Exploring the Best Low Alcohol Red Wines in Australia

While Australia is witnessing a growing trend for high alcohol wines, the ones containing low alcohol still enjoy a fair share of audience. These are always a choice when it comes to opening a bottle with coworkers, family or even with friends. In this blog post, we’ll be exploring some of the best low alcohol red wines in Australia. But before that, going with the basics, one should know how to determine the amount of alcohol content in your wine.

Determining Alcohol Content of your Wine

A wine connoisseur might often describe a bottle as light, medium or full bodied. But do you know what does this stands for? The body of a wine refers to its alcohol content. So going back, light-bodied is a term used for wines containing low alcohol while full-bodied means a wine with high alcohol and the medium-bodied wines lie in between these two. 

Generally, a wine with less than 12.5% ABV falls in the category of light-bodied. Wine with an alcohol content between 12.5-13.5% are medium-bodied while the ones with 13.5% and above ABV are full-bodied.

Best Low Alcohol Red Wines of Australia

If you are planning for buying one to enjoy with a co-worker or family, and still are confused about which one to pick then don’t worry. This list will make your work easy. Here are some of the highly-acclaimed light-bodied Australian wines which have been recognized by famous wine critics like James Halliday.

Name	ABV
Deep Wood Estate Rose 2017 Margaret River	12.5%
Hewitson Belle Ville 2017 Barossa Valley	12.5%
Two Rivers Belle Sparkling NV Hunter Valley	8.3%

You may also browse from a range of low alcohol wines available at Just Wines - Australia’s 2nd largest online wine store. Order your favourite bottle of premium wine at discounted prices and coupled with a 100% Money Back guarantee, you’ll never regret!

How Many Calories Does Your Glass of Wine has?

Stepping into a grocery store, we would always look out for low calorie food but is that what we do while choosing our wines as well? Probably not. In Fact, even the label of your might not tell you about the calories. It has never been a big matter of concern for most people but if you love to open a bottle of your favourite red wine quite often, then it is important for you to check for calories.

From where does a wine gets calories? There are mainly two sources of calories in red wines- sugar and alcohol. So even if you are consuming a dry wine doesn't makes it free from calories. Surprisingly, it is the alcohol which counts for more calories (7 per gram) than the residual sugar (4 per gram). Putting it in a simpler way, dry wines with less alcohol will have less calories, and a sweet wine🍷 with high alcohol will have a lot of it. Since we know that residual sugar adds low calories, a sweet and low-alcohol wine will always be better than a dry and high-alcohol wine.
Let's have a look on the amount of calories in red wines of Australia. The red wines may range from very light to full bodied. Said that, a it is generally medium or full bodied. The below chart would help you identify the alcohol and calories in red wines of Australia.

ABV%	Calories- Dry Wine (Serving= 150 ml)	Calories- Sweet Wine (Serv
12	91	125
13	103	133
14	111	141
15	119	149

 The sweet wines are measured at residual sugar of 150 g/L which is equal to around 2-3 tsp sugar. While many research might show the benefits of red wines but it is good to be consumed in a limited amount, i.e., 1 or 2 servings a day.

Learn about red wines of Australia

Over the years winemaking has gained immense popularity in Australia. Wine was particularly introduced in this country by the European settlers and in the present day, Australia can be dubbed as one of the leading quality and quantity wine producer. Along with this, Australia has also gained fourth position amongst the largest wine exporters in the word. The dry and warm climate makes the country ideal for producing wines. A major part of the land is covered by vineyards located in different wine regions. In this blog, we will be discovering some of the red wine grown in Australia.

Shiraz
Of all the red wine varieties grown in Australia, Shiraz is the one most produced and is produced in almost all the wine regions. Also known as Syrah in other parts of the world, the Australian Shiraz is known for both still and sparkling styles. A very versatile grape variety, it is deep plum coloured wine which shows complex flavours and aromas.

Cabernet Sauvignon
Often blended with Merlot and Shiraz grapes, Cab Sauv is the second red wine variety most grown in Australia. A food-friendly varietal, it is grown in different warm and cool regions of the country thus showing very different attributes. Warmer region Cab Sauv is generally sweeter although when grown in cooler climate it shows savoury and herbal notes.

Merlot
A classic red wine, it is commonly used in the famous Bordeaux style blends. Some of the most popular wine regions of Australia like Coonawarra and Margaret Region are known for their world class Merlot wines. It generally shows earthy characters along with liquorice, chocolate note as it ripens.

Pinot Noir
A cool climate wine, it has finally found its position as one of the mainstream red wine varieties grown in Australia. Regions like Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and parts of southern WA produce very fine Pinot Noir. It is a dry, more acidic, complex and relatively mild wine which goes well with red meats and oily fishes.

Ranging from complex Shiraz to light Pinot Noir, you can order from a huge variety of red and white wine available here. Enjoy!

The art of tasting a red wine

Talking about wines, Red Wines are the most popular of all around the world. From vine to wine, it goes through long procedures to achieve that particular luxurious taste. The winemakers have been practicing and experimenting with the techniques to create their masterpieces. Tasting a red varietal in itself is like an art. Here are a few tips on how to taste a wine.

The label:
Even if you are not a wine expert, you can know a lot about the wine from its label. A few things which you can notice on the label are
The vintage- it tells you when the wine has been harvested.
Its origin- whether it comes from a colder or warmer region affects the taste of the wine.

Pour and tilt the glass:

Tilt your glass and notice the colour of the wine over a white background. The colour of the wine tells us about its age. A wine with more vibrant or intense colours is younger and as the wine ages it tends to lose its colour.

Sense the aromas:

Take a sniff of your wine. But before doing so, swirl the wine once. It would help the aromas of the wine to rise. Now bring your nose closer to the glass and smell the aromas. The aromas tell a lot about the flavours you can expect from that wine. You may feel fruity aromas or floral aromas. Maybe aromas of leather, spice or earth as well.

Taste the wine:

Finally, it’s time to time to taste the wine. But do not swallow it altogether. The wine consists of various flavours. It might be sweet, acidic, sour or dry. Allow the wine to stay in your mouth for a while so that you are able to enjoy all the flavours.

Finale:

Here comes the conclusion where you can talk about the texture, taste and your overall experience with the wine. The above wine tasting process can be followed for different wine varietals like the reds progressing towards whites, sparkling, and fortified's. Experimenting with different wines will make you smarter wine taster over time. It will help you to discover the subtle aromas and flavours present in wines.

Wine with a royal touch - Plantagenet Three Lions Shiraz

About the Winery

Founded in 1968, Plantagenet is an Australian winery located in heart of Mt Barke, it is one of the oldest established winery in Great Southern. The winery is rated five stars by James Halliday.

Planatagenet Wine Range

Plantagenet has the following wine range from it –

·         House of Plantagenet

·         Museum Wines

·         Three Lions

Three Lions range exemplifies power and quality. The logo which is visible on the label of the wine(in image) is taken from the coat of arms of Plantagenet royal dynasty of England.

The wine from this range Plantagenet Three Lions Shiraz has soft velvety tannins with red currant and boysenberry characters. It pairs well with cured meats.

Vineyards

·         Bouverie Vineyard

It was the first vineyard to be planted in 1968. It is named after founder Tony Smith’s mother Helen Pleydell Bouverie. The vineyard is covered in 9 HA.

·         Wyjup Vineyard

This vineyard has significant importance and also the backbone of the Plantagenet range. The vines are covered in the area of 21.15 HA.

·         Rocky Horror Vineyard

It took two years to clear the site of massive boulders that were present. In 1999, vine plantation took place. Total vine cover is of 32.4 HA.

·         Crystal Brook Vineyard

This site similar to Rocky Horror Vineyard had to be cleared first of the boulders. These rocks after getting crushed were reused by mixing into organic matter. They were then added back to the soil. This entire process helped in making the vineyard soil fertile.

·         Rosetta Vineyard

This vineyard site was bought in 2001 and is located 15 km west side of Mount Barker.

Plantagenet and environment sustainability

·         To improve the overall health of the soil, the winery grows nitrogen-fixing crops between its vines.

·        The winery avoids the use of fungicides and chemicals and instead, sheep are used to graze the vineyard during winter months.

·       To improve the ventilation, an effective vine canopy management program is in place to limit the fungal attack on the vines.

·       The byproduct of grape pressing consisting of seeds, skin, and stems that is rich in organic matter is reused to improve soil health and its water holding capacity.

Completely Rocking - Rockbare Shiraz

About Wine

Rockbare Shiraz consists flavours of blueberry, dark cherry and mulberry with hints of spicy, clove and dark chocolate truffle. Enjoy this wine with rare roast beef, lamb racks.

About the Winemakers

Shelley Torresan is the winemaker of Rockbare Winery. After completing her Bachelor in winemaking from the University of Adelaide, she traveled extensively to France and California, getting hands-on experience in winemaking before joining Rockbare. At the winery, she is focused is on making wines that are bright-fruity and that reflect the regional style.

Peter Fraser the consulting winemaker for Rockbare. He oversees grape sourcing, grape picking and blending decisions at the winery. He was awarded James Halliday Wine Companion Winemaker of the Year in 2016.

Unbelievably good - St Hallett Faith Shiraz

About the Wine

St Hallett Faith Shiraz matched well with grilled lamb chops or Pasta along with Bolognaise sauce to get the best out of this wine. Cellaring it for up to 5 years is recommended.

About the Winery

Lindner family was established in 1944. During its initial days, the winery was drawn towards the production of fortified wines. After a successful first vintage of Old Block Shiraz, the winery slowly shifted its focus towards premium table wines and earning appreciation for it too. Like other popular wineries of Barossa region such as Lehmann, Melton & Burge and Rockford, St Hallett too narrowed its focus to producing region’s key varieties such as Shiraz.

After having built a strong relationship and good understanding with grape-growers of the region the winery has access to fruit from the vineyards as old as 100 years.

The winery is committed towards environmental sustainability through recycling and soil conservation.

·         It has a cellar door which has been recycled from the materials of the old cellar door.

·         The winery also makes good use of the grape skins left after fermentation by converting it into organic fertilizer and grape stalks which is converted into compost and can be used again in soil and crops.

Simply sublime - Rosemount Blends Cabernet Merlot

   

Well textured with nice mouthfeel are some of the distinguishing characteristics of this wine. This wine makes

the perfect pairing with Lamb roast. Simple and sublime!

Ownership of Rosemount Winery is currently in hands of Treasury Wines. Established in 1974, The 1975 vintage was its road to success which was appreciated widely and collected awards and recognition in various wine competitions.Was a highly successful Australian wine brand in the US at starting of the 21^st century. The wines are known to be easily drinkable and come packed with luscious flavours. In 2001 and 2005, the company merged with Southcorp Wines and Foster’s Group respectively.

Pinot Noir Wines to Taste

So if you are confused which Pinot Noir wines to taste, below infographic presents some of the popular Australian Pinot Noir Wines of 2016 coming from different wine regions of Australia which is worth giving a shot. So guys, rescue some Pinot Noir Wine trapped in the bottle and be a hero!

Below are the Pinot Noir Wines which you can save –

1. Catch Cry Pinot Noir

2.  Wolf Blass Silver Label Chardonnay Pinot Noir

3. Jackson Estate Pinot Noir

4. Jacobs Creek Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir

5. Little Valentine Pinot Noir Rose

6. Hardys Nottage Hill Pinot Noir

Malbec - Grapes and Wines from Australia

Introduction

Malbec grapes are purple in colour and are used to make red wine. It is grown in many countries across the world. It can be found in Chile, France, Brazil, Madeira, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Australia, USA and Argentina. Argentina has the largest land area under this grape variety in the world, grown in over 76,700 acres which are roughly 75%, mainly in San Juan, Mendoza and Salta. France has the second highest acreage under it, with 15,000 acres.

Viticulture

Malbec requires plenty of heat and sunlight to grow. This is more than Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. It grows in soil that allows water to percolate down but may rot during cold conditions or in standing water. Australian Malbec wines are made from grapes grown in Frankland River, Kangaroo Island, Clare Valley and Margaret River regions.

Feel of the wine

Malbec wines of Australia present significant aromas of plum, cherry, chocolate, coffee, raisins, raspberry and leather. The noticeable flavours are of cherry, plum, balsamic, dried fruit and chocolate. Vanilla flavours and aromas are released during ageing of the wine in oak.

Popular names

Malbec is known by different name in different regions. In Bordeaux, it goes by the name of Pressac or Côt. French Cahors and Alsace region call it by Auxerrois. In Argentina, it is referred as Fer. In Portugal, it is known by Tinta Amarela and in Australia, it is called as Portugal Malbec.

Malbec in Australia

Malbec cultivation began in the 19^th century in Australia. At Liverpool, the Grodno vineyard can be attributed to the first instance of Malbec planting in Australia in 1901. Things changed during the second half of 20^th century when many acres of vines had to be uprooted due to poor yield caused by frost and spreading of the fungus to the leaves. The areas under Malbec vines shrank mainly because people began growing other grape-varieties in place of Malbec as a safer option. By 2000, it was close to 1,235 acres in Australia, with Clare Valley in South Australia having the highest share.

The World Malbec Day

It is celebrated on April 17 worldwide in remembrance of the day in Argentina history when president Domingo Faustino Sarmiento declared to change its wine industry.