WINE: GLOBAL WARMING Light and fruity - with half the alcohol

WINE: GLOBAL WARMING Light and fruity - with half the alcohol

HAROLD HECKLE
Associated Press
May 12, 2008
JUMILLA, SPAIN -- Global warming may be the latest threat to the wine industry, but a clutch of producers in one of Spain's hardest-hit regions say they've found a way to survive and even profit from it.
Vintners face a twin danger from climate change. Higher temperatures mean grapes with more sugar and thus more alcohol, but wines packing a heftier wallop are less popular these days, in part because people are wary of drinking and driving. Plus, drought can stop vines from producing fruit altogether.
So winemakers in Spain's southeastern Murcia region thought up a way to coax their vines into making a product that retains the character of a classic wine, only with much less alcohol - 6.5 per cent by volume, compared to 14 per cent or more for many traditionally made Spanish wines.
The technique and product are so groundbreaking the European Union had to devise a new category - "wine with reduced alcohol content" - for it to be marketed.

"Vineyards are migrating north to avoid heat. If we want to stay in the business we have to adapt. And this method gives us a means to do so," said Pedro Jose Martinez, the brains behind the project at Casa de la Ermita winery, near the town of Jumilla.
His pride and joy, called Altos de la Ermita, is redolent of cherries, plums and blackberries, with a smoky hint of the oak barrels in which it spent six months maturing. It tastes light and fruity, like a good summer drinking wine. Only a slight lack of "legs" - tear-like traces wine leaves on the side of a glass - gives away the low alcohol content.
"And you can drink two good glasses with your lunch and still be under the legal limit," said the project's chief winemaker, Marcial Martinez (unrelated to Pedro Jose Martinez).
The winery says it knows of no other producers making this kind of wine but expects competition to emerge. It plans to release 770,000 bottles of Altos in this debut year and 1.5 million in 2009, with sales planned in Spain and around the world.
No other country on earth has as much land dedicated to growing grapes. With 1.2 million hectares of vineyards, Spain far outstrips nearest rivals France and Italy, according to the OIV, the International Organization of Vine and Wine.
Wine regions such as La Mancha and Murcia face pressure from several sources: changing consumer preferences, new laws to cut the death toll from vehicle accidents and European Union legislation aimed at reducing overproduction.
"Hot country" wines like those of southern Spain, with levels as high as 15 per cent alcohol, are no longer popular in the world's trendy wine shops. Today people prefer lighter styles, like French Bordeaux with 13 per cent alcohol.
But rising temperatures and drought are worrying vine farmers most. Records show Spain is experiencing its driest year since record-keeping began 60 years ago.
"We are getting higher alcohol levels because of hot weather and excessive evaporation from the grapes," said Jorge Garcia, manager of the Vitivinos co-operative winery in Villamalea on the southeastern fringe of La Mancha.
The Ermita vineyard's technique uses carefully controlled irrigation to trick vines into making grapes with less sugar and thus significantly less potential for alcohol. The finished wine is then put through rotating cones to separate out alcohol molecules.
"We manage to achieve a product that retains all the sensorial characteristics of a classic wine, but with only 6.5 per cent alcohol," Marcial Martinez said.

Origin information: globeandmail.com