Non-alcoholic wine is a tricky category. Tricky, because it's difficult to get right and also because the market for it isn't that clear. Gen-X, Y, Z, millennials, anyone who wants to give up alcohol or go zebra-striping on a night out, regular wine drinkers or non-wine drinkers …?
However, the no/low sector has certainly not been standing still and here in the UK, Sarah Abbott MW believes that the discourse around wine without alcohol is changing. "When it was first starting to emerge", she says, "I saw a lot of resistance, a lot of disdain just for the context and also responses that seemed to see this trend as a threat. What I observe now and what I've always thought is that this emerging category is not a threat to wine. It's an enriching of wine culture."
It's easier with beer, however. There are many credible options now and the beers look the part too, indistinguishable in appearance from full-strength options, as well as crucially tasting like beer. Take Guinness 0.0 - looks like Guinness and tastes not a million miles away from the 4.2% ABV version. There are also pubs that specialise in alcohol-free beers.
Alcohol-free spirits have had some success, as the theatre of making mocktails look like cocktails can still be achieved, but wine has been lagging behind. A major part of the problem has always been the technology behind dealcoholisation and the difficulty in replicating or even approximating the texture, body or mouthfeel that alcoholic wines have. They just feel weightier, while non-alcoholic versions have been noticeably thinner, anaemic in comparison.
So are we any closer to finding the holy grail of flavour, texture and wine-like character in the alcohol-free sector? Well, Roberto Vanin, founder and wine maker at BOLLE Drinks, thinks that the gap is narrowing.
Roberto Vanin
Vanin, who grew up in Treviso in the heart of the Prosecco region, has spent over 30 years at the forefront of food and drink innovation as Chief R&D Officer for several global brands. A trained oenologist and chemist, he has spent the last four years applying his scientific background to improving the non-alcoholic wine category, which he previously found lacking in depth and quality. "I believe science can help solve the issue", he says. "I couldn't drink a lot of non-alcoholic wine and I wanted to solve that for myself, but also to create an opportunity for people to have the pleasure of drinking [wine] without the alcohol."
BOLLE prioritises working with vineyards that use sustainable agriculture methods and currently the base wines are sourced from La Mancha in Spain.
Earlier this year, the company launched its Chardonnay into the UK market, a blend of 75% Chardonnay and 25% Sylvaner grapes, and the company also makes a sparkling Blanc de Blancs and a rosé fizz. They have also now released their Grand Reserve, the world's first lees-aged non-alcoholic wine. At the recent UK launch, Vanin spoke about his pioneering technical approach and the difficulties making credible dealcoholised wines.
BOLLE's unique, patent-pending methodology uses a double-fermentation process. This involves an initial double-column vacuum distillation to remove alcohol at low temperature, before blending with fresh grape must and re-fermenting with specially selected yeasts.
Previously Vanin used pasteurised juice for the refermentation phase, but now as part of his continuing efforts to improve quality, he prefers frozen grape must which retains more of the aromas and flavours. Then, further ageing in tank at low pressure prior to filtration helps keep freshness in the wines. Vanin is also looking at reducing the amount of water required when using membranes to remove alcohol while preserving aromas, another key aspect of de-alcoholisation technology.
"Non-alcoholic wine are very difficult to deal with", explains Vanin. "From a microbiological point of view, they are unstable. I'm taking non-alcoholic wine and re-fermenting for many months. The biggest issue that I need to deal with is microbial contamination and growth. So you need to create an environment in the tank that doesn't allow other microorganisms to grow and that's the difficult part."
"The difficulty when you do a re-fermentation is that you produce a lot of alcohol", he continues. "So retaining the amount of alcohol at 0.5% ABV or less is quite complicated … and that's where the science comes in."
His understanding of yeast behaviour and management led him to choosing specific 'sleepy' yeasts which compete against each other, "prioritising dominance over metabolisation and alcohol creation", he describes. The process incorporates a sequence of inoculations, to allow the weakest yeasts to start growing first, before a stronger yeast strain is introduced which then outcompetes for sugar without producing alcohol. Fermentation then stops before all the available sugars have been converted into ethanol.
For the sparkling wines, the Martinotti method, Vanin says, lends itself to experimenting with yeasts in this manner and to temperature control, as well as perhaps being a nod to his Treviso roots.
All these non-alcoholic wines are no more than 0.5% ABV.
🍇 Grapes: Chardonnay (minimum 75%), Silvaner.
🎚 Residual Sugar: 2.8g/L.
👃 Nose: Hints of stone fruit, tropical fruit and citrus.
😋 Palate: Similar notes to the nose with subtle touches of tinned peaches, pineapple chunks and a hint of creaminess with good, fresh acidity that balances any residual sugar so the wine never feels unduly sweet.
💳 RRP: £19.99.
🍇 Grapes: Chardonnay (minimum 75%), Silvaner.
🎚 Residual Sugar: 2.7g/l.
👃 Nose: Aromatic with notes of pear, peach, citrus and a hint of toast.
😋 Palate: Delicate and slightly creamy with apricot, pear and peach notes, refreshing citrus-like acidity and a dry finish.
💳 RRP: £24.99.
🍇 Grapes: Chardonnay (minimum 75%), Pinot Noir, Silvaner.
🎚 Residual Sugar: 3g/l.
👃 Nose: Aromatic and floral with notes of strawberries, raspberries and a hint of violets.
😋 Palate: Notes of red berries with hints of cherry, peach and a slight herbaceousness.
💳 RRP: £24.99.
This wine spent nine months on its lees and 3 months in French oak.
🍇 Grapes: Chardonnay 90%, Silvaner 10%.
🎚 Residual Sugar: 2.5g/l.
👃 Nose: Notes of almonds, grapefruit, apricot and pear.
😋 Palate: Creamy with lively acidity and a richer mouthfeel showing notes of peach, nuts, pear, toasted brioche, a hint of bitter lemon and a long finish.
💳 RRP: £49.99.
"With Grand Reserve, we've pushed the boundaries of what non-alcoholic wine can be", says Gary Read, CEO of BOLLE. "Lees ageing transforms the texture, aroma and length, bringing genuine complexity and finesse to the glass. At BOLLE, we don't believe in standing still. Our goal is to continually innovate and move the non-alcoholic category closer to the world of fine wine. Grand Reserve embodies that philosophy, combining authenticity in winemaking with a commitment to craftsmanship and progress."
The above range is available from selected stockists and online. However, since the Grand Reserve has just launched, it is currently only available from the BOLLE website.
Additionally, Vanin confirmed that Bolle is now working on a red non-alcoholic wine, initially for the US market, the company's largest customer base. Grapes are likely to come from California for this wine and currently Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache are being trialled.
There are two ways of regarding non-alcoholic wines. One is to see them as the name suggests - non-alcoholic versions of wine with the understanding that they are still a work in progress subject to technological advances. The problem with this is that they then lend themselves to the same judgements that we impose on regular wine and within the same situations. So, can a non-alcoholic version accompany a meal in the same way as a full-strength wine given the appropriate food matching suggestions?
Currently, I would say that the thinner texture of these alcohol-free options, particularly mid-palate, presents difficulties for successful food pairings. On top of that, despite the advances made both in general attitudes towards the category and the improving quality therein, regular wine drinkers may still show some bias against these drinks, as they are noticeably different in flavour, mouthfeel and 'effect'.
The other attitude is to regard them as their own category - an alternative soft drink - and not as a non-alcohol version of wine. In the same way that we might order a fruit juice or sparkling water etc., we can have another alcohol-free option served in a wine glass that looks and tastes a little like wine but isn't. This is easier, avoids preconceptions and unfair comparisons, but does little to foster more acceptance of non-alcoholic wines in the same way as no/low beer's growing fan base.
Roberto Vanin is clearly a man on a mission to improve the category and to show that non-alcoholic wines can be taken seriously as non-alcoholic versions of wine. His scientific background is an obvious advantage and hearing him speak so openly gives confidence that he is heading in the right direction. Time will tell, but there is definitely more favourable recognition now for the no/low category as a whole, with an increasing number of people looking to moderate their alcohol intake or go completely alcohol free. The BOLLE range is one of the best out there and is only going to improve.
Vanin is clear that he wants to keep improving his wines and the technology behind them. "There's always an opportunity to learn and to improve what you're doing and this is what I do", he says. "Our process will add the mouthfeel and we'll add more flavour and complete the wine. So as the technology improves, Bolle will continue to improve." … and who would bet against him achieving his goal!
