In recent months a growing number of people have been criticising 0.0% and 0.5% ‘wine’, adding a descant to the very different but long-standing chorus of complaint about how ABVs have risen from 12.5%-13% to 14-14.5% and beyond.
There’s another sector of the wine scene, however, that hasn’t attracted much notice. It is what I suspect will eventually become known as ‘mid’. These are red, white and pink wines with ABVs of 6-9%, but with most zooming in on 8%. Wines from established brands such as:
- McGuigan Mid – 7%
- Sarah Jessica Parker Sevenly - 7%
- 19 Crimes - 7%
- Fetzer Lo & Behold – 8%
- Woodbridge Sessions - 8%
- Torres Vina Sol - 8%
- Barefoot - 8%
- Lindeman’s - 8%
- Two Oceans – 8%
- JP Chenet 8% -
- Yellow Tail Pure Bright Sauvignon Blanc 8.5%
- Cave de Buzet Nuage Blanc – 9%
Some are quite sweet, thanks to the sugar in the grapes not having been converted into alcohol. Others may have a few grams of RS, but they’ll taste dry. Almost all will have been produced by blending full-strength and dealcoholized wine.
In Europe, this practice is not allowed for wines with PDOs, but this wouldn’t concern producers who would, in any case, sell them under a brand name rather than that of a region. In most other countries, there are no such restrictions.
Thank the Finns
There is a very specific reason why some producers are opting for 8% or less. Since June 2024, Finland has allowed wines that fit these criteria to be sold outside the Alko monopoly, and what happens in one Nordic market is often adopted by its neighbours. What the Finns are enjoying today, Swedes and Norwegians may well get tomorrow
But Scandinavia is not the only region to be encouraging wine producers to consider mid-level wines. British wine professionals are on tenterhooks as they wait to see if the recently-elected Labour administration will retain an excise duty model its Conservative predecessor planned to introduce in February 2025. Linked to ABV, the system which has no fewer than 14 different duty rates for wines with strengths of 8.5-15%, has been generally reckoned to be unworkable, so there are hopes that it will, at the very least, be simplified.
The first iteration of this model already applies rates of £1.82 for an 8.5% wine, compared to £2.67 ($3.49) for one at 11.5-14.5%. The new one would raise the higher figure to between £2.77-£3.10 ($3.62-$4.06) for wines with 13-14.5%.
Private labels move in
Even if the system is simplified, however, given the state of the UK economy, there is little expectation of duty rates falling so, taking account of the 20% VAT sales tax, there is still likely to be around £1.20 ($1.57) less tax on an 8% wine than on one with what might call a ‘standard’ ABV. The incentive to adapt products to fit the lower tax rates is clear, as UK supermarket chain Sainsbury illustrates with its 8.5% private label Taste the Difference Mid Strength Val De Loire Blanc.
But Britain is not the only country to link its wine taxation to ABV. The Netherlands has also introduced this model – though at far lower rates.
These changes to Nordic monopoly rules and UK and Dutch excise duty, coupled with greater health consciousness in the US, have helped to create a fertile environment for wines with less than two thirds of the alcohol and, depending on their sugar content, calories to be found in most bottles on the shelves.
Purists will doubtless criticise any trend towards partly-dealcoholized wines, ignoring the fact that many 13.5% US, Australian and New Zealand wines, currently on sale, already benefit from the use of spinning cone technology.
Will 8% wine really become a 'thing'? Time will tell, but I'd place a modest bet on it doing so, especially given the - albeit modest - growth of interest in 8% cider in some markets. And, given the huge power the number 8 has in China where it is associated with wealth, prosperity, status and success, I wouldn't be surprised to see a canny wine company launch a cleverly-labeled, semi-sweet product in that market.
Who knows? Doing so might even help reverse the global decline in wine drinking - but I doubt many in the industry would dare give a new 'mid' category any credit for doing so.
This piece was edited on September 18th to include the 19 Crimes 7%
The views and opinions expressed in the Devil's Advocate pieces are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the publication. They are intended to provoke discussion and debate. If you would like to offer your own response to this or any other article, please email the editor-in-chief, Anja Zimmer at zimmer@meininger.de.
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