When is a wine not a wine? This is the question bedevilling the growing lower-alcohol wine sector, which has found itself at odds with regulators seeking to impose restrictions on how the drink is marketed to consumers.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA), asserts that a still wine needs to have a minimum strength of 9% ABV in order to meet the official definition of wine.
The equivalent strength for sparkling wines varies, but in most cases anything under 10% cannot be referred to in advertising as wine.
This, along with a sluggishness on the part of retailers when it comes to showcasing lower-alcohol wines, has left producers frustrated but has not deterred them from launching brands. 'The path has been strewn with some really quite ridiculous rocks,' says Tony Dann, the chairman of TFC Wines, owner of the 5.5% ABV brand Sovio.
Legal row
In 2007 the roll-out of the brand stalled after the FSA's Wine Standards Board raised questions over the legality of the method used by TFC Wines to lower Sovio's alcohol content and its labelling; distribution was halted as a result.
A protracted legal spat followed, culminating in a High Court hearing. The outcome was that Sovio was made to drop its favoured descriptor - 'partially dealcoholised wine' - from its label and must now describe itself as 'made with wine'. To the consternation of wine producers looking to innovate in this area, there is still no agreed definition for lower-alcohol products that does not imply they are blended with another drink or a dilution of wine
Dann also hits out at retailers for failing to properly signpost the low-alcohol wine category in-store. He argues that, in most cases, the products are scattered among the conventional wine section, meaning consumers have to be 'extremely determined' to find them.
There are signs that this is changing, however. Katie Mollet, wine selector at Asda, acknowledges that presentation has been a barrier to purchase, so the chain has introduced sections for lower-alcohol brands in its wine aisles.
'Customers have traditionally struggled to embrace the often sweeter taste of low-alcohol wines but this situation is changing,' she says. 'With customers becoming increasingly educated on the benefits of lower-alcohol wines, they are actively choosing to purchase them, and sales are on the up.'
Similarly, Sainsbury's has revised its wine-aisle layout, placing all its noand low-alcohol wine ranges on the bottom shelf of the rose display. 'They are all merchandised together, so they are easier to find and stand out under rose, as they are all different colours,' says a spokeswoman.
Moreover, despite the difficulties, drinks producers are still rushing to launch brands in the sector. In February, South African wine brand First Cape relaunched its 10% ABV Cafe Collection and created a 5% ABV version. This was in response to consumer research suggesting there was a growing demand for lighter, less-alcoholic drinks from recognised brand names. The launch was backed by a £2.5m TV and radio campaign targeting women.
The latest entrant is Halewood International's Botany Creek, which was launched at the end of last month. The roll-out of the 7.5% ABV rose and white wines will be supported by a consumer-sampling programme and pointof-sale material.
Richard Clark, Halewood's head of innovation, says he expects Botany Creek to 'bridge the gap between light wines or RTDs and traditional higher ABV wines'. He adds that the consumer interest in lower-alcohol drinks is already well-established in the beer sector, which has recently been adding to sales by launching 4% variants of its stronger lagers.
Lower duty
Yet, not everyone in the wine industry is convinced by the proliferation of loweralcohol wines. Belinda Stone, marketing manager of Patriarche Wine Agencies, which markets a wide range of French and New World wine brands, questions whether this trend is a 'reality or just hype that the big brands have created to fit with their NPD'.
She suggests that producers could be responding to the lower duty rates that apply to lower-alcohol brands; the duty for a bottle of 5.5% ABV wine is 71.5p, compared with 168.8p for regular wine.
'I can sympathise with companies that have diversified into producing lower-alcohol wines,' she adds. 'However, I feel that we still need time to see whether consumers will embrace the change or not.'
It may be some years yet before it is clear whether lower-alcohol wine will go the same way as fads such as the Atkins Diet and fade into obscurity, or represent a long-term shift in the public's wine-drinking habits.