Five dealcoholized wines to mix things up

With the growing demand for low and alcohol-free products, producers are getting creative to offer increasingly convincing options. This time we’re particularly interested in dealcoholized wine, a major challenge that several winegrowers are taking up with flying colours. We suggest you try these few sparkling wines and a white wine, as an aperitif and for your celebrations.

First things first: What is dealcoholized wine?

Making wine is straightforward: yeast feeds on sugar from grape juice, turning it into alcohol and carbon dioxide. When making low-alcohol wine, there’s just one extra step—dealcoholization. In other words, the only thing that deviates from the traditional wine-making process is the extraction of the alcohol. 

There are three ways to remove the alcohol from the basic substance—evaporation, separation and filtration. These techniques can also be applied to beer and cider. 

At less than 0.5%, this rosé sparkling wine is made by Matarromera, an emblematic producer of Ribera del Duero in Spain, and produced with Verdejo and Tempranillo. The technology used (rotating cone column) to dealcoholize the wine is the most advanced process in the field. It’s the technology that makes it possible to most faithfully preserve the organoleptic properties.

This sparkling wine is made from 100% Colombard, a grape variety typical of the Gascony region (South-West) and has less than 0.5% alcohol. Full of roundness and lovely freshness, it reveals slightly jammy fruits with notes of almonds. Perfect for an aperitif with friends or to accompany desserts, like a tart or chocolate fondant.

This dealcoholized German white has always stood out with its inviting fruity and floral profile. Supported by a frank acidity that counterbalances the perception of sugar, it’s understandable why it has become a classic of the low-alcohol repertoire.

The famous Henkell estate delivers here a sparkling wine with lovely notes of fine fruits such as pear, apple and peach, with a hint of vanilla. Dressed in gold, it is the ideal bottle to start an aperitif, to create low-alcohol cocktails or to pair with dessert.

In this case, it’s a dealcoholized a white wine to which was added bubbles and natural orange flavours. As Vicky from the SAQ Sélection Sept-Îles puts it so well: “Great discovery, low in alcohol, beautiful bubbles, very well balanced with the taste of ripe orange, goes wonderfully with Sunday brunch.” A winning recipe judging by the reviews, which also serves very well as an aperitif.

So, are you going to try these dealcoholized wines? If you do, give us your opinion in the product pages. We always enjoy reading your thoughts.

In partnership with Moderato, Henkell SA, Ewald Theod. Drathen GMBH, Bodega Matarromera S.L., Nozeco.