Bubble trouble: the hunt for a good low-ABV sparkling wine

Low-ABV wines are sought for long, casual drinking without heavy intoxication, emphasizing light body and bracing acidity. Session sparkling wine is especially desired, since supermarket options under 11% ABV often lack flavor and are frequently marketed as low-calorie choices. Some low-ABV sparkling wines exist, including dealcoholised cava such as Codorniu’s 8% product, which uses dealcoholised wine but still includes chardonnay and xarel-lo and can serve as a crisp aperitif. Low-ABV wines can result from cool-climate grapes with less sugar or from stopping fermentation early. Moscato d’Asti, typically just over 5% ABV, uses early fermentation to create gentler bubbles but can be too sweet to drink casually.

"By this I mean wine that, like session beer, is easily quaffable over several hours and doesn't plunge me into inebriation in other words, wine with a relatively low ABV (less than 11%), a light body and bracing acidity. Why are they so hard to find, especially in the mainstream? The false premise, perhaps, that wine is sipped rather than chugged, or that it is enjoyed only with food? (You need only set foot in a Wetherspoons to learn otherwise.)"

"My favourite party drink is something fizzy, so I'm essentially looking for a session sparkling wine. Supermarket fizz at less than 11% ABV does exist, but it tends to fall short on the delicious side of things. Usually, such wines are framed as low-calorie options and, unsurprisingly, marketed at women. The best of the bunch that I've tried is Codorniu's 8% cava, from which some of the alcohol has been removed."

"The bottle dubiously promises a sparkling beverage made with dealcoholised wine, but rest assured, some chardonnay and xarel-lo were involved in its production, and it does make a decent, crisp aperitif. Dealcoholisation aside, low-ABV wines occur for one or both of two reasons: because the grapes in question were grown in a cool climate, so contain less sugar to convert into alcohol, and/or because fermentation was stopped early."

"Of the latter group, moscato d'Asti is a prime example, with a typical ABV at just over 5%; here, the halting of fermentation makes for gentler bubbles and limits how much sugar from the ultra-sweet moscato juice converts to alcohol. In my view it's too sweet to consider sessionable,"

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