Alcohol in Red Wine... How little is too little?

There appears to be a serious desire by consumers to find red wines with lower alcohol and at The Vintry we are finding that many of our customers just do not want to drink wines that are over 13.5% or so,unless it is something special like an Amarone.
So cool climate red wines tend to dominate for this type of purchase and in my experience the consumer will not go back to the higher alcohol styles.I suppose its a bit like giving up salt on your food.You miss it for a few weeks but then you forget about it and eventually develop a dislike of over salted food.
So I am always  on the look out for something decent  in a red and the lower the better alcohol wise as long as it is in balance.  Anyway this led me to the worst bottle of wine tasted in a long long time..and this dubious honour went to a bottle of B& G Merlot called 9 as it is only 9% alcohol. Talk about being caught unawares ! I was cooking our dinner on Friday evening and I fancied a glass of wine, spotted the bottle and remembered that I had to try it. To be honest, because I was cooking at the same time, I wasn't really paying close attention and just poured  it, immediately smelling  (nice forward uncomplicated  black fruits) and then quickly tasted it while glancing at the cooking food..WHOOAH, as my mouth puckered and my head spun around to stare in disbelief at the bottle.. Off dry, with a saccharine like impact, combined with a bitter tartness yet lowish acidity...Very strange indeed.  So 9% is far too low for reds. Maybe this wine was developed for another market, far far away that maybe(!) possibly(!) though hopefully not(!) might like this red wine style.
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So the search continues!

Evelyn
The Vintry

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