In the past two or three years, you may have seen a shift in the way people consume wine. People are more health conscious than ever before and that has leaked into the beverage industry. An increased emphasis on mindfulness & wellness means that people (especially Gen Z & Millennials) are drinking less and looking for lower ABV options, especially for day to day. Enter in no alcohol (less than .5% ABV) and low alcohol wines (~6-10% ABV). These are perfect for the consumer who wants to drink socially without indulging on the weekday night.
The Methods
Not all no/low-alcohol wines are created equally and there are several different ways to achieve similar results:
- Some grapes – especially those in colder climates – are naturally lower in sugar resulting in wines with lower ABV (usually hovering around 8-9%). Germany, in particular, is already well known for these types of wines.
- Winemakers can choose to halt fermentation early, resulting in lower alcohol. This preserves the aromatics & natural sweetness while allowing them to control the flavor using grape must & botanicals.
- Wines can be dealcoholized using vacuum distillation, reverse osmosis, & spinning cone technology. These techniques can get expensive quickly but, if done carefully, the original structure of the wine can remain (think texture, acidity, phenolic complexity aka tannins).
Each of these methods comes with their pros & cons. Climate change is naturally pushing wine into the higher ABV realm – warmer temps mean grapes ripen faster, more fully, and with higher sugar content, resulting in higher alcohol wines. It’s not always so easy to simply grow grapes that will produce a lower ABV wine. On the other hand, the technologies used for dealcoholizing wine can strip aromas & flavors leaving a beverage that is easy to drink but otherwise unremarkable.
The Choice
What you choose to drink (or not) really comes down to personal preference and lifestyle habits. Someone who loves pairing wine and food may want to enjoy a glass with dinner on a weeknight without feeling the effects the next day. A naturally lower ABV wine could be perfect for that. On the other hand, a person who enjoys the experience of drinking wine but doesn’t care about the effects of alcohol may opt for a dealcoholized wine.
As we’ve mentioned in the past, it never hurts to experiment and try a few different options before finding one that works for you. Dealcoholized wine has gotten a bad rap in the past for lacking flavor and aromatics, but as technology continues to improve, there are no-alcohol wines out there that could absolutely be worth trying.
Our Approach
Zero and low alcohol wines are something we’ve begun to think about but we’ll admit that we have had trouble finding a good quality zero alcohol wine that compares to that of a traditional wine. Low alcohol wines may be on our radar in the near future but for now, please enjoy our delicious alternative in the form of our wine-based seltzers! Less than 1 gram of sugar per serving and only 7% ABV!
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