The lowdown on low-alcohol wine
Alcohol-free wine
Non-alcoholic wine
There will be trace amounts of alcohol in this bottle – legally, a non-alcoholic wine must contain less than 0.5% alcohol. Generally, some fermentation has occurred to make a non-alcoholic wine, but the process was either stopped early, or the fermented wine has been blended with
a non-fermented product to reduce the alcohol content. Don’t serve them to teetotallers, children or anyone not drinking for religious reasons.
De-alcoholised wine
De-alcoholised wine, which also contains less than 0.5% alcohol, comes closest in flavour to alcoholic wine but you’ll have to give your palate time to adjust – it won’t have quite the same nuances you’re used to. It’s made using the same process as conventional wine but the alcohol is removed after fermentation, either through reverse osmosis or, in the case of Lautus wines, spinning cone technology at low temperatures and under vacuum. According to the Lautus team, the first phase of this process captures and sets aside the flavour and aromatic essence of the wine, and the second phase removes the neutral alcohol. Finally, the essence is added back, giving it the flavours you’d expect.
Low-alcohol and light wine
A wine may carry this label if it contains less than 10% alcohol by volume (ABV). It’s often made by picking unripe grapes because their sugar content is lower. Although unripe grapes have high acidity, improved winemaking skills, and the use of aromatic grapes such as Muscat, means that light wines are perfectly palatable.