French wines are becoming more alcoholic, as warmer summers concentrate the sugars in grapes. But consumers are looking for less – not more – alcohol in the wines they drink, while drinking less in general.
While initiatives such as “Dry January” – which sees people start the new year by abstaining from alcohol for a month – are not popular in France, sales of alcohol-free wine are on the rise. People who do continue to drink are drinking less, and seeking out wines with less alcohol content.
“We do consider the alcohol content when we buy a new wine. Red wines now go up to 15 degrees, and that’s intense, so we pay attention,” said Pierre, who was visiting a popular independent wine makers' fair in the south of Paris.
He considers the alcohol content particularly carefully when he buys wine from a shop, where he can't taste it.
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More from the wine fair, in the Spotlight on France podcast, listen here:
While wine remains the drink of choice for more than half the French population, alcohol consumption in general has dropped over the past three decades, with numerous studies showing that people are drinking less, driven by health and wellness concerns.
This leaves winemakers with a conundrum. Because just as people want to drink less, their wines are getting more alcoholic.
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“Maybe 20 years ago, we were more around 13 degrees, but today it's difficult for us to be under 13 degrees, and we are more around 14 or 15 – and trying not to go too much over that,” says Martin Lepoutre, who makes wine with his girlfriend on her family’s vineyard, Domaine Rabasse Charavin, in the Rhone valley.
Climate change and changing techniques
Summers in southern France are getting warmer and grapes are ripening faster, yielding more sugar, which is what turns into alcohol during the fermentation process.
While consumers look at the alcohol content, Lepoutre says it is just one of many factors that makes for a good wine. “Alcohol is one part of the wine. We have to find the right balance between the alcohol and the acidity,” he explains.
Extreme weather driven by climate change has devastated many wine crops, and global warming is also driving the heightened summer temperatures.
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“Over the last few decades we’ve noticed a slight increase in the level of alcohol due to climate change. But wine growers have also started letting grapes mature longer, to develop their fruitiness and rich colours,” explains Ludovic Cellier, who makes Chateauneuf-du-Pape, the crown jewel of the Rhone valley.
Over the years he has changed the way he works, and his wines have increased in alcohol, which his wife, Nathalie Cellier, who manages the commercial side of the business, says runs counter to what customers are asking for.
“They are more and more looking for lower degrees,” she says, although she is sceptical about the positive health impacts of reducing one or two degrees of alcohol.
Rules and regulations
One way to keep alcohol levels down is to play around with grape varieties, although that can be tricky as French wines have strict rules about which varieties can be used.
Winemakers have been moving harvests to earlier in the season, before the grapes fully develop their sugars, but that means some of the flavour elements gained from fully ripe grapes are lost.
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Caroline Bourcier, who makes Blaye-Côte de Bordeaux wine, has been experimenting with removing alcohol. She recently made a white wine with 9 percent alcohol – the minimum level allowed for the product to be called wine in France.
“We had requests from customers who wanted a lighter wine that was easier to drink. It’s surprising the things customers ask for. But it’s up to us to adapt. After all, the idea is for them to buy it,” she said.
Alcohol-free wine
Sales of alcohol-free wine are on the rise – up 10 percent in 2024 compared to the year before, according to the Vitisphere trade publication – but Bourcier and Lepoutre are not ready to go into the business of making it.
Removing alcohol from wine involves filters and equipment for evaporation, which is bulky and expensive. And Bourcier says she is against making alcohol-free wine, even if there is a growing demand.
“We are wine producers, and we make alcohol. We do make grape juice for kids, but making wine with no alcohol at all is not how we want to work,” she said.
Lepoutre says he and his girlfriend are working on updating the taste of their wine, even with its higher alcohol content. “Back in the day, wines from the southern Rhone region were known for being powerful, with texture and tannins,” he explains.
“Today we still have the alcohol, but we are trying to not extract as much tannin, to get a wine that is fruitier and fresher. Because customers are asking for lighter wines – lighter in the aromas. And we are trying to do it, to make something easy to drink.”
More on this story in the Spotlight on France podcast, episode 120, listen here.
