Decanter magazine emerged as an unlikely denier of climate change earlier this month when it quoted US academics on the vexing issue and its effect on the relentless increase in the alcohol content of wine.

A study by the American Association of Wine Economists examined 129123 wines imported into Ontario, Canada, between 1992 and 2009 and correlated alcohol to climate data over this period.

The authors concluded that average alcohol has increased by 1.12% over 18 years, from a mean of 12.7%, a figure considerably higher than would be expected when set against the heat index, which predicts an average rise of 0.05% in alcohol per year.

"It would take a whopping 20 degree Fahrenheit (6.67°C) increase in the average temperature in the growing season to account for a one percentage point increase in the average alcohol content of wine," says the association.

So increasing alcohol levels are a matter of choice rather than climate change; something that drives governments mad, even though they make a fortune by taxing the stuff.

Alcohol levels are controlled in most countries through the heavy hammer of taxation, a strategy that has worked remarkably well in reducing cigarette consumption, according to economists.

Faced with a drink problem, Botswana imposed a 30% levy on alcohol in 2008, which has since been raised to 40%. The largest beer distributor in Gaborone reports volumes are down 30%, while the Linga Longa bar notes that premium brand patrons were buying down.

Quite how many punters have switched from commercial to home-brewed shibobos and skokiaan was not reported, but taxed teetotalism runs the risk of making the health problems of alcohol abuse even worse as discount supplies are driven underground.

Perhaps a little finesse would be better; as cigar aficionado Theo Rudman used to say before he died of cancer. "It's not a question of smoking less but rather of smoking better."

Wine is a fortunate tipple in that alcohol levels can be reduced through careful site and cultivar selection as well as vini- and viticultural and cellar practices.

But let's leave technical issues to the technocrats and suggest another angle: a responsible drinking campaign targeted at winos requires a proactive approach, rewarding those wines that get it right. How about a case of six moderate alcohol wines called, perhaps, A Little Light Relief, to showcase the pleasures of lower alcohol and to make the point that moderate alcohol does not have to mean weak and wimpy.

As the ancients showed us in the '80s before the prophets of ripeness and profit started singing their Australian siren songs, full flavour, complexity and balance can be achieved at 12.5% ABV and lower and the proof is available for tasting.

My first candidate for a little relief is the LAM 2010 from Lammershoek. A cunning blend of Chenin Blanc and Viognier, but with an abstemious alcohol content of 12.5% and a cellar door price of R55, this fruity beauty will leave neither your wallet nor body lam.

A bottle bought now will be around long after Barack Obama, Julius Malema, Jacob Zuma and Sepp Blatter have relinquished their presidencies.

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