Non-Alcoholic Wines

Non-alcoholic wines have taken the drinks market by storm. These days, the category is big business. People, especially young adults often drink non-alcoholic wine because they enjoy the taste of great Cabernet or other wine, but don’t want to consume alcohol for health or personal reasons.

WHAT IS NON-ALCOHOLIC WINE?
Non-alcoholic wines (also known as dealcoholized wines) are traditionally made wines with their alcohol removed.

HOW NON-ALCOHOLIC WINE IS MADE
Making a non-alcoholic wine begins much the same way that it does with traditional red or white wine. The alcohol is then removed through one of three processes below :

Thin-film evaporation (called vacuum distillation)
The key concept to removing alcohol from wine is that ethanol has a lower boiling point (78°C) than water. The wine is heated to the point where the alcohol evaporates, leaving behind a 0% abv. The aromatics are added back into the wine later.

Reverse osmosis
Alcohol is a bigger molecule than water, the wine is run through a nano filter, and the filter separates the alcohol based on the size of the molecule. The remaining tannins and desirable characteristics are combined back into the mixture.

Spinning cone distillation
Wine passes through a column filled with a series of fixed and spinning cones that enable thinning and separation of the wine’s delicate properties. The wine circuits through the cones repeatedly, until the filtration separates the desired amount of alcohol, and the separated flavours are ready to be restored.

ARE NON-ALCOHOLIC WINES ANY GOOD?
Non-alcoholic wine tastes like wine, but not exactly the same. The question is, how important is alcohol if we want that iconic wine flavour? Alcohol is a big part of a standard bottle of wine. It might only be 12-15% of the original product, but it transports flavour and equally crucially, provides mouthfeel. When alcohol is removed, acidity seems sharper, tannin more pronounced and mid-palate somewhat thin. Some flavours get lost, others become more concentrated.
The common solution to these problems is adding small amounts of flavouring or some of the original must (grape juice pre-fermentation). These can compensate missing flavour compounds and ‘flesh out’ the palate with a little natural sweetness. However, more and more producers are trying to do it without overt sweetness. To ensure quality, winemakers seek good quality and full-strength original wine with plenty of fruit, high aromatics, low tannin and acidity. As a result, the wine is more likely to be naturally balanced post de-alcoholisation.

THE EVOLUTION OF NON-ALCOHOLIC WINES
While the non-alcoholic market has expanded rapidly, there are three areas that are constantly being worked on.

  • There is ongoing work of how to replicate the lost mouthfeel provided by alcohol, without simply using sugar. Because the alcohol is an essential part of the sensory quality of the wine. It adds body and it carries the aromatics to reach the olfactive sensors.
  • New technology is being developed. Anything which allows for a quicker process and a lower temperature with higher flavour capture will improve the quality of the end product.
  • There’s a growing recognition that quality of wine matters. To put it directly, if you put bad wine through a vacuum distillation, you’ll get a bad non-alcoholic wine out the other side.