New wine label rules are making alcohol content more accurate

Many savvy wine shoppers know that you can guess how any given wine will taste based on its alcohol content. Wines that contain less alcohol tend to be more refreshing, usually lighter, brighter, and leaner in flavor, while the reverse is true for those with more alcohol, which usually seem richer, less tart with jammier flavors. To those accustomed to scouring the fine print, it might seem as if the wines they love suddenly got stronger in recent years. In reality, changes in wine law are simply leading vintners to be more transparent about how much alcohol those wines have contained all along.

Even five years ago, there seemed to be a noticeable stylistic jump between lighter wines labeled up to 14% and heavier ones at higher strength. However, this was an illusion, an artifact conjured by tax incentives for winemakers and wiggle room in labeling laws. Higher taxes due on wines over 14% alcohol led many wineries to round their numbers down to avoid the penalty. European vintners operated under very different rules that incentivized them to significantly understate their strength even further, often by a full percentage point or more.

Take this delicious, well-balanced pinot noir for example, which is brimming with bright red fruit flavors like black raspberry and sour cherry and accented with subtle earthy scents of mushrooms and black tea. A decade ago, this wine would almost certainly have been declared at or just below 14% alcohol for tax reasons. Under today’s new rules, it is more accurately labeled at 14.5% and wine shoppers have more reliable numbers to go on across the board.

$18.99, 14.5% alcohol

PLCB Item #80249

Sale price through May 29th – regularly $21.99

Also available at:

Canal’s Bottlestop in Marlton; $19.09, canalswine.com; Total Wine & More in Claymont; $19.99, totalwine.com; Cheers Wine & Spirits in Voorhees; $23.99, cheers-nj.com