Alcohol Free Wine

Posted by Alan Boehmer Nov 27, 2007

A very hot topic among winemakers these days is de-alcoholization. That's right. Removing a portion—or all—of the alcohol in their wines to achieve what they perceive as ideal levels.

The movement toward lower alcohol levels has been feuled by increasingly high levels in New World wine across the board, particularly in Zinfandel, which may carry as high as 17% in dry versions. But even Cabernets, Merlots, and Chardonnays often clock in around 14.5%. High alcohol levels result from letting grapes ripen to their maximum flavor levels, increasing the sugar, which leads to high alcohol if the wine is fermented to dryness.

Until recently a winemaker had two options to keep alcohol levels at bay: 1) He (or she) picked the fruit when the sugar levels were optimum, but flavor components not always fully ripe; or 2) Stop fermentation at the desired alcohol level, leaving some residual sweetness in the wine. Neither solution proved completely satisfactory.

Now there's a third option. A company in northern California called Vinovation utilizes high tech methods, including reverse osmosis filtration, to remove some, or even all of the alcohol. It's an expensive process and wineries need to deliver the wine to Vinovation for processing.

We've not seen or tasted wines with minor adjustments, say a percent or two. But the process has enabled wineries to offer alcohol-free wines. These wines are poor substitutes for the real thing and much better traditional wines can be found at their price points, which varies from around $5 to $8 a bottle. But for those who have alcohol intolerance or need to cut down on their caloric intake, these wines can be attractive.