Some of us are feeling new and refreshed from our January purge of those glorious holiday toxins. Most of us hope we’ve finally paid off those holiday credit card bills! I, myself, didn’t skip a beat and had a very boozy New Year’s Day “recovery” brunch with my Brooklyn crew.
For those easing themselves back into the drink following the cleanse or those slightly reluctant to restart the revel, I have a couple suggestions for you. Over time I’ve come to appreciate wines with lower alcohol levels or ABV (alcohol by volume).
Most wines on the market float between 13%-16% and new world wines from regions such as Paso Robles, the McLaren Vale and warm climates such as the Languedoc and Southern Italy have higher sugar levels. This combination of high alcohol and sugar is much more taxing onus. The body uses water to help the liver break down alcohol, and the kidneys expel the extra sugar via urine, leading to the dehydration and excruciating headaches popularly known as the hangover.
Personally I feel that full-bodied, high ABV wines are practically undrinkable. Where some seek out that huge wallop of fruit and oak, there are others who feel like their palates are under attack. I also find these wines impossible to pair with food because they overpower everything and are difficult to balance. My solution for these wines is to store them in a cellar and revisit them ten years in the future, once they’ve matured and have learned to behave at the dinner table.
Fortunately for us there is a long standing tradition of elegant, restrained, subtle, nuanced lower alcohol wines all over the world. We are ever more fortunate that in recent years it has become a trend of wine making in California. Hallelujah.
For example in Mendocino County, California the Madonna Vineyard was slated to be torn out and replanted with the lucrative Chardonnay grape until winemaker Kenny Likitprakong received a phone call. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, there was a surge of Italian varietals being planted in California, and Tocai Friulano found its way into the soil of Mendocino about 40 years ago. The grape is indigenous to the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in northeastern Italy.
There are two distinct styles of vinification: a crisp, fresh and clean expression or an aromatic, lush and soft version. Both are delicious, but The Folk Machine Tocai Friulano 2013 is the former. The winemaker is apprehensive in relating it to a Sauvignon Blanc due to its drinkability. Although I agree with that from a marketing standpoint, I agree more with his apprehension because the wine is singular in and of itself. At 11% ABV, this dry wine is extremely quaffable and can be enjoyed all day and night without becoming too much of a headache.
My experience allows me to conclude that the most consistently low ABV wines hail from a few sub-regions in France: Champagne, Burgundy/Beaujolais and the Loire Valley. If you’re looking to dispel the “sulfite allergy,” just start drinking these reds and reclaim your mornings! Red wines from these regions start at about 11.5% and max out at 12.5%.
Frederic Sornin is a 9th generation wine maker in the Beaujolais. His Domaine des Ronzes has been organic since 200, and he also practices bio dynamics. He manually harvests his crop and plows the soil with his trusty steed. Only 15% of the Beaujolais is independently owned, and Sornin is one of them. To say the least, this Gamay is made with the best intent imaginable, and I’m privileged to share it with you. The Regnie is a little known Cru of the Beaujolais that borders the more famous Morgon Les Charmes vineyard. The 2013 is a hallmark vintage for the Beaujolais, and the region is becoming more popular amongst young wine drinkers. I attribute this resurgence to a now drier style with less to no carbonic maceration that historically made fruitier more candied wines. The Ronze is elegant, with taut red/black fruits balanced by fresh acidity and an underlying sense of earth,very easy to process at 12% ABV.
If these aren’t “healthy” wines then I don’t want to know what is. So next time you feel as though you’re being hit over the head with your wine consumption, twist the bottle around, take note of the amount of alcohol you’re consuming per bottle and try dialing it down a bit. Another benefit of lower ABV wines is that you don’t feel the “heat” or “burn” on your tongue, making it a more enjoyable activity. Enjoy, make sure to drink lots of water, and kick those hangovers out of bed. Salud.
