Is there such a thing as a good alcohol-free wine?
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These days, there are some exceptional examples to give a whirl. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. For those forgoing the virtuous annual kickstarter that is Dry January, disregard this article until, like me, you decide some time around February that it would probably have been a good idea. And for those currently knee-deep in it, let me shed some light on whatever the hell you’ve been drinking.
![[Hannah Crosbie]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2024/12/18/Hannah_Crosbie.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
I’m getting more and more requests to recommend “good” non-alcoholic wine, the inference being that much of the stuff is, well, not good. I can see where they’re coming from. When the word harmonious is used to describe a wine, it means it has just the right amount of all its constituent parts – think of it as something completely spherical, with no rough edges or sharp angles jutting out. At the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET), we drinks pros learn that this is a balance between the likes of alcohol, tannin, acidity, alcohol, flavour and sweetness. So, when you take out the alcohol, which brings body and that ever-so pleasing burn, you can be left with a drink that feels oversweet, with tannin and acidity, but no alcohol to give it that mouth-filling oomph.
There are several ways to remove alcohol from a wine, or to create something wine-like with a lower ABV. The first is dealcoholisation, and the most common approach being vacuum distillation – invented by Carl Jung (no, not that one) – which involves gently heating up a wine to 35-40C, so the alcohol evaporates and is then sucked out by a vacuum.
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