A graduate in brewery and oenology, Thierry Cowez, oenologist at MIS, the leading company in Belgium in the production of alcohol-free wines, gives us some explanations.
“Reverse osmosis has given way to the technology of vacuum evaporation, the particularity of which is to exert a low pressure (80 millibars) under vacuum on the wine which causes in less than 6 minutes the evaporation of the alcohol at low temperature (35 °). This technique limits the loss of volatile aromas and guarantees better maintenance of the organoleptic qualities of the original wine. Most of its taste and aromatic characteristics are better preserved. This technology makes it possible to obtain wines that contain less than 0.05% alcohol. An alcoholic degree much lower than that of a very ripe orange which can reach 1%. However, this drastic treatment inevitably leads to a loss of volume, of bitterness and heat compared to the initial alcoholic wine. The loss of aromas and sweetness are part of the collateral damage. It is therefore necessary to rebuild the wine by adding sugar or concentrated must to restore volume to the wine. On average between 40 and 50 g rammes per liter. Despite this residual sugar, alcohol-free wines have half the calories of base wines. The most complicated thing is to compensate for the loss of natural aromas by adding aromas to reproduce the original flavors ”.