healthmedicinet

• Twenty years ago average white wine had alcohol levels of 12.5 per cent
• Nowadays, 13.5 per cent is typical for a white wine
• Reds are even worse: 14 per cent is not uncommon
• Warmer seasons result in riper grapes with naturally higher sugar levels
• The riper they are, the more sugar they will have in them
• The more natural sugar, the higher the alcohol in the resulting wine
  

By
Helen Mcginn

Published:
18:12 EST, 10 July 2014

|
Updated:
23:37 EST, 10 July 2014

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Have you noticed that your usual couple of glasses of sauvignon blanc leave you squiffy nowadays?

Have you noticed that your usual couple of glasses of sauvignon blanc leave you squiffy nowadays, rather than relaxed?

Or that considering the size of your hangover, you were surprised at how little you felt you’d drunk the night before?

Well, it’s not your imagination. Wines are much stronger than they used to be.

Twenty years ago, when I started working in the wine industry, the average white had alcohol levels of about 12.5 per cent.

Nowadays, 13.5 per cent is typical. Reds are even worse: 14 per cent is not uncommon. 

Take the popular Vina Ardanza La Rioja Alta, which is available in many supermarkets: when it was launched in 1970, its alcohol levels were 12.6 per cent.

However, its current 2005 vintage is 13.5 per cent per bottle. It might not sound much, but it makes a huge difference.

The Government has become so concerned with the situation that they recently reached a deal with the drinks industry to keep house wines served by bars and pubs to under 12.5 per cent.

Why are stronger wines such a problem? Well, government advice is for a woman to drink no more than two to three units a day; for a man, it’s three to four units. 

The units relate to how much actual alcohol is in a drink — 12 per cent ABV (alcohol by volume) means just that: 12 per cent of the bottle is alcohol.

One standard 175ml glass of 12 per cent wine contains 2.1 units. But at 14 per cent, it’s almost two and a half units. 

And a single large glass of slightly stronger 14 per cent wine (250ml) puts a woman over her recommended daily limit at 3.5 units.

Something needs to be done about wine becoming more like rocket fuel.

Friends have started referring to a rose called Whispering Angel from the Languedoc region of France as the ‘divorce wine’ because they drink it in the day thinking it’s light (it’s not, it’s 13.5 per cent), then row all the way home.

So, why is our favourite tipple becoming higher in alcohol? 

It’s partly because we have a lot more wines from sunnier climes on our supermarket shelves.

Thirty years ago, most of our wine was European. But now the bottle on the table is as likely to come from Australia as France. 

New
World wines from places such as Australia, South Africa and South
America rarely have less than 12.5 per cent due to the ripeness of the
grapes.

Warmer
growing seasons result in riper grapes with naturally higher sugar
levels. The riper they are, the more sugar they will have in them.

Fermentation converts sugar into alcohol. The more natural sugar, the higher the alcohol in the resulting wine.

But even southern France, Spain and Italy regularly produce wines with lots of alcohol, up to 14.5 per cent and above.

France’s
famous Chateauneuf du Pape, for example, where warmer weather and long
ripening times for the grapes result in wines with lots of warm flavours
— and lots of alcohol.

Then
there’s fashion. When the big, ripe flavours of New World wines with
their high alcohol contents came along, heads in the industry turned. 

They won big scores from the wine critics, and a fashion for strong wines with stand-out flavours and lots of alcohol was born.

And as our
tastes for increased sugar in food has grown, so have many of our wines
got sweeter, or rather the fruit flavours in wines have become
‘sweeter’. 

This, too, is achieved by using riper grapes, with more sugar?.?.?. which creates more alcohol.
Many people also assume the more alcohol a wine has, the better it is and the better value for money it must be. 

It’s not true, of course, but with times being tight, who can blame consumers for looking for more bang from their bottle?

And
wine lovers may actually get even more alcohol in their glass than they
bargained for, as labels underestimate the strength of wine.

Two
years ago, a Canadian study found that Old World wine underestimated
its alcohol content by 0.39 per cent and New World by 0.45 per cent.
But, it seems, winemakers who are making the strong stuff know that big
isn’t always beautiful. 

Most of us want wines with weight and
flavour (and they need decent amounts of alcohol for that), but not so
much that we can’t manage another glass.

In
Australia, for example, the style of many chardonnay wines has moved
from buttery, rich, tropical fruit-bombs to a fresher, subtler style —
which includes slightly lower alcohol levels. 

And
there’s been a resurgence of Old World wine styles that boast
lower-than-average alcohol as supermarket wine buyers have actively
tried to promote naturally lower-alcohol alternatives. 

They
are the result of making wines from certain grapes that just happen —
thanks to the grape variety, climate and harvesting — to result in lower
alcohol levels.

These
include wines such as vinho verde, a spritzy white wine from Portugal,
and the dry German rieslings that are often around nine per cent.

Then
there’s moscato, a catch-all name for a frothy fizz made from partially
fermented grapes, naturally low at around just seven per cent, but with
a fair whack of natural sweetness too.

The
majority of palates prefer neutral over nuclear-strength wines. Of
course, some prefer sweet wines,  some prefer oaky blockbusters, but
there’s a lot more pinot grigio (usually at around 12.5 per cent abv)
sold in pubs than big, heavy, alcoholic wines.

The
difficult bit is finding out what strength a wine is in the first place
— it’s rarely on the wine list — so at least with this latest pledge
backed by the Government, if we’re ordering in a pub or bar, we’ll know
it’s 12.5 per cent or under.

While
some connoisseurs have worried this will mean the choice of wine
available will be restricted, this need not happen as long as the wines
have been chosen well.

And
once we know we’re still likely to be able to walk after a couple of
glasses of vino, we can start worrying about other things, too: such as
making pubs pledge to serve our beloved pinot grigio properly chilled.

Warmer seasons result in riper grapes with naturally higher sugar levels which results in higher alcohol levels  

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MichelleM90,

aberdeen, United Kingdom,

21 minutes ago

What is’ squiffy?!’ Really love the sound of it…”Lets get squiffy!”

Emerald_isle,

Norfolk,

5 hours ago

Just more from a socialist-style nanny state writer when you read ”Something needs to be done about wine becoming more like rocket fuel.” I haven’t read of a clamour for this from the electorate.

Cairn terrier,

Glasgo, United Kingdom,

6 hours ago

I refuse to buy anything under 13.5 %

RedRec,

Halifax, United Kingdom,

6 hours ago

I have been saying this for ages. 30 years ago the strength of wine was typically about 11 to 11 and a half percent. I have to water down my red now as it is far too strong!

Bwanza Mungwanza,

The Royal Borough of Chelsea, United Kingdom,

6 hours ago

I never buy wines costing less than £50 a bottle. They are undrinkable plonk. If you can’t afford a decent wine, you’re better off sticking to beer, etc.

Terry99,

Croydon,

7 hours ago

I always divide the strength by the price to see what’s best value.
If you have your reading glasses, there’s no excuse for not knowing how much you’re drinking.

paevo,

USA, United States,

7 hours ago

Squiffy?…

Linda,

Leicestershire, United Kingdom,

7 hours ago

I never buy any red wine that is under 13%. 14% or higher? Yes please!

Mr Whiskers,

NEWBURY, United Kingdom,

8 hours ago

Okay, so to give an educated perspective. I am a Wine Expert. Alcohol might be taking a slight rise in wine production due to an number of factors, although I would point to warmer tempratures globally causing grapes to reach a high level of phenolic ripeness relatively quickly. Some wines used in this article have nearly always been high alcohol, CNDP for example is from a warm area of France. Generally for lower alcohol wines, the cooler climate regions, so mainly northern europe, produces plenty of these. The examples in the column largely back this up. It’s a total non article really.Oh, and re “it’s the chemicals blah blah”. Sulphites have been used in wine production for probably hundreds of years, the EU or whomever then decided that it had to be stated on the bottles and now we hear moaning about “the chemicals”. It’s not new. It’s always been used.

bankofdad,

Ottawa, Canada,

8 hours ago

This was news………………twenty years ago……………….cheers

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