How Non-Alcoholic Wine Is Made
We’ve heard it said before: “Non-alcoholic wine? Isn’t that just grape juice?” It’s a common misconception, and one we can’t really blame people for having. However, the non-alcoholic wine of today isn’t exactly what people expect it to be: filled with the rich flavors and delicate aromas they expect from wine.
How exactly is non-alcoholic wine (that tastes, smells, and acts like wine) made?
How Is Non-Alcoholic Wine Made?
There are actually two ways that non-alcoholic wine can be made, and the first way is why many people hold that common misconception about non-alcoholic wine. Some non-alcoholic wines are simply grape juice that wasn’t allowed to ferment. In that case, it may be called non-alcoholic wine, but it’s much closer in character to your run-of-the-mill grape juice.
However, what’s becoming a far more popular option for non-alcoholic wine is dealcoholization. What’s so special about dealcoholized wine? For starters, it is indeed wine. Unlike unfermented non-alcoholic “wine,” dealcoholized wine was allowed to ferment.
It starts its life as the juice from fresh-squeezed grapes before being left to ferment, which allows the juice to develop more of the trademark characteristics of wine. For instance, after BEAU VIVA’s grapes are harvested in the South of France, they mature in stainless steel vats, where they develop the wine’s complex palette.
When that wine ferments, though, it also develops an alcohol content. Wine-makers who create dealcoholized wine rely on different dealcoholization methods to remove that alcohol.
One of the most popular methods is vacuum distillation, which is the process BEAU VIVA uses to dealcoholize our alcohol-free sparkling wine. After maturing, the wine is placed in a vacuum chamber, where the pressure decreases. Because of this decrease, the boiling point of the alcohol inside drops considerably, and because of that drop, the alcohol evaporates at much lower temperatures.
Typically, the heat needed to evaporate out alcohol would change the quality of the wine. However, with this method, the dealcoholized wine is able to retain its flavors and aromas. In fact, one study found that vacuum distillation resulted in a greater reduction of alcohol than other dealcoholization methods while actually increasing the concentration of other essential components for wine, such as flavonoids.
Another method that’s somewhat popular among dealcoholized wine brands is the spinning cone column method. For this process, alcoholized wine is poured into the top of a vertical column made of stainless steel with fixed cones in the inner wall and spinning cones attached to a rotating middle shaft. After running down the first stationary cone, the wine then forms a thin film before being rotated up and out across the surface of the rotating cone. It’s then sent to another stationary cone, and the process repeats.
Meanwhile, another flow is created by injecting the wine into the base of the column. Steam moves over the surface of the thin films that the wine creates, and this combines with the airborne liquid droplets. At the bottom of the column, this new liquid is recovered, while vapor coming out of the top is recondensed into a concentrated liquid form.
The two key benefits of this dealcoholization method are that it’s considered one of the more environmentally friendly ways to remove alcohol from wine, and aroma compounds are generally well-preserved in this process. However, there are also several drawbacks, namely the imbalances this method tends to create in acidity, body, and sweetness.
Other, less common ways of making non-alcoholic wine include reverse osmosis and pervaporation.
When using reverse osmosis, winemakers pass wine through a membrane to remove the alcohol. However, it’s uncommon to see this method used for dealcoholizing wine for multiple reasons. For one, to properly dealcoholize the wine this way, water needs to be added, and that much water used for the production of a large quantity of wine would not be very environmentally friendly. Plus, adding water to wine is prohibited in many wine-producing countries.
Even if this method were completely legal and environmentally friendly, many winemakers still would choose another dealcoholization method because it’s simply not very efficient. It’s unlikely that the winemaker would be able to reach a true 0% ABV, and it would take several passes through the membrane to even see the ABV start to lower. This long process ends up changing the quality of the wine.
With pervaporation, a membrane is also used, but unlike the reverse osmosis membrane, this one is non-porous. The wine is sent to one side of the membrane, and that feed undergoes vaporization as it moves to the other side of the membrane. The permeate created is then extracted and condensed. While there are fewer hiccups with this process than reverse osmosis, it’s still not a top choice for winemakers because aroma compounds are typically lost by the end, and it’s extremely costly.
Try the Best Non-Alcoholic Wine and Discover a New Way to Celebrate
Sober, soberish, sober curious, or just not feeling like alcohol right now? You should be able to celebrate every moment your way, and the rise in non-alcoholic wine is making that possible.
BEAU VIVA is a non-alcoholic sparkling wine that’s 100% wine, just with a 0% ABV. Using vacuum distillation, BEAU VIVA removes the alcohol while maintaining the wine’s ripe red fruit flavors and delicate fruity and floral aromas before a steady stream of bubbles is added. The result is a wine that’s inviting and invigorating, a welcome addition to any celebration.
Explore what’s possible with BEAU VIVA.
