Alcohol-Free Wine: Aroma Is Back, Babaaay
Aroma is one of the components of wine drinking that tends to suffer the most when it comes to removing the alcohol, yet it’s one of the most important qualities when it comes to drinking a non-alcoholic wine.
Among the new wave of non-alcoholic beverages, alcohol-free and dealcoholized wines lag behind their non-alcoholic counterparts. While no- and low-alcohol beer and spirits sales rose to all-time highs during the pandemic, consumers have been hesitant to branch out into wines. Many people still think of wine as fancied-up grape juice, and sure, that used to be partially true. Remember Welch’s Sparkling White Grape Juice?
However, the quality of alcohol-free wine has made a big jump in the last couple of years. Both makers who have been in the non-alcoholic wine business for a while and the many new brands who have joined the party since then have raised the game in terms of quality. For example, aroma is one of the components of wine drinking that tends to suffer the most when it comes to removing the alcohol, yet it’s one of the most important qualities when it comes to drinking a non-alcoholic wine.
Let’s look at one of the ways a non-alcoholic wine can be made and how the process works to retain as much aroma as possible to give you the most authentic experience possible.
Because dealcoholized wine is wine before the alcohol is removed, the aromas that are so important to the experience of drinking wine are largely preserved.
The Best Alcohol-Free Wine: Aroma Is King
If you’re looking for a real-deal type of experience, you’re going to want to look at the way your potential pick is produced. “Non-alcoholic wine” is a general term that covers any wine that’s free of alcohol. “Dealcoholized wine” is a specific name for regular wines that have had the alcohol removed.
If you’re trying to replicate the wine-tasting experience, choose a dealcoholized wine. Non-alcoholic wines are traditionally made without the fermenting process, which results in a sweeter beverage — grape-based, sure; but definitely not wine.
Dealcoholized wine, on the other hand, can give you a more authentic experience. These wines went through the fermentation process, meaning that they begin as wine with alcohol. Then they go through a process called vacuum dealcoholization, where the wine is placed into a pressurized container that boils off the alcohol. This allows the wine to hang onto more volatile flavor molecules.
Because dealcoholized wine is wine before the alcohol is removed, the aromas that are so important to the experience of drinking wine are largely preserved. This makes it so that non-wine drinkers can share in the ritual of wine tasting with those who do imbibe.
Traditional liquor stores are stocking more and more options for alcohol-free wine drinkers, and there are even bottle shops that are dedicated solely to non-alcoholic wines.
Where To Buy Non-Alcoholic Wine
Modern non-alcoholic wines are a welcome switch from drinking it because it’s your only option to drinking it because you want to. Traditional liquor stores are stocking more and more options for alcohol-free wine drinkers, and there are even bottle shops that are dedicated solely to non-alcoholic wines. Plus, it’s simple to have them shipped to your home — alcohol-free wines aren’t subject to the same restrictions that traditional alcoholic beverages are.
If you’re curious, let lo2no.com help you figure out what the best alcohol-free wine is for your tastes. We think that everyone deserves to enjoy their beverages, whether low- or no-alcohol. Our nonalcoholic wine reviews are a smart way to get the details on a specific brand or type of alcohol-free wine.
