I like the traditional style of Rioja. It’s quite difficult to find nowadays because Rioja, like so many other wines, has succumed to the ‘international’ style of winemaking. What do I mean by ‘international’ in style? Well, concisely put, it means wines with a heavy use of new oak and high alcohol. For me, this means too much oak and too much alcohol. The first time that I noticed a Rioja with more than 12.5% alcohol was back in 1996. Up until then, all Rioja that crossed my path didn’t stray upward of that figure. Now, I would be hard put to find even one that was less than 13%.
Since then, it’s become apparent to me that there is a very definite and conscious move by wine producers to increase the alcohol in wine right up to whatever it can (and sometimes can’t) take. No longer is alcohol just one element or characteristic supporting and balancing a wine but it seems to be the driver directing the wine down the wine drinker’s throat with the foot on the accelerator.
For me, and I mean from a personal point of view, many wines have too much alcohol. By this I mean that the amount of alcohol in these wines is such as to detract from my enjoyment of the wine. I recognise this by the alcohol burn at the back of my throat and if it’s too much, it spoils the enjoyment of a wine for me. If the alcohol dominates the wine, then it’s too much. Simple.
I don’t have a particular alcohol abv (alcohol by volume) that’s acceptable because for me, it’s not about the particular strength but how well the alcohol is balanced in the wine. For example, many Barolos have an abv of 14% and, in general, balance the wine very well whereas many wines made from the Barbera grape variety from the same region of Piedmont in Italy seem to have up to 14.5% but don’t have the substance in the wine to have adequate balance at all. These wines would be better served with 13%.
So why are wines being produced with this level of alcohol? Well, the reason seems to be very simple: wine producers are giving the consumers what they want. According to wine producers that I’ve spoken to on the subject, this is what consumers are demanding.
The rise in alcohol levels has been particularly marked in wines from the New World, and from what I’ve noticed myself, the country in the forefront in this is Australia. More than any other country, Australia is in tune with the ‘likes and wants’ of the wine drinker or, at least, the ‘likes of wants’ of a particular brand of wine drinker.
Now, don’t think that I have it in for Australia. It is simply that it is usually the first to react to consumer demands and it does seem to be maximising the alcohol in many of its wines, particularly the mainstay, Shiraz, which represents almost 30% of Australian vineyards. It’s not unusual to see wine from this grape labelled with 15% abv. This alcohol level in a standard bottle equates to eleven and a quarter units of alcohol. (This latter fact is just for those of you who are concerned about your liver.)
Much of the rest of the world has followed suit. It is particularly noticeable in those regions whose wines had, in the not too distant past, balanced alcohol levels such as, Tuscany in Italy, Rioja in Spain and the Languedoc in Southern France. Also, much to my disappointment, among some of the less refined wine producers in Burgundy where the former standards of ‘elegance and terroir’ have been replaced by the bywords of ‘power and oak’. The ‘international’ style raises it head again.
The style of winemaking is enabled by the inequitable system of tax on alcohol here. The excise duty, which is how the government taxes alcohol, on a bottle of wine in Ireland is 2.47 euros. This is regardless of where the wine is produced and it covers all (non-sparkling) wines up to an alcohol level of 15%abv. Any wine that has an alcohol of 7.5% (there’s not many but they do exist) attacts the same tax, even though the wine has only half the alcohol present. If you think that this example is a little extreme because there aren’t many wines with that low level of alcohol about what about wines with 12, 12.5 or 13% ? Do you think that these wines should subsidise the 14, 14.5 or 15% bruisers? If customs and excise duty is about taxing alcohol why isn’t there a fairer system in place for wine. After all, such a system exists for beer. The higher the alcohol present in beer, the more excise duty it attacts. The rate increases with each percentage point the alcohol goes up by, so a beer with 6% abv is liable to more duty than one with only 5%. As it should be.
If the government wants to be more equitable, then it should implement a similar system for wine as it does for beer.
Balanced alcohol wine to try: Rioja Gran Reserva 1994, Bodegas Franco Espanol, 12.5% abv. (Deveney’s Off Licence, Dundrum village, 29.99 Euro). Great wine, great vintage.
Imbalanced alcohol wine to avoid: Tesco’s Finest Chenin Blanc (Ken Forrester), 14% abv. (Tesco’s, 8.99 Euro).
