New lower alcohol wines - at least to the UK

I spotted new lower alcohol wines - at least new to the UK - on sale this weekend.

These were called 'Early Harvest' by Lindemans are 9%

Since the news mainly seems to be about wine's getting stronger these days - over 14% - I wonder if this will become a new trend.



Cheers, Dave C.

Lite wine, just like lite beer????

A couple of days ago I enjoyed a wine from France and did a double take when I saw the 12 per cent alcohol on the label. Just like the "old" days.

bruce - two points
1. wines with the word light in the name were highly promoted in the mid 80's in the US. they were around for awhile and then faded. so this lindemans thing is either a case of an idea whose time has finally come or a case of 'those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it'
2. what are your laws in ontario? if a label in the US says 12% - it can legally be anywhere from 10.5% to 13.5%. we allow a 1.5% leeway either way as long as it isn't over 14%. i assume you guys are stricter.

I fear that 9% is too low to have been arrived at "honestly", particularly when starting from South Australian 14%.

By "honestly" I mean work in the vineyards to reduce yields and make the roots go lower so as to achieve phenolic ripeness at lower sugar levels rather than trickery in the wine-making. Some excellent 12% wines are being made in Roussillon, where 14%+ is the norm, by these natural techniques.

what are your laws in ontario? if a label in the US says 12% - it can legally be anywhere from 10.5% to 13.5%. we allow a 1.5% leeway either way as long as it isn't over 14%. i assume you guys are stricter.

I have no idea what the case is here David. I had always assumed that 12 per cent on the label meant just that.

Perhaps someone else will chime in with the answer.

Within the EU alcohol content on the label has to be stated in whole of half percents, with a tolerance of ±0.5%. So a wine that states "9%" legally can contain anything between 8.5 and 9.5% abv.