the sugar level and style of wine they are after. If you are having a sweet wine the alcohol levels are often lower than for a dry wine as the fermentation will be halted before all the sugar has been converted to alcohol by the yeast.  Do be aware that some sweet wines are made from very ripe, concentrated fruit and even though they are not fermented to dryness, still have a high alcohol level due to the very high concentration of sugar in the grape at picking.  

With improvements in Vineyard Management over the last few years it has become more likely for the Viticulturist and Wine Maker to get nicely ripened fruit with a good balance of sugar, acids and other flavour components. Because of this success in the vineyard New Zealand wines tend to have a higher alcohol content than they did 20 years ago, though this varies from vintage to vintage.  A quick look around the shop shows that most wines are 13% alcohol or more.  This packs quite a punch so what can you do if you want something lighter?

You can of course go for a sweet wine like a Moscato or a red Lambrusco both of which are lower in alcohol, but if you do want something dryer there are new options on the market.  We bring in the Plume range of wines (a red, a white and a rose) from France that are only 9% alcohol.  These wine are originally high in alcohol due to the warm climate in which the grapes are grown in the south of France.  By using reverse osmosis as a de-alcoholisation technique the alcohol is reduced without taking away any of the flavour. In New Zealand the innovative Forrest Estate Winery make The Doctors’ Sauvignon Blanc which is only 9.5% alcohol or The Doctors’ Riesling at 8.5% alcohol.  

There are an increasing number of lower alcohol wines available so next time you are at the local wine shop or supermarket search them out and give them a try.  Remember it does pay to read the label to help understand what you are drinking.