Wine: In Search of Lower Alcohol Content

Did you realize that wine makers, especially in the US, have been quietly upping the alcohol content in some of our favorite potables?  According to the Canadians, who screen incoming alcoholic products, the worst offenders are Chile, Argentina, and the United States, but vintners in all countries do it to some degree.

The theory is that the higher alcohol proportion makes for a heartier product, more attractive to consumers. Also, we’re told, higher sugar content created by the American habit of using riper grapes than Europeans do enhances alcohol content. But because the same Canadian review found that wine makers systematically understate alcohol levels, it’s difficult to avoid speculating that, like caffeine in soda pop and nicotine in cigarettes, this is yet another device to hook users on a product by inserting a habit-making, potentially addictive drug.

I like a glass or two of wine with dinner, often a fairly elaborate affair produced, with flair, in my own kitchen and often served up at mid-day. In recent years, what used to a tasty accompaniment to the grilled filet mignon or the Greek-style baked sea bass has taken to knocking me for a loop. A glass and a half of zinfandel, and I’m ready to fall face-forward into the dinner plate! I’ve attributed that to advancing age — as your metabolism slows, your tolerance for various drugs fades; alcohol is a drug, and so it follows that you’d become more sensitive to it as you dodder toward the grave.

No. California zinfandels rank among the very highest wines in alcohol content: upwards of 14.5 percent! I’m very fond of zins. And also of petite syrah, another in the “highest” category. Others of my faves place in the “high” range: California cabs, pinots noirs, and syrahs, Chilean merlots, Australian shiraz…holy mackerel!

How did I miss this? Apparently it’s all the rage these days to seek out low alcohol-content wines.

It came to my attention earlier this week, after I’d bought a bottle of Mâcon-Villages chardonnay. Normally I don’t care for chardonnay — it’s a boring wine — but the price was right and this was something different for me. So I grabbed it off the shelf. Served it up around 1 or 2 in the afternoon with a lovely slab of grilled mahi.

It was light and refreshing and…yes…several glasses later I realized I’d swiggled down half the bottle!

A-n-n-d…I should’ve been sh*t-faced.

But I was not. I felt quite sober. Wouldn’t have gotten into a car…but nevertheless, around the house I was fully functional. Had no trouble completing the remaining little projects on the day’s list. Wrote some copy. Graded some papers. Puttered around til 10 or 11 at night.

Normally, if I have almost half a bottle of wine, it is all I can do to crawl down the hall into the bedroom and climb into the sack, where I end up sleeping out the rest of the day in a stupor. No stupor was forthcoming.

Click! A light went on. Googled “wine alcohol content” and that’s when I learned that US manufacturers are deliberately jacking up the alcohol content in our wines, that many overseas producers are following suit, and that it’s still possible to find some decent vintages with what used to be normal levels of alcohol.

Here’s what I found out:

From The Guardian:  Wine levels systematically understated; about 1/3 of samples tested by Canada. Worst were Chile, Argentina, US, but all countries were doing it.

From NPR:

Imported whites with “low” alcohol content (around 9% to 11%)

Vinho verde (Portugal)
Txakoli or Txakolini (Spain)
Riesling (Germany)

From Wine Review Online:

Categories of wine called out as particularly high in alcohol content (14% to 16%)

California zinfandels
Most California, Washington, and Australian reds
Italian wines distributed in the US

From Real Simple, listings sorted by alcohol content:

Low (under 12.5%)

Whites:

French muscadet
French Vouvray

Moderately low (12.5% to 13.5%)

Whites:

Austrian Grüner veltliner
Australian riesling
French Alsace white
French Loire and Bordeaux whites
French white Burgundy
Italian Pinot grigio
New York riesling
New Zealand sauvignon blanc [I doubt this!]
Oregon pinot gris
South African sauvignon blanc
Spanish albariño

Reds:

French Beaujolais and Burgundy
French Bordeaux
Italian Chianti
Spanish Rioja

High (13.4 %- 14.4%)

Whites:

Australian chardonnay
California chardonnay
California pinot gris
California sauvignon blanc
California viognier
Chilean chardonnay
French Sauternes
South African chenin blanc

Reds:

Argentine malbec
Australian shiraz
California cabernet sauvignon
California pinot noir
California syrah
Chilean merlot
French Rhône red
Italian Barolo

Very high (over 14.5%)

Whites:

French Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise (fortified)
Portuguese Madeira (fortified)
Spanish sherry (fortified)

Reds:

California petite sirah
California zinfandel
Italian Amarone
Portuguese port (fortified)

Real Simple’s listings are the broadest I came across. Quite the eye-opener, eh?

Just lookit that: California zinfandel and petite syrah fall into the same category as fortified wines like port and Madeira. Ugh! No wonder I’ve felt blotzed after just a glass or two!

Dunno about you, but I’ll be cultivating a renewed appreciation for white wines, despite a strong preference for reds. And after this, I won’t buy any more California wines. We’ll be learning a lot more about French wines!

But as a caveat, do bear in mind that the Canadians discovered manufacturers are deliberately understating alcohol content. I would be very surprised if the Marlborough Sauvignon blanc from New Zealand, available in vast quantities at Costco, were “moderately low” in alcohol. Two glasses of that will have me falling face-first into the sack, just as fast as two glasses of California Zinfandel will. It looks like the only way to know will be to taste-test, consider how you actually feel after one glass, and keep a record.

And since you may be getting a lot more alcohol than you think, don’t ever drive after imbibing even one glass of wine.