Low Alcohol Wines - Drinkability

I just received the latest November 2014 issue of The Art of Eating.  Ed Behr, the editor and founder, of the journal writes about wine and food with a refreshing thought. On the opening page of the editor’s section, he presents how the traditional wines, whose alcohol levels were low, in the 1930’s were enjoyed in quantities for nutrients like food.  And that rising alcohol levels, driven by farming tactics and warming climate, are leading to wines that are difficult to drink, let alone in quantities.

And that has been my experience as well. Of course, there are exceptions, where wines with 14% or more alcohol do taste balanced.  But increasingly, I find such exceptions rare. Drinkability and pleasure-ability came into light recently at our dinner table when my wife and I shared a bottle of Le Clos du Tue-Boeuf ‘La Guerrerie’ 2011 – a blend of Côt (aka Malbec) and Gamay.  The wine had 11.1% alcohol, tasting perfectly ripe and balanced.  The wine perfectly described the drinkability that Ed Behr mentions in his article. 

By the way, if you like food and wine, I strongly recommend The Art of Eating.  It is an ads-free quarterly journal – an independent journalism that is rare as the traditionally-well made wines in a sea of industrial plonk.