WHAT IS WINE? There are two answers to this rather philosophical question. The first is the legal definition: wine is a fermented alcoholic drink made from fresh grapes with just a few permitted additions, and so on. The second is a more functional definition: it is a drink that comes in a bottle, is white, pink or red, is drunk out of a wine glass, and is used in particular social situations.

Most people use the latter definition, albeit unconsciously, and this is one of the reasons normal people have been less bothered by the emergence of the lighter wine category than the wine trade has. 

The category of lighter wines lacks a formal definition, but is a new segment of the market consisting of wines of lower alcoholic strength. Arbitrarily, for the purposes of this piece, the cut-off for a lighter-style wine is 10% alcohol. This reduced alcohol level is arrived at in a number of ways, and because of this, some of these wines will fit within the current legal definition of wine, but some will not. 

Many in the wine trade find this blurring of boundaries worrying. Could this softening of the definition of wine lead to the emergence of flavoured wine-based beverages eroding the demand for the real thing? Others welcome this new category, seeing it as a bridge that brings new drinkers into the often somewhat intimidating world of wine.

In the EU, the lowest permitted alcohol level for wine is 9%. Wines below this alcoholic level are made in the EU, with a special dispensation, such as some Mosel Rieslings. But no wine is allowed to be imported into the EU below this level, with the exception of a reciprocal arrangement with California, where the lowest permitted level is 7%. Also, the maximum permitted reduction in alcoholic strength, through technologies such as reverse osmosis, is 2%. So wines that fall outside these parameters, which includes many lighter wines, are labelled as a ‘wine-based beverage’, or some variation on this theme. 

What has been the driver behind this category? First, there has been a lifestyle push. The alcohol levels in conventional wines have risen in recent years, to the point where it is common to find wines at 13.5%, 14% and 14.5% alcohol. Not only does alcohol have its obvious intoxicating effect, higher alcohol also equates to higher calories, because alcohol itself is pretty calorific. Lighter-style or no-alcohol wines seem to fit better into modern life, and particularly lunchtime drinking. They also offer a drinking option during pregnancy, or when sobriety is required for work reasons, or because people want to drive home.  

Second, there has been the financial incentive of being able to hit a lower tax point. In the UK, the break point is 5.5%, and wines at or below this level are subject to much-reduced taxation levels. The tax burden in the UK has risen steadily, and supermarkets see lighter style wines as a way of hitting the important £4 and £5 price points. For this reason, much of the rise in sales of lighter style wines has been with 5.5% alcohol products. 

To some extent, the growth of this category is driven more by government’s policies to reduce alcohol consumption than it is by consumer demand. 

In the Nordic countries there’s a demand for products at 4.5% or lower, because these can then be sold through supermarkets rather than being restricted to the alcohol monopoly shops.

Significant player

Australian Vintage is one of the most significant wine companies which have been active in this category. “We have big expertise in it,” says Julian Dyer, GM of UK/Europe. “We have quite a decent low alcohol and concentrate business.” 

In addition to its own lighter wine brands, it also makes reduced alcohol wines under contract for other wineries. 

“It is an innovative category,” says Dyer. “There is a consumer need here for a lighter style that has less alcohol. We are taking a long-term view, and we will keep innovating in this category, across the spectrum of 0%–10% alcohol.” 

He adds: “Unquestionably the UK is one of the best world markets for lighter-style wines. There’s a big demand for 4.5% alcohol and below in the Nordic countries.” 

But he says not much interest is being seen in the American domestic market, or in Asia. Dyer is slightly frustrated by the UK tax regime, which he says is too clunky for wine with a single tax break at 5.5%. “Beer and cider have a progressive tax, and sparkling wine has a step at 8.5%,” he points out. “In the 5.5% market, some wines are clearly there to take advantage of the tax break, but some companies have the intention to make low-alcohol wines with good flavour. People expect low alcohol wines to be cheaper, but alcohol reduction adds costs.” Successful lighter-wine brands from Australian Vintage include Summer Light and Vinni, both of which are at the 5.5% alcohol level. 

Another large company, Accolade Wines, is also taking these wines seriously. “Accolade Wines continues to be committed to the category,” says Amy White, marketing controller, “and already has an established portfolio including Banrock Station Light wine, which is the 5th largest low-alcohol brand in the UK, as well as Echo Falls Spritz.” She adds: “In the UK no and low-alcohol penetration is marginally up over the long-term sitting at just below 1.5%, according to Nielsen.”

Spanish company Torres has had success with Natureo, a 0.5% alcohol product made using a spinning cone column that it has in its winery (more on this technology later). There is a Natureo White made with Moscatel, Natureo Red made with Syrah and Natureo Rosé made with Syrah/Cabernet Sauvignon. 

These are remarkably wine-like products when compared with their no-alcohol peer group. “Natureo is doing really well,” says Miguel Torres, “especially in the more mature markets – mostly northern Europe – where we had seen a trend for responsible drinking and health-related reasons such as lower calories. Moreover, these consumers probably think that wine is the perfect companion for food and don’t want to give up on that.” 

Torres hasn’t got any immediate plans to make a 5.5% or 8% lighter-style wine, though. “Maybe someday we have to make that type of wine, because the market is asking for it,” says Torres. “But my impression is that it is not really the consumer who is asking for this type of wine; it is more the governments in certain markets who make supermarkets chains and monopolies ask for it. In the UK, for example, the government has increased the alcohol tax in the past years.”

Interestingly, New Zealand winegrowers have recently launched a NZ$17 million research programme focusing on lifestyle wines, which aims to focus on ways of making lighter-styled wines in the vineyard and through the use of special strains of yeast, rather than reducing alcohol by technological means. 

They are convinced the market wants high quality wines at lower alcohol levels and with fewer calories, and believe that, because of its climate, New Zealand is in an ideal position to achieve this. Already, naturally lighter Sauvignons have seen some market success, such as Bella by Invivo. 

Technical aspects

This is where we need to look at how lower alcohol wines are made. There are a number of ways of achieving a lighter wine, and some are better than others. 

The simplest is to pick grapes early, before they have accumulated much sugar. Some vineyards lend themselves well to this; others don’t. It limits the style of wine you can make, and the results are often lacking in flavour and frequently show undesirable green unripe characters.

The second is to stop fermentation early, leaving a lighter-style wine with quite a bit of sweetness. This can work very well – think Mosel Riesling or Moscato d’Asti – but the wines are sweet and will only satisfy a subset of consumers or drinking occasions.

The third way – and the cheapest – is to add water, flavourings and acid, making a confected wine-based beverage. This is the dark side of lighter wine, and gives the category a bad name. There are plenty of these products around, filling in at the bottom end of the market.

Finally, there are technological solutions for removing alcohol from finished wine. The first and most successful of these is the spinning cone column, which was pioneered by US firm Conetech. 

It contains around 40 upside-down cones, half of which are fixed and half spin. In a vacuum environment, the cones spin the wine into thin liquid films and a cool vapour rises off the wine, carrying the volatiles from the liquid. In the first pass, the ultra-light component consisting of the delicate flavours and aromas is carried off and condensed. This is known as the ‘essence’, and it is saved for later, to be recombined with the wine. The second pass takes off as much alcohol as you want to remove. This reduced alcohol wine can be used for blending. 

The other technique currently used to reduce alcohol is reverse osmosis, which is a type of filtration system. It works in a similar way to the body’s kidney: while conventional filtration systems have their flow blocked by the filtration membrane, which becomes clogged, here the flow is tangential to the membrane, which helps prevent the pores becoming blocked, although it requires a much larger membrane surface. It’s also known as ‘cross-flow’ filtration. 

Expensive process

The consequence of this is that you need lots of very long filtration tubes all bundled together for reverse osmosis, making the system expensive compared with standard filtration systems, although it is still portable and very much cheaper than the spinning cone column. 

The cost of the spinning cone machine is around US$1 million, whereas a reverse osmosis machine costs around US$30,000 and is small enough to be moved around, making it possible to do alcohol reduction in the winery.

Conetech is the leading provider of dealcoholisation services, and these come complete with the winemaking guidance for creating successful lighter style wines. 

It now has six staff winemakers involved worldwide in California, Chile, South Africa and Europe. 

For a while, Conetech made lighter-style wines under its own brand, TFC, but has now reverted to being a service provider. It has spent a lot of time working out how best to make lighter-style wines. “The keys to success in making lighter style wines are selecting the right base wines for removal of alcohol, using the right technology with the gentler spinning cone column, and the final blending and finishing of the wines,” says Jane Milligan, consultant winemaker for Conetech. 

“These are very different wines to craft compared to those of standard alcohols, and need careful blending to create balanced, flavourful wines.”

Alcohol has flavour, so when you remove it, the wine loses an important part of its character. Alcohol adds palate weight and also some sweetness. As wines are reduced in alcohol, they become lighter-bodied and more savoury.  So careful blending is needed and the right base wine must be chosen as a starting point. 

“Lighter style wines are best if they’re not made from early harvest grapes and this is quite surprising to many winemakers,” says Milligan. 

“In fact, the very best base wines
are those created from fully ripe grapes, with higher alcohols (often well over 14%). Such riper-style base wines have higher, more fruit-driven characteristics, and fully ripe (not green/vegetative) flavours with less acidity, and lower tannins.”

Milligan adds: “Since alcohol removal amplifies sourness, bitterness and astringency, you need to select base wines that are low in all these characteristics. 

“Conversely, the worst base wines are those from under-ripe early harvest grapes. 

“Such base wines are typically lacking in varietal characters and can be overly green/vegetative, and too acidic, with bitter, harsh tannins from the under-ripe seeds. Unlike other technologies, the spinning cone doesn’t care how high the initial alcohols are.”

Australian Vintage’s Dyer has slightly different views. “We find those wines that work best are those that are better at lower alcohol,” he says. “So a meaty Cabernet doesn’t taste good at 5.5% alcohol.” 

His preference is to begin with a wine that doesn’t already have high alcohol. “You have to start your work in the vineyard getting flavour at lower ripeness, so you are just nipping back around the edges.” Australian Vintage uses a latest generation Flavourtech spinning cone column that represents a gentle way of removing alcohol. 

Future predictions

What is the future for this category? It has already come a long way in a few years, but its future could depend on tax regimes. 

“We’d love to see a break at 8.5%-10% alcohol,” says Dyer. Such a tax break would boost the lighter wines category, because some of the most convincing wines are made at this level. 

“I strongly believe that the best lighter style wines are those in the 8%-10% range as these will prove the most successful from a consumer point of view long term,” says Milligan. “These products can deliver great taste and deserve a place on the table next to traditional wines without resorting to excessive sweetness and/or non-wine flavour additions/water additions as we see frequently in the 5.5% category.”