🍷 Aromatised wine

Aromatised wine is a wine-based drink whose taste and aroma come from herbs, spices or other flavouring products: this is how vermouth, quinine wines, Glühwein and sangria are made. In the EU, Regulation 251/2014 divides these drinks into three categories by wine content and alcoholic strength.

Aromatised wine proper contains at least 75 % wine and may have alcohol, sugar and colourings added; its actual alcoholic strength ranges from 14.5 % to less than 22 % vol. An aromatised wine-based drink contains at least 50 % wine and has 4.5 % to less than 14.5 %, while an aromatised wine-product cocktail has more than 1.2 % and less than 10 %. Retsina falls outside these categories: it is a wine.

Vermouth is an aromatised wine with added alcohol whose characteristic taste comes from wormwood (genus Artemisia). Bitter aromatised wines are named after their main bittering agent: quinquina after quinine, bitter vino after gentian, americano after wormwood and gentian. Glühwein is made only from red or white wine with cinnamon and/or cloves, has at least 7 % vol. and contains no added water. Sangria is wine with citrus fruit, from 4.5 % to less than 12 % vol.; the name “Sangría” alone is reserved for drinks from Spain or Portugal.

Other names in the regulation. Aromatised wines also include egg-based aromatised wine: with egg yolk, at least 10 g per litre, and more than 200 g of sugar (made with Marsala, it is cremovo), as well as väkevä viiniglögi with cloves or cinnamon. Aromatised wine-based drinks include Clarea (like sangria, but made from white wine), Zurra (sangria with brandy, from 9 % to less than 14 % vol.), Bitter soda, Kalte Ente with sparkling wine (at least 25 %), Maiwein and Maitrank with woodruff, Pelin, the Czech Aromatizovaný dezert and Wino ziołowe. Aromatised wine-product cocktails include the wine-based cocktail and the sparkling wine cocktail.

Sweetness is defined by law too: “extra-dry” means less than 30 g of sugar per litre, “dry” less than 50 g, “semi-dry” 50 to 90 g, “semi-sweet” 90 to 130 g and “sweet” 130 g or more. Protected geographical indications include Vermouth di Torino, Vermouth de Chambéry, Nürnberger Glühwein and Thüringer Glühwein.

Why it matters to you. Under the current version of the regulation, EU labels of aromatised wines must list ingredients and nutrition values; the bottle may show only the energy value, with the rest provided electronically via a marking on the pack. A “best before” date is not mandatory for these drinks, so keep an opened bottle tightly closed in the fridge. The WHO points out that there is no safe level of alcohol.