Non-alcoholic, dealcoholized, alcohol-removed. These are wine terms you may have come across recently. Some say non-alcoholic wine is just a flash in the pan trend, but with more people abstaining from alcohol, drinking less, and focusing on their health and well being, we felt it was too important a trend to ignore.
That’s why we launched Lot 229 Sparkling Rosé and Lot 230 Sparkling Brut, our first two non-alcoholic wines at 90+ Cellars!
But what is a non-alcoholic wine? How are they made? What do they taste like? Let’s see if we can answer a few questions you may have.
How do you make non-alcoholic wine?
There are a few different ways to remove alcohol, but in the case of our non-alcoholic wines, the method of “Reverse Osmosis” is used. It’s a much gentler way to extract alcohol from the wine without putting the aroma and flavor compounds at risk. Through this process, the alcohol is separated out and removed, with the final wine being under 0.5% alcohol/volume.In order to make a high quality non-alcoholic wine – something that actually resembles the wine you are used to – there are a few essential things wineries can focus on. Picking grapes early, for one, ensures lower sugar levels and lower alcohol to start with, meaning less alcohol to remove. Also, using grapes with high aromatic fruit profiles, higher acidity levels, and lower tannins can also be important factors. The higher the quality of the wine to begin with, the higher quality non alcoholic product you’ll end up with in the bottle.
There are also some non-alcoholic “wines” that are made with fruit juices and other ingredients like spices and bitters. While these can sometimes resemble the flavors of wine, we much prefer the real thing.
90+ Cellars Alcohol-Removed Wines
Just like all wines in the 90+ Cellars collection, our non-alcoholic wines are made in partnership with a highly-acclaimed winery. Located in Beziers, France, this small, family run winery has been perfecting the dealcoholization process for over 20 years, and has been making wine for well over 100 years. The winery is also dedicated to pesticide free wines, even focusing on drought resistant varieties that thrive in the warm summers of Southern France.
Lot 229 Sparkling Rosé is pure delightfulness in a glass. Its delicate rosy hue and beautiful effervescence explodes on the nose with notes of strawberries, cranberries, and raspberries. Made from Grenache grapes, the wine envelopes the senses, leaving you not missing out on the alcohol in the least.
With Lot 230 Sparkling Brut you can expect all the fruit forwardness of a traditional sparkling white wine, with notes of citrus, lemon peel, and white peach. 100% Sauvignon Gris grapes, a mutation of Sauvignon Blanc, provides a more voluptuous mouthfeel. It’s great on its own as an “aperitif” or paired with a beautiful charcuterie board.
So, whether you are abstaining from alcohol completely or cutting back to focus on health and well-being, we think these alcohol-removed sparkling wines are the perfect way to celebrate.
Checkout our selection of Low Alcohol and Low Calorie Wines.