Don't insult wine by reducing potency

Do you consciously look for wines with lower alcohol because you believe they won't be as bad for you?

Believe me, few of them taste half-decent.

Not all wines are high in alcohol, though the trend has been upward in recent years.

Some countries want to lower the legal limit, so a drink that has had its alcohol cut to 4.5% may still be called "wine". In South Africa that limit is 6.5% but less than 16.5%. Professor Roger Williams, director of the Institute of Hepatology in London and consultant to the London Clinic, is strongly supportive.

"Anything that would reduce the danger of alcohol to the public is good," he says. But whether he would enjoy a glass of artificially alcohol-reduced wine is another matter.

Surely it is better to just drink less wine? Anyone who wants to drink less alcohol is free to do so. What to have with meals? Well, water is a brilliant choice.

Leave wine alone. Don't foist concoctions of spineless, denatured, alcohol-reduced "wines" on to us. We know what wine should taste like, and these drinks are nothing like the real thing.

In mainland Europe, children are first introduced to wine at family meals by mixing a little wine into plenty of water. Why shouldn't adults do that, too? On a hot day, a lump or two of ice can cool your glass of wine, and bring down the alcohol level at the same time.

A couple of years ago, I was at a conference in the south of France to debate the glories of wines made from the Grenache grape. There was a lively discussion about how to get over the problem of the high alcohol in most Grenache-based wines (Châteauneuf-du-Pape being a typical example). A wise old Frenchman contributed his answer to the debate. "It's simple," he said. "Changing the composition is unthinkable. You just pour less wine into your glass." - ©The Daily Telegraph