CONCLUSIONS OF NON-ALCOHOLIC WINE TASTING!

This year at the WineUp Fair in Transylvania, the general theme of all the masterclasses was: "Prepare for the future". Thus it was somehow mandatory that one of the masterclasses be with and about non-alcoholic wines.

As we have written in previous articles, low-alcohol and non-alcohol wines can be interesting products for a variety of stakeholders, but it is a market that is now starting to develop and further research efforts are needed to deliver quality products. The effort to promote and raise awareness of the availability of these wines is considerable.

The most important question remains whether the fully or partially de-alcoholized wine will have DOC Designation of Controlled Origin or GI Geographical Indication and what will be the approved technologies for obtaining them.

WineUp Masterclass: "Discover alcohol-free wines! A new category of wines on the rise!", was an extremely interesting debate, in which all participants were involved and which followed all aspects of the presence of this category of wines in the market. The debate was really valuable considering that the participants were both end consumers and people directly involved in the wine market: importers, distributors, shop owners, sommeliers, oenologists, restaurant owners, and sales representatives.

The wines tasted, made by the producer Carl Jung, were offered to us by Weingärtner-Drinks, the representative of the producer in Romania.

The wines tasted during the masterclass were: Chardonnay, Riesling Feinherb, Rose, and Merlot.

Tasting conclusions:

Olfactory: the majority of participants identified common aromas in all four wines of dry hay and green and black tea infusion that fully or partially cover the varietal notes.

The difference in flavors between Chardonnay and Riesling is small, with the Chardonnay showing fine notes of butter and honey, and the Riesling showing subtle citrus notes of dried lemon peel. Of all the wines, the Rose was the most floral and fruity, although there are notes of smoke that surprise in the smell but do not completely cover the aromas of red fruits and flowers. The Merlot shows heavy notes of black tea infusion, smoke, and dried red fruits.

The palate captures the acidity that imprints a refreshing and astringent character in all wines and increases in intensity from Chardonnay to Riesling, Rose, and Merlot. They are easy-to-consume wines without aromatic complexity and with a low body and watery taste. We found in the tasting that the Merlot was much more enjoyable when tasted chilled in water and ice.

It is important to state that all the wines in the tasting were dry. In production practice, most non-alcoholic wine producers choose to leave a fairly significant residual sugar in the wine, so that the fullness of the wine increases.

Is it fair to grant DOC and GI for these wines?

The participants concluded that no. The motivation for this answer was that the procedures for extracting the alcohol from the wine also lead to the extraction of the aromas from the wine so that the final wine no longer has varietal aromas, the identity given by the terroir is lost, and the aromas that appear after processing the wine are different from the initial ones and are characteristic of the alcohol extraction process.

Can it be a product that is demanded by the market?

The conclusion is that yes, given that specialty stores are already in demand, most of the time by consumers who want to experiment and consider them a "novelty" in the field. If the product were on the shelf, it would sell, provided the 0% alcohol content was displayed prominently on the shelf.

What sommeliers say:

It is a new product and it is quite complicated to present such a wine, considering that it loses its identity and complexity after the alcohol extraction process, becoming also complicated to pair with complex food dishes.

Can it be a product that is successful in the market if it is imported and distributed in HoReCa and Retail?

There are already importers and distributors in the Romanian market who have it in their portfolio. Still, it is difficult to promote, considering that it does not benefit from sustained marketing and active promotion in the market. However, some restaurants want it on the wine list, considering that their menu is aimed at consumers who, due to religious affiliations or various diets, are not allowed to consume alcohol.

What winemakers say:

It is a wine that loses its identity, it turns into another different product. The lack of varietal aromas and organoleptic complexity makes them reluctant to put their wines through the alcohol extraction process, even though it could offer them new markets.

What end consumers say:

It is an interesting product, they would buy it out of curiosity but they are not convinced that they would return to it, but they would probably consume it in the case of food diets that involve the elimination of wine from occasional consumption.

A few more were added to the conclusions of the masterclass even after the end of the fair. One evening I received a picture of a wine menu from a Lebanese restaurant where non-alcoholic wines had a dedicated area. Since our friend was driving, she ordered a non-alcoholic wine to complement the dishes.

At one of the private tasting events held at the WineUp Garden, one of the attendees did not consume alcohol. I presented the wine to him and he was delighted that such a product existed, he had never heard of alcohol-free wines before. Having never tasted wine and having no previous expectations or experiences to compare it to, alcohol-free wine seemed interesting, both as a concept and as a product that could be included on the family shopping list.