How Low is Low?

There’s a lot of focus at present on low and no alcohol wines – ‘low’ being defined as less than 0.5%.  I’m not an expert on the subject – and I don’t intend to become one!  But I have noticed a pleasing trend among winemakers recently away from harvesting their grapes later and later (and therefore riper) in order to produce wines higher in alcohol.  I find these more elegant and subtle wines both nicer to drink and, with a few exceptions, more versatile in pairing with foods.

But there are a few wines that have always been lower in alcohol.  German Rieslings, for example, have historically been only 7 or 8% (a touch higher now) and Italian Moscatos are even a couple of degrees below that.  And if you include wines at 10 or 11% alcohol – still well below the 13% which is the average today – there’s Hunter Valley Semillon from Australia.  Perhaps not the most likely place to find a lighter alcohol wine, but they have been made like this for many years.

I opened an example from the Wine Society’s Exhibition range (£18) recently (11% alcohol). Deliciously delicate and fresh with intense flavours of lemon and green apple and a long, dry finish.  Yet, there was also an attractive richness and a mouth-coating quality too.  For all their lightness, Hunter Semillons are designed to age, although they can be drunk young, but they’re perhaps less interesting then.  Our bottle was from the 2018 vintage, so ‘middle-aged’ at nearly 6 years old; it will develop further and certainly still be drinking well in another 5 years or even longer.  Expect an older wine to give buttery, nutty or honeyed flavours – some even taste like they’ve been matured in oak, which they rarely are.

So, proof, if proof is needed, that you don’t need the highest levels of alcohol to produce attractive, flavoursome wines.

A Birthday Celebration

How do you celebrate your 230^th birthday?  If you are Averys, the Bristol wine merchant, there is only one way: with a tasting hosted by Mimi, the 5th generation of the Avery family to be involved in the business.  Featuring several of Averys’ own-label wines alongside some bottles that marked notable ‘firsts’ in the company’s – and the UK wine industry’s – history, this was an evening not to be missed.

Mimi gave a delightful and very personal insight into her family’s past; her grandfather, Ronald, was among the first British wine merchants to visit growers in France and Germany, making his own selection of wines to sell.  After the 2^nd World War, his trip to the Pomerol region of Bordeaux resulted in the discovery of the then unknown Château Pétrus, now one of the world’s most expensive wines, which Averys were the first to import into the UK.

John, his son and the 4^th generation of the family, continued this pioneering spirit.  He introduced the British public to quality Australian wines, including the iconic Penfolds Grange, and was also first to sell wines here from New Zealand in 1972 – a year before the first Sauvignon Blanc vines were planted in the Marlborough region.  During the evening, we celebrated these firsts, accompanied by delicious matching cheeses; the light, fragrant Invivo Pinot Gris representing New Zealand (£16.99), the typically minty, blackcurrant-fruited Yalumba ‘The Cigar’ Cabernet Sauvignon from Australia’s Coonawarra region (£25) and the smooth, elegant Château Chantalouette from Pomerol (£29).  Sadly, Pétrus is beyond the price range of even celebratory tastings these days!

But, delicious as all these were in their varying ways, I look elsewhere for my personal wine of the night.  Von Buhl’s Ungeheuer Riesling from Germany’s Pfalz region (£34) was a wonderful, intense, complex dry white (although, as with many Rieslings, it actually smelt as if it would be sweet) with excellent length and a long, satisfying life ahead of it.  Despite this, it is drinking well now and made a perfect aperitif to share with some good friends a few days later.

It’s hard to overstate the influence Averys have had on the British wine scene, particularly over the last century, but the tasting and, especially the glimpses Mimi gave us into the family archives, allowed us to raise a glass to 5 generations of the family and to look forward to more exciting discoveries, hopefully before another 230 years pass by.