French Market Study Supports Reduction of Alcohol in European Wines

The French National Institute for Agronomic Research has released the results of a market survey reportedly suggesting that European consumers cannot distinguish between wines with 9 to 11 percent alcohol content by volume and those with 12 to 14 percent. Twelve scientific teams have apparently “demonstrated that producers could reduce the alcohol content by up to three percentage points without an
ordinary drinker noticing,” according to a June 22, 2009, article in The London Times. “In blind tastings, the French consumers like quality wines with a reduced alcohol content as much as standard wines,” stated the institute’s report.

The results have challenged traditional wine mores in Europe, which previously prohibited a method used in the United States and Australia to remove excess alcohol from finished products via osmosis. Wine producers, however, have asked the European Union to approve this process, known as de-alcoholization, in light of slumping wine sales and a rise in anti-drinking campaigns. “It’s absolutely absurd for Europe to prohibit this at a time when health officials are trying to persuade people to consume less alcohol,” one producer was quoted as saying.