Liv-ex, which describes itself as a global marketplace for the wine trade has released details of the increasing alcohol levels of wine in its database. The study show that alcohol levels have been rising over the past 30 years.
As the chart shows, California, Piedmont and Tuscan red wines saw a significant increase in alcohol levels from the 1990s to the 2000s, when they levelled off or began to pull back slightly.
Bordeaux, on the other hand, has continued to climb – albeit from the lowest base. Burgundy is the only of the five regions to show little movement.
Liv-ex says most explanations for rising alcohol levels focus on climate change as rising temperatures lead to riper grapes with more sugar, and therefore more alcohol.