WINE LOWERS THE VOLUME

Binge drinking is largely a problem among young people who wouldn’t know their chardonnay from their elbow. One can only hope that they become more discerning.

It is not a new problem, of course, as this illustration from the 1800s makes plain, and Hogarth famously captured drunken London in his Gin Lane painting of the mid 1700s.

But the current practices of selling wine in large glasses and of producing wine with higher volumes of alcohol clearly play no small part in making the average night-time high street look like a scene from a particularly fractious Wild West frontier town.

Many reds now have a 14per cent volume, many whites 13.5. A couple of large glasses of a top volume Merlot will set a young drinker merrily on his or her way towards the gutter on an evening out, with little inclination to savour the flavour – though there may be need of the tasting spittoon towards the end.

There has been a growing reaction against all these high volumes in the wine trade itself, where it is felt the volume of alcohol is not beneficial to the taste of the wine. And this is now also evident in consumer reactions.

The Wine Society, which had been looking for some time for a high quality low degree wine in response to customer demand,  is now offering just such a wine. Working with the Grassa family in Gascony, proprietors of Domaine du Tariquet, they have come up with Voil’a, a white with 9.5per cent alcohol.

This light, fresh wine is just the thing for lunchtime or an early evening drink or indeed any other time in preference to the stronger varieties. Not too keen on the name Voil’a but the price is very good, at £5.95, available from The Wine Society.

ENGLISH SPUDS KEY TO ENGLISH VODKA TRIUMPH

Imagine the chagrin of long-established, traditional makers of vodka from Russia and Poland when they were pipped at the post for top vodka award at this year’s San Francisco Spirits Competition by a British distiller.

“There were more than a few disgruntled comments from the established distillers that a company from England had won the accolade,” admitted potato entrepreneur William Chase.

His company, Chase Vodka, from Herefordshire, beat 249 rivals from around the world, including the finest Russian and Polish distilleries, in a blind tasting conducted by 30 top judges.

Chase, credited with creating the market for premium hand-cooked potato crisps with his previous company, Tyrells Crisps (sold for £30 million in 2008), moved into the distilling business, despite having no background in producing spirits.

He aimed for the premium end of the vodka market and used potatoes from his own farm instead of the uninteresting grains that are generally employed throughout the industry. Producing just 1,000 bottles a week of his brand, he is a mere minnow to the great whales in the business, yet now exports to the US, Europe and even Russia.

The secret of his success lies in the spuds. Starting life as a potato farmer, he was prompted to go into the potato chips business by price pressure from supermarkets. Deciding making vodka would be more fun than chips, he did his research, bought the best distilling equipment and having sold Tyrrells, founded William Chase Distillery just two years ago.

“We can make about 3,000 bottles a week,” he revealed, “and because it is premium we wouldn’t want to make more than that. We don’t want to be mass market.”

In addition to vodka, the distillery produces super-premium gin and speciality liqueurs from potatoes and apples grown on the Chase Herefordshire farm. They are available online and also from Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason and Waitrose.

NEW GIN BOTTLES SUMMER FLAVOURS

THAT quintessentially English drink, gin and tonic, has long been a cool choice in hot weather. This summer, top gin distiller Beefeater brought out an alternative option in Beefeater Summer, using their classic gin blended with summer flavours.

Tastes of elderflower, hibiscus and blackberry were added to create a fresh new gin that may be drunk straight over ice, or mixed with a variety of other tipples, or given a splash of soda for a classic gin fizz.

There's no reason why it shouldn't be enjoyed well into the autumn season. On sale at £17.99 a bottle.