Are Low or No Alcohol Wines any good?
Introduction
There are more and more ‘no-alcohol’ or ‘low alcohol’ wines appearing on store shelves, advertising, and social media feeds. It feels like this explosion in no/low alcohol wines appeared over the last 2 – 3 years with brands such as Paradox wine advertisements on billboards and buses across Sydney. So, The Wined Up Podcast wanted to find out what is driving the interest in low/no alcohol wine and more importantly are low/no alcohol wines any good? The results were surprising.
What is driving the increase in low/no alcohol wines?
Purely from an observational lens, there seems to be two drivers for the increase in low/no alcohol wines, a societal focus on health and wellbeing, plus age.
1. Increased focus on health and wellbeing
Society in general has become more focused on health and wellbeing. This isn’t just the increase in people wearing active wear everywhere they go, it’s an overall movement. Society has become more educated on the importance of mental and physical health, and this has led to an increase in gym and physical training services as well as an increase in health foods, meditation retreats, and counselling services. Alcohol in excess has a strong impact on both physical and mental health. Watch/listen to our episodes on the impact of alcohol on weight gain and depression. This focus on health and well-being is strongly targeted at alcohol with events such as ‘Dry July’ promoting the reduction in alcohol intake. Across the world a movement known as the ‘Sober Curious’ movement is further pushing traction globally through the help of social media. The ‘Sober Curious’ movement encourages individuals to focus on less / no alcohol to lead healthier and happier lives.
2. Age
At my age, and as a father of 3 young daughters, I know my body can no longer tolerate high volumes of alcohol. Gone are the days of binge drinking, consuming as much beer and wine as possible, and then pushing it further with tequila shots! Recovery from those binge drinking sessions is taking significantly longer. Also trying to deal with driving the kids around for dancing school and piano lesson whilst nursing a major hangover is just punishment. The fun and excitement of getting ‘plastered’ is just not worth the ensuing torture. At a certain age your body can’t process the alcohol as quickly, you have more responsibilities that you need you to be fully functioning, you want to save yourself the embarrassment of any poor behaviour whilst drunk, and you want to be a good example for your kids. So at a certain age you just don’t want to be consuming too much alcohol. In my 20’s with no commitments or dependencies it wasn’t a problem, but with a family, it’s just not worth it.
Statistics showing the growth in low/no alcohol wine market
The following statistics show the increase in the low/no alcohol wine market:
- NeilsenIQ found a 315% increase in non-alcoholic and low-alcoholic beverages in the last 12 months[1]
- IWSR expects consumption to grow by 33% to $14.67B by 2026, spearheaded by health-conscious adults in Germany, Spain, USA, Japan, and UK [2]
- Australian federal government has awarded a grant of almost A$3M designed to boost quality and innovation in burgeoning low-alcohol and alcohol-free wine market. Australian Vintage, whose portfolio includes McGuigan and Tempus Two, will serve as the project lead. The company will team with Treasury Wine Estates (including Penfolds and Wolf Blass brands), University of Adelaide, and others to look at opportunities[2]
What are the definitions of low/no alcohol wine?
Standard 1.2.2 of the Food Standards Code is a general requirement that food must be labelled sufficiently to indicate the true nature of the food. Standard 2.7.1. of the Food Standard Codes provides criteria claiming a product as low and no alcohol. These are:
- Zero/no alcohol – must contain no quantifiable alcohol. Alcohol-free grape products are generally produced without any fermentation and are often made up of just grape juice and water. Preservatives are often added to ensure fermentation doesn’t occur after bottling.[3]
- Low alcohol – must be less than 1.15% alcohol volume[3]
- De-alcoholised wine – oenological practice where fermented wine has most of its alcohol removed prior to bottling. [3]
What is the process of removing alcohol from wine?
There are 2 main methods of removing alcohol from wine. Both methods rely on evaporation to remove the alcohol in the same way that you can add wine to a frying pan and utilise the heat to evaporate the alcohol.
- Vacuum Distillation – Involves putting the alcohol in a vacuum and gently heating it to no more than 35 degrees Celsius. The alcohol evaporates through the heat and is expelled from the vacuum.
- Reverse Osmosis – Places a thin membrane on the liquid and uses pressure to effectively separate the liquid into the alcohol and grape juice. The alcohol is further heated to evaporate it from the water. The water is then placed back into the grape juice.
What are the advantages of low and no alcohol wine?
The benefits of low and no alcohol wine are primarily around health and mental well-being, but it should also be noted that low or no alcohol wines can often be cheaper than their alcoholic counterparts. The health benefits are:
- Improved liver health
- Improved heart health
- Decreased risk of cancer
- Reduced weight gain
- Improved sleep
- Improved sexual performance
- Avoidance of anti-social behaviour (e.g. aggression, withdrawal)
- Reduced depression / anxiety
What are the disadvantages of low and no alcohol wine?
The challenge with removing the alcohol from wine is it fundamentally changes the quality of wine. Alcohol is not just there to get consumers ‘drunk’; its purpose is to provide body, structure, texture, and aroma. Alcohol as it evaporates provides a medium for the aroma of wine to ride on into your nasal passages. Without alcohol there is no evaporation, and subsequently no opportunity to showcase the aroma of the wine. Subsequently the disadvantages of low and no alcohol wine are:
- Lower aroma
- Altered flavour
- Lack of structure
- Lack of texture
What are some common low or no-alcohol wines brands in Australia?
Some brands in Australia are new to the market or are part of existing wine brands. These include:
- Tempus Two
- McGuigan’s
- Tread Softly
- Plus and Minus
- 1920
- Next Destination
- Paradox
The Wined Up Podcast Review of No Alcohol Wine Versus Alcoholic Wine
The Wined Up Podcast compared ‘no alcohol wines’ (a red and white) against their ‘alcoholic version’ and the results were surprising. Watch the full episode here. Specifically, we compared:
- Whites – Tempus Two Zero Prosecco vs a King Valley Pizzini Prosecco
- Reds – Tread Softly Pinot Noir Everything Except vs 2022 Artemis Pinot Noir
Tempus Two Zero Prosecco
$15.99 from Dan Murphy’s
Pizzini Prosecco
$21.99 from Dan Murphy’s
Tread Softly Everything Except Pinot Noir
$14.99 from Dan Murphy’s
2021 Pinot Noir, Artemis, Southern Highlands, NSW
$28.00 from Artemis Cellar Door
In both cases the non-alcoholic version tasted better than the alcoholic version, noting in the reds both wines did not taste good at all, but if forced to choose the non-alcoholic version tasted better. This was surprising. We’re not sure if it’s because tasting the alcoholic version right after the non-alcoholic version really accentuated the alcohol which was not a pleasant experience (the bitterness in the wines really stood out).
Another observation was that the white wines tasted, and better resembled, their alcoholic counterparts. The red wine tasted diluted and like cardboard.
The Conclusion
With society’s focus on health and wellbeing and the industry’s investment in the market, we expect low, and no alcohol wine will continue to grow. Having sampled them against their alcoholic counterparts, it was surprising that the wines tasted better than their alcoholic versions, although the whites clearly stand-out as tasting better than the reds. There’s still a bit of work that needs to happen to improve that, but no doubt with further investment and innovation this will improve over time. There are benefits for individuals’ well-being, as well as financial benefits, for trying non-alcoholic wine so give it a go. The question we couldn’t answer was why not just have an existing non-alcoholic drink like water or cordial? Why do consumers need to have a product that looks and tastes like wine but isn’t wine? Let us know your thoughts.
References
[1] First Choice Liquor Market, 2024, 5 Things You Need to Know about Non-Alcoholic Wine, 9 March 2024, https://themarket.firstchoiceliquor.com.au/ask-the-experts/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-non-alcoholic-wine/
[2] Green, M., 2023, Australian government invests A$3m to improve no/low wines, Decanter, 7 July 2023, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/australian-government-invests-a3m-to-improve-the-quality-of-no-low-alcohol-wines-507202/
[3] Wine Australia, 2021,Low alcohol wine guide, light, low and no alcohol descriptors, Wine Australia, September 2021, https://www.wineaustralia.com/getmedia/9303c879-1b6f-4649-b51d-3deb5e632286/Low-alcohol-wine-guide-v2.pdf