It’s a little-known fact that the world’s largest wine producer, E. J. Gallo, built its empire off the success of its white wine, Thunderbird. The wine was originally designed to appeal to a young market and has now garnered cult status as a “bum wine.”
The Lightest to the Strongest Wine
Why was Thunderbird such a success? Well, simply put, it has 20% alcohol by volume (ABV). Let’s take a look at alcohol levels in wine from the lightest to the strongest. Truth be told, alcohol content in wine ranges wildly from as low as 5.5% to 23% ABV. Several factors affect the alcohol content of wine, including the style of wine, quality level, and climate where the grapes grow.
How Much Wine Should We Be Drinking?
The rule of thumb is that a glass of wine is worth one standard drink, and women get one of these a night, and men get two. However, this assumes that the wine is only 12% ABV. So, if you’re drinking a high-alcohol wine like Port or Thunderbird (at 20% ABV), the recommended serving size is about half. Yep, sometimes it’s better to get a lower alcohol wine, especially if you love to drink.
You can drink more low-alcohol wine with the same effect as one glass of high-alcohol wine.
Low Alcohol Wines
Most wines under 10% ABV are sweet and light in body. German Kabinett Riesling (8% ABV) and Italian Moscato d’Asti (5.5% ABV) are typical examples of low-alcohol wines.
The reason why these wines tend to be sweet is from the leftover grape sugar in the wine after the desired alcohol level is reached during fermentation. Leftover sweetness in wine is called residual sugar (RS) and comes from the sweetness of grapes at harvest time.
Examples
- Moscato d’Asti 5.5% ABV (lightly sparkling sweet white from Italy)
- Brachetto d’Acqui 6.5% ABV (lightly sparkling sweet red from Italy)
- Kabinett Riesling 8% ABV (light sweet German Riesling)
- Spätlese Riesling 8.5% ABV (rich sweet German Riesling)
- Alsace Blanc 9–10% ABV (France)
- Muscadet 9.5% ABV (France)
NOTE: Looking for low alcohol, low calorie dry wines? Read this
Medium-Low Alcohol Wines
Wines ranging from 10–11.5% ABV are usually produced with less sweet grapes. It’s pretty common to see white wines with medium-low alcohol from cooler climate regions like France, Northern Italy, and Germany.
There are also several sparkling wines in this alcohol content category because the wine producers pick the grapes a little earlier in the season to ensure that the wines stay zesty with higher acidity to complement the bubbles.
Examples
- Muscadet (France)
- Touraine and Cheverny (Sauvignon Blanc from Loire, France)
- Lambrusco (Italy)
- Soave (Italy)
- Gavi (an Italian wine region that produces white wines with Cortese grapes)
- Pinot Grigio (Italy)
- Grüner Veltliner (Austria)
Medium Alcohol Wines
If you live in the U.S., you might believe that these numbers seem a little low, but for the rest of the world, 11.5–13.5% ABV is the average. In fact, the U.S. standard serving of wine is a glass (5 oz) of medium-alcohol-content wine.
Most European wines will be in this range, as well as American bargain wines.
Examples
- Bordeaux (Cabernet-Merlot blend from France)
- Bourgogne (Pinot Noir or Chardonnay from France)
- Champagne (France)
- Côte du Rhône (France)
- Beaujolais (France)
- Chianti (Italy)
- Dolcetto (Italy)
- Barbera (Italy)
- Nebbiolo (Italy)
- Rosé Wine
- Sauvignon Blanc (California)
- Value Reds (California)
- Red Wines (Chile)
- Riesling (Washington)
- Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir (Oregon)
TIP: The higher the alcohol, the bolder and richer the wine will taste.
Medium-High Alcohol Wines
This is the average range of dry American wines and other warm-climate growing regions, including Argentina, Australia, Spain, and Southern Italy. Regions with warmer climates produce sweeter grapes, which in turn increase the potential alcohol content of the wine.
Examples
- Chardonnay (California and Washington)
- Viognier (California)
- Petite Sirah (California)
- Pinot Noir (California)
- Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (California and Washington)
- Zinfandel (California)
- Grenache aka Garnacha (Spain and Australia)
- Shiraz/Syrah (Australia)
- Pinotage (South Africa)
- Malbec (Argentina)
- Barolo (Italy)
- Amarone della Valpolicella (Italy)
- Brunello di Montalcino (Italy)
- Nero d’Avola (Italy)
- Châteauneuf-du-Pape (France)
High Alcohol Wines
High-alcohol wines can be made naturally or with fortification. Fortified wine is when a neutral spirit (usually a distilled grape brandy) is added to wine to increase the alcohol content.
The original purpose of fortifying wine was to preserve its flavor during the age of exploration. High-alcohol dessert wines like Port, Marsala, Madeira, and Sherry are commonly fortified, as are aromatized wines (aka vermouth).
It’s rare to find a natural high-alcohol wine, but they do exist, thanks to science!
Examples
- Shiraz ~15.5% ABV (Australia)
- Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre 15.5% ABV (California and Australia)
- Zinfandel up to 16% ABV (California)
- Late Harvest Dessert Wine 15–17% ABV
- Sherry 15–20% ABV (Spain)
- Port and Tawny Port ~20% ABV (Portugal)
- Banyuls and Maury ~20% ABV (France)
- Madeira ~20% ABV (Portugal)
- Marsala ~20% ABV (Sicily)
- Aromatized wine (vermouth) 20% ABV
- Other fortified wines
TIP: A wine that is described as “hot” means it has high alcohol content.
Have Wines Become More Alcoholic?
Yes.
The reason why wine has become naturally higher in alcohol has a lot to do with science. For example, back in the 1950s, yeast would not survive in alcohol levels too much higher than 13.5% ABV. In fact, it was common to get a “stuck fermentation” where yeasts would die before all the sugar in the grape juice had been converted into alcohol (This is how White Zin was invented!).
Today, however, we’ve developed very resilient yeasts that can survive in alcohol levels as high as 16.5% ABV. This also might be why we’re seeing more high-alcohol beers than ever before.
Another viable reason is climate change. The more ripe and sweet the grape, the higher the alcohol by volume (because yeast converts sugar into alcohol). Of course, this is a little harder to prove because of many variables.
Suffice to say, if it’s over 14% ABV, be careful with your portion size, it catches up with you fast!