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Demand for low-alcohol wine doubles in a year

Author
Newstalk Zb,
Publish Date
Wed, 27 Nov 2019, 5:00PM
Demand is expected to triple. (Photo / Getty)

Demand for low-alcohol wine doubles in a year

Author
Newstalk Zb,
Publish Date
Wed, 27 Nov 2019, 5:00PM

Low-alcohol wines have become a hit with consumers. 

Kiwi winemakers are selling twice as much low-alcohol wine in Australia than a year ago and demand at home is expected to triple in the next five years.

But New Zealand Lighter Wines manager Dave Jordan told Heather du Plessis-Allan the point of difference from full-strength can sometimes be just a few percent.

"We describe it as single digit alcohol, so it's less than 10 per cent alcohol. The majority of full-strength wines will sit in that band of 13 to 14 percent alcohol."

However, fans will have to stick with white wine for the time being. Jordan say it's harder to reduce the alcohol content when working with red grapes.

"One company here in New Zealand are making a pinot noir at 9.5 per cent alcohol but it's really a production challenge. Consumers would love to have red wine at 9.5 percent alcohol." 

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