Alcohol-free wines winning favour
Alcohol in wine does more than give you a headache if you overindulge – it is an important part of the texture of wine. However, over the last 15 years or so, winemakers have been conscious of lowering alcohol levels, and consumers have been taking more notice of the health benefits of drinking less alcohol.
One way to do that is to keep drinking wine, but wines with lower alcohol levels.
The days of a big, fat, juicy Aussie shiraz with about 15% alcohol, or a big, lush 14.5% chardonnay aren’t totally over, but there’s a definite move to lowering the alcohol in wines, relying on other factors to deliver more refined wines without compromising on flavour.
In New Zealand, John Forrest led the way with his The Doctor’s range of wines, which have less than 11% alcohol. Now Marlborough’s Giesen Brothers has taken the bold move to add a 0% alcohol red to its range of 0% white wines.
Making a lower-alcohol wine generally starts in the vineyard, where viticulturists work hard to develop ripe fruit flavours in grapes before the sugars develop too much. There has been a huge amount of research carried out to meet the challenge of delivering grapes with perfect varietal flavours at slightly lower sugar levels but also with ripe acidity, so the resulting wine is juicy without being harsh to consume.
A number of years ago, I tried a few 0% alcohol wines that had been imported from the United States, and they were totally underwhelming, and even just plain awful.
Giesen Brothers has taken the lowering of alcohol to a whole new level by producing a range of 0% alcohol wines that are flavoursome and enjoyable to drink. The intention is to ensure ‘‘no wine drinker is left behind’’ – if a consumer wants to enjoy a wine and drive, or has stopped consuming alcohol for any reason, they can still enjoy a drink with reasonable wine characters.
Its first 0% alcohol wine was a sauvignon blanc, and was so well received by consumers that a 0% pinot gris and a rose followed soon afterwards. Giesen is arguably one of the best riesling producers in New Zealand, and is certainly the largest producer, so it made sense to add a 0% riesling to the range.
How does the winery make 0% alcohol wines using ripe fruit that delivers perfect varietal flavours without being green and nasty to drink? It actually makes wines with normal alcohol levels, then uses technology to remove the alcohol.
In 2021, Geisen invested $1 million in spinning cone technology. The spinning cone column has many technological uses in the food and beverage sector, as it’s a very gentle system, making it perfect the perfect solution to remove or lower alcohol levels in wine without damaging delicate aroma, flavour and texture compounds.
The column is, in effect, an advanced form of distillation, but rather than subjecting the wine to high temperatures, the process occurs under a vacuum. Rapidly spinning cones within the vacuum column create a vapour-thin film of wine, dramatically improving the efficiency of the process. As a result, the wine only reaches temperatures around 35-45°C, and then only for around 25 seconds, to remove alcohol without damaging those very important aroma and flavour compounds.
When I tried the Giesen 0% riesling recently, it tasted exactly like freshly pressed riesling juice, bursting with flavour and with some refreshing acidity. The merlot tastes just like a light merlot with normal alcohol levels, maybe a little fruitier.
One key benefit of drinking 0% alcohol wine is the huge reduction in calorie intake – a 0% wine has about 70% fewer calories than a wine with around 12.5% alcohol. So if you want to reduce your alcohol consumption, there are several options for you to choose from, from lower alcohol to no-alcohol – just check the alcohol level on the label and choose one to suit your tastes.