Alcohol-free
Wine without ethanol. De-alc techniques and what remains on the palate.
1 · Alcohol-free
Dry Alcohol-Free Sparkling: What Survives
Which alcohol-free sparkling wines are dry enough to take seriously at the table, which lean on sugar, and how to read that off the label.
What Is Alcohol-Free Wine? How It's Made
Alcohol-free wine's reputation is improving fast. How dealcoholisation works, which styles succeed, and whether it's worth the price.
2 · Glossary
0.5% ABV threshold
Legal upper limit for 'alcohol-free wine' in the EU and the US: the finished product must contain no more than 0.5% alcohol by volume.
→StyleAlcohol-free sparkling
Sparkling wine from which the alcohol has largely been removed, with CO₂ either retained from fermentation or artificially injected after dealcoholisation.
→ConceptAlcohol-free wine
Wine from which the alcohol has been largely removed or which is made to stay below the legal 0.5% ABV threshold, while preserving its wine character.
→ConceptAlcohol-free wine vs mocktail
Distinction between alcohol-free wine (from dealcoholised wine with grape DNA) and a mocktail (built from juices, herbs and acids without any vinification).
→TechniqueDealcoholisation
Umbrella term for industrial processes that remove alcohol from already-fermented wine; the main techniques are vacuum distillation, spinning-cone columns and reverse osmosis.
→ConceptLow-alcohol wine
Wine with alcohol content between 0.5% and 8.5% by volume; legally a distinct category between alcohol-free and ordinary wine.
→TechniqueReverse osmosis
Dealcoholisation method where wine is forced under high pressure through a semi-permeable membrane; water and alcohol pass through, flavour and colour stay behind.
→TechniqueSpinning-cone column
Dealcoholisation method in which wine flows as a thin film over rotating cones; volatile aromas are captured separately first, then re-blended after alcohol removal.
→This is the reference. For reviews, opinion and podcast conversations about alcohol-free: see the blocks below.
About alcohol-free, not in the Library
Reviews, opinion and market news under Articles. 23 pieces.
Alcohol-free on Sparks (podcast)
Conversations featuring alcohol-free. 4 episodes.