Wouldn’t it be nice to enjoy a glass of wine with friends at lunch without feeling sleepy afterwards, or to be able to jump in the car and drive home after a night out?
With alcohol-free sparkling wine becoming a popular alternative to the real deal over the last few years, people are now asking whether the same can be done with regular wines. As a stopgap, some are reaching for low-alcohol wines.
The trend has already taken hold in several countries across Europe, says Ernst Buescher, a spokesman for the German Wine Institute.
Younger, more health-conscious consumers are the ones mostly driving the change, avoiding wines with higher alcohol content and the deleterious health effects heavy drinking can bring. For these customers, the alcohol content matters just as much as the wine itself when it comes to choosing which bottle to buy.
“There are also wine lovers who avoid alcohol out of health or religious reasons,” says Andrea Schwarz, who owns a wine outlet.
Consumers can find out how much alcohol is in their wine by checking the label, which lists the alcohol by volume (ABV) in per cent, the worldwide standard way of describing it.
Under industry standards for most wine from Europe, “alcohol-free” means no more than 0.5-per-cent alcohol. That means there will still in fact be a modest amount of alcohol in the bottle, but not much.
The industry term for completely non-alcoholic is “without alcohol,” explains Schwarz, and you’ll be hard put to find “wine without alcohol” anywhere.
Those new to buying alcohol-free wine are first quizzed by Schwarz in her shop on their favourite grape variety or cultivation region, as well as whether they prefer a dry wine or one that tastes a bit more sweet.
The reason? Not all wines are suited for processing into alcohol-free products. Fans of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, syrah and tempranillo are in luck, as are white drinkers who favour grapes that include riesling, gruener veltliner and chardonnay.
Non-alcoholic wines are produced essentially in the same manner as their alcohol-containing counterparts. The only difference comes at the end, where alcohol-free wines have to undergo an additional step.
“Before bottling, the alcohol is removed using vacuum distillation,” explains Wolfgang Hofmann, from a winery in western Germany.
The timing of the wine harvest also plays a role in alcohol content: The earlier the grapes are harvested, the less sugar is available in the grape must, which in the end translates to a less alcoholic wine.
Despite the more intensive production process, most alcohol-free wine is moderately priced, and the range of upper price points is nowhere near the traditional sorts.
In some countries, alcohol-free wines are not even legally considered wines. In Germany, for example, wine must generally contain at least 7 per cent alcohol, says Buescher.
-dpa
