"Wines are getting stronger". We often hear this sentence which announces that the alcohol level in the wines we drink, especially reds, is getting higher and higher. But is this true, and if so, how can we get back to a more acceptable alcohol level?
Last year, in order to meet Brexit obligations, London-based wine trading company Liv-ex recorded the alcohol content of over 35,000 wines with a label check on over 20,000 of these wines. The wines were then classified by decade from 1990 to 2020.
The results are alarming: while in California, Burgundy and Italy, alcohol levels are relatively stable (but remain high: 14.6% for California), in Bordeaux, the wines are increasingly powerful. In fact, in the space of 30 years, the alcohol content of Bordeaux wines recorded by Liv-ex has risen from 12.8% to 13.8% on average.
Justin Gibbs, co-founder of Liv-ex comments: "This is a remarkable insight into the significant changes taking place in some of the world's most important fine wine regions”.
In other French regions, not studied by Liv-ex, this is a real issue: in Côtes-du-Rhône, for example, grapes from the Syrah variety have to be harvested at a high technological maturity, which inevitably leads to an increase in the sugar content of the grapes and therefore a very high alcohol content. This is the same situation for the wines of the South of France, particularly in the Languedoc. And with global warming, this trend does not seem to be abating.
On the other hand, the French are increasingly fond of lighter, more digestible and therefore less alcoholic wines. This is the observation made by François Lurton, a Bordeaux wine grower from father to son since 1897, who recently launched his first "pet nat": a very low alcohol sparkling wine (around 10%). In another region, it is Tariquet who markets its "Imprévu" and its 9,5%. In the same vein, Moderato and its 5% committed wines are increasingly popular.
In order to respond to consumer demands and to alleviate the problems caused by global warming, it is now increasingly necessary to reduce the alcohol content of wines. Among the existing solutions, the simplest and most effective is dealcoholisation. Many qualitative techniques exist and are already used to reduce the alcohol content of wines by a few degrees.
As an expert in alcohol reduction techniques, B&S Tech accompanies producers in these steps in order to offer them the dealcoholisation technologies adapted to their needs.