At last a low alcohol wine that tastes like wine!

I’ve never been able to see the point of low alcohol wines. To me it’s a bit like having an egg without a yolk - almost a contradiction in terms. If you love wine and want to cut down on the amount of alcohol you consume it's far more satisfying to simply reduce your alcohol intake. Drink one glass instead of two or three or cut down the number of days a week you drink.

But I’m having to eat my words because I’ve just discovered a low alcohol wine that’s really enjoyable. It’s a Chardonnay called Plume which is made by Domaine la Colombette, a local producer down here in the Languedoc.

When I say low, I mean low comparatively speaking - 9% rather than 5% ABV. But it’s significantly less than the 13% or 13.5% that most dry white wines clock in at these days. It’s apparently made by reverse osmosis, a process which removes the alcohol from a proportion of the wine. This has caused no end of problems in the UK where our over-zealous authorities apparently decided it couldn’t be called wine, according to EU legislation (despite the fact that it is on sale in France) Tesco took it on then were forced to withdraw it. It’s now only on sale in their Vin Plus store in Calais where it sells for an incredibly reasonable €5.75. Or direct from the winery.

For those of you who can get hold of a bottle I strongly recommend it. It’s not a typical chardonnay, granted, more like a Sauvignon Blanc but it’s really very appealing - fresh, fruity and surprisingly vinous. We drank it a few days ago at a seafood restaurant on the coast at Marseillan with a platter of prawns and oysters - with which it proved a very good match. It also makes a very pleasant aperitif.

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