Are we imagining it or is wine getting stronger?!

No! It is not your imagination! Here at the Naked Grape we are finding that our customers are becoming increasingly aware and sensitive to the ABV or ‘Alcohol By Volume’ of the wines that we sell. It is not at all uncommon for a customer to ask us to hunt out wines of a specific strength i.e ‘nothing above 13%’ or ‘red wines are so strong these days, I don’t want a wine above 12.5% and they seem very hard to find!’. You aren’t imagining it! The trend in alcohol ABV has been going up, and over the past several decades has steadily increased. There are a number of reasons for this.

Firstly, climate change is having a dramatic effect on the grapes that wine is produced from. Wine is made by fermenting the sugars in grape must (the fresh juice from the grapes after crushing). By adding yeast, the sugars that occur naturally in grapes are converted into alcohol. The more sugar that is available, the more alcohol is produced during fermentation and the higher the alcohol content. Due to steadily increasing temperatures, the grapes achieve higher sugar levels when they ripen and these increased sugars are converted into higher alcohol. In Bordeaux the average alcohol content today is 14%, having risen from around 12.5% ABV 20 years ago! Think of that raging hot summer in 2022 and imagine how heat like that might have ripened the grapes!

Secondly, trends have been changing, and science has been advancing with it. Fashions and tastes change and over the last decade the trend has been for bigger, bolder wines that are dry i.e. with low sugar content. Alcohol contributes to the body and complexity of a wine, so as demand for these attributes has increased, the average ABV has increased with it. The alcohol content can be controlled by chilling the wine to stop fermentation before all the sugar has been gobbled up, however this leaves residual sugar and therefore a sweeter wine. With dry wines being very much on trend this sweetness is also not wanted. Therefore, a dry wine will have a higher alcohol content.

Yeasts die once alcohol levels reach a certain point in the fermented wine. 20 years ago, this was around 13.5% but there have been scientific advances. This involves the development of yeasts that are able to survive in higher alcohol environments, thereby enabling the production of wines with higher abvs. There are still limitations however, and yeasts are still not able to survive past around 15.5% ABV. Without fortification (the addition of a distilled spirit), dry wine is not going to be hitting 20% ABV any time soon!

It is often easier to find white wines with lower ABV. This is partly to do with the wine making process. White wines are often produced with high acidity to create wines that are refreshing and delicate in flavour. To do this, the grapes are picked earlier than grapes for red wine to preserve the high acidity of the grapes and reduce the naturally available sugar, thereby resulting in lower alcohol wines. Also, white wines are made without skin contact. Skin contact in red wine is how tannins are extracted. The tannins add a drying, bitter aspect to red wines, which, to remain balanced and enjoyable, require higher alcohol content to help even these aspects out. White wine, relying instead on high acidity for structure, does not need higher alcohol levels to remain balanced.

Below, I’ve selected some of our best lower and higher ABV wines to explore!

Lower alcohol:

Cantina del Garda

Bardolino, Italy

Corvina, Molinara, Rondinella

12.0% ABV

£12.99

Simon Says: “a warm, light bodied, juicy red, with red berry and a tangy, savoury finish”

Coreto

Lisboa, Portugal

Pinot Noir, Touriga Nacional, Alicante Bousquet, Tinta Roriz, Castelao, Caladoc

11.0% ABV

£13.49

Simon Says: “Superb mature nose, violet oak, jammy fruits and a juicy quality fruit palate”

Dunas

Vinho Verde, Portugal

Loureiro

10.0% ABV

£10.00

Simon Says: “Light and fresh white with a dancing acidity”

Higher alcohol:

Ca’ Vittoria Appassimento

Puglia, Italy

Negroamaro, Merlot, Primitivo

14.5% ABV

£15.99

Simon Says: “the grapes for this wine are left on the vine, resulting in an Amarone style wine with big, smooth, sweet fruit flavour”

Chateau Brun-Despagne, Héritage Bordeaux Supérieur

Bordeaux, France

Merlot, Cabernet Franc

14.5% ABV

£15.75

Simon Says: “A firmer, dryer, style, with more weight and depth. This wine is driven by savoury, pure, dry fruits. This feels more like a “classic” style due to the firm, medium-weight palate featuring dark fruits and tannins”

Monowai

Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

Chardonnay

14.5% ABV

£20.99

Simon Says: “a truly classic oaked Chardonnay. French Burgundy would be at least twice this price to get this quality”