Lower- and alcohol-free wines are becoming more popular as we seek to cut our alcohol intake. Some more innovative retailers now have a “low and no” shelf, which seems like a very good idea, and some restaurants now list the percentage of alcohol by volume (ABV) of each wine.
There is no official definition of “low alcohol”, and the category can be divided into two. There are de-alcoholised wines which have had the alcohol removed by reverse osmosis or other methods. These typically have an ABV of 0.5 per cent to 5 per cent. A second group covers wines that naturally have a lower level of alcohol, anything from 7 per cent to 12 per cent. Today, we concentrate on these.
There are plenty of white and rosé options available in this category. However, good lower alcohol red wines are more difficult to find. I suspect this is because they are more difficult to produce. As temperatures rise in the world’s vineyards , so too do sugar levels, which translates into higher alcohol. One option is to harvest earlier, but this means higher acidity and sometimes green flavours. With techniques including spinning cone (a form of vacuum distillation) and reverse osmosis, a producer can remove as much alcohol as they want. However, there is a tipping point, when wine no longer really tastes like wine. As standard red wines typically have higher alcohol levels, the drop to 11 per cent or less seems to affect them more.
This week, we feature four lighter reds perfect for summer drinking. Two other favourites are Bret Brothers Men In Bret (11.5 per cent, €31.00 from Wines Direct) and Filipa Pato Dinâmica Red (12 per cent, €21 from independents). I reviewed the Traces lower alcohol wines online on Friday.
Fresh jammy red cherry and strawberry fruits with light tannins on the finish.
Baggot Street Wines; McHugh’s, Dublin 5; Redmonds, Dublin 6; Red Island, Skerries, Co Dublin
Easy light ripe plum fruits with a touch of spice. Try it lightly chilled with chicken and pork dishes.
Wines Direct, Mullingar and Athlone, Co Westmeath, Winesdirect.ie
Made from a blend of red and white grenache grapes, this is light with very attractive, juicy, savoury red fruits. Try it chilled with pizza or cheese and charcuterie.
J Caxard, Wexford; McHugh’s, Dublin 5; Fíon Eile, Dublin 7; Drinkstore, Dublin 7; Pinto, Dublin 9; Avoca Stores; Lilith Wines, Dublin 7; The Wine Pair, Dublin 8; Molloy’s, Dublin 8; Lilliput, Dublin 7
A real charmer; soft wild strawberry fruits with a lick of liquorice. Light, rounded and easy. Perfect summer drinking.
Whelehans, Loughlinstown, Dublin 18, Whelehans.ie