Hi my name is konstantin baum i’m a Master of wine and today i want to focus On a trend that is especially relevant This month for dry january i want to Talk about the topic of alcohol-free Wines and i’m going to taste a whole Range of different examples here i’m not Really sure whether this tasting is Going to be fun but i’m happy to take One for the team and i’m pretty sure That this won’t give me a headache at Least so Let’s go [Music] Humans have a strong connection to Alcohol we’ve been making wine for Thousands of years and there are many Reasons why we drink glass of wine at The end of a long day at work or at a Celebration with friends and not grape Juice wine contains many flavors that Were created during fermentation and It’s not necessarily sweet therefore Matches with many different dishes and It contains alcohol alcohol only Accounts for up to 15 of the total Volume of a bottle of wine but it plays Many different roles it conserves the Wine it stores and transports flavor it Also adds viscosity and it can have some Positive health benefits if consumed in Moderation however alcohol can also Damage your health and it can become a Huge problem in your life which is why
Worldwide consumption of alcohol is Actually declining at the moment and More and more people especially in the U.s and in europe are choosing not to Drink therefore the alcohol-free wine Category is currently growing and i want To know whether these wines are actually Good alternatives to the wines that we Like to drink wine by law has to contain At least 8.5 abv and the products that We are talking about today therefore are Classified as de-alcoholized wines or Alcohol-free wines so if alco31 is made From grapes but does not contain any Alcohol what’s the difference to grape Juice then the big difference is that Alcohol-free wine is made by removing Most of the alcohol from a fermented Wine in the european union it can only Have up to 0.5 abv which is roughly Equivalent to the level of alcohol Allowed in fruit juice alcohol-free one Therefore is not supposed to taste juicy And fruity like grape juice it’s Supposed to taste more like wine the Different ways of removing the alcohol From a wine but most of them involve Either temperature or filtration one Method often used is vacuum distillation Where you put wine under pressure and The alcohol just boils away at room Temperature and this is advantageous as You don’t get the boiled flavors that You would get from distillation for
Example reverse osmosis can also be used Which basically uses a membrane filter In order to separate a high Concentration solution from a low Concentration solution another option is The spinning cone column that allows you To break down the wine into different Fractions so you basically have a water An alcohol and an aromatic compounds Fraction and the wine maker can then Reassemble those fractions as he wishes I know this sounds really technical and That is because it is it’s really Difficult for small producers to get Into the alcohol-free wine game because The equipment costs a lot of money but It is possible to rent the equipment or Bring your wine to a facility where it Then can be processed as the alkalized Wines and the alcohol-free wines are Becoming more and more important the eu Is actually planning to establish new Categories they are planning to Introduce a category for ones with less Than 8.5 percent of alcohol that allows Producers to remove the alcohol and then Still bottle the wine as bordeaux for Example and alcohol-free wines will be Allowed to be bottled as table wines so This was the theory but now let’s Drink we’re starting off with the Alcohol-free scavia and reyes gavin ray Is quite a popular brand producing lots Of different products and they are quite
Innovative when it comes to packaging This can’t be labeled as a sparkling Wine it’s labeled as a sparkling drink So Let’s Open it it actually has a natural cork Just like i don’t know a champagne or a Prosecco would But that obviously doesn’t tell you Anything about the quality It’s just noteworthy i don’t know how Easy it is to see through the camera but The bubbles are actually quite big and i Don’t think that they will stay around For a long time this is carbonated so That’s not necessarily a sign of quality That said i don’t think there’s another Option if you want to make a sparkling Drink from alcohol-free wine you have to Add the co2 by carbonation so it smells Of apple but not really clean it’s a Little bit musty it smells a little bit Like apple cider on the palate it’s Really juicy fresh the acidity is quite Harsh there’s quite a lot of sugar there So in this case i think they are 49 Grams per liter Which Well It’s just too much sugar but you need The sugar i think in order to compensate For the fact that there is no alcohol There and the alko normally gives body And mouth feel to the wine and if
There’s no alcohol you have to use a Little bit of sugar i gotta say this Doesn’t really remind me that much of Wine so I say no i don’t like this the next one Is the eins y From lights in the rhinego he does quite A lot of really interesting things and This is actually labeled as a riesling You’re allowed to label alcohol-free Wines by grape variety Let’s see whether there are any Reasoning characteristics coming through Again a natural cork and what is also Interesting about these wines is that They have to add the information on Sugar levels and so on and so forth on The back label which gives you quite a Bit of information there’s a good deal More co2 in the glass and there’s quite A lot of foam But that’s not super important to me at Least um i really want to focus on the Smell and the taste this tastes more Like wine and less like fruit juice There are flavors of lemon zest coming Through a little bit of green apple and There’s also almost something yeasty Coming through on the palette the Freshness of the acidity is very Pronounced in a blind tasting i might Actually be fooled into thinking that This is a sparkling wine this is a sect The next one is another sparkling
Beverage from cologne noodle a very Interesting new producer in germany that Focuses on alcohol-free wines this is Their cuvee blonde and it retails for Around 14 euros And It has far less sugar than the other Ones so this has 29 grams per liter you Gotta be aware that those alcohol-free Wines usually state their sugar levels In grams per 100 milliliters whereas Most wine producers state their sugar Levels in grams per liter so you just Have to multiply them by 10 in order to Get to the value that you would get in Wine there’s quite a bit of pear flavor Coming through a little bit of bruised Apple character as well there’s Something that reminds me a little bit Of yeast again so it’s quite complete Quite complex but it also smells a Little bit musty so it isn’t 100 Clean in my opinion on the palette it’s Quite light i’m guessing that the Reduced level of sugar actually Makes it feel lighter and less profound On the palette and the acidity is quite Good it’s fresh and vibrant but the Finish is not very long but it’s juicy It’s interesting there’s some complexity There too so quite an interesting one so This is the thompson scott naughty Organic chardonnay and actually asked me On the back label whether i’m naughty
And the answer is clearly not because I’m drinking alcohol-free wine it’s a London-based brand but the wine is Actually produced in germany for the German market i assume i’m not sure Whether that’s the case for all of the Wines that are sold in the world and It is organic and vegan so Clearly not naughty We again have quite a lot of co2 here Quite a bit of foam on top of the wine Looks a little bit like champagne A little bit they sauced the chardonnay Grapes for this wine from southern spain And it clearly doesn’t remind me of Blonde blonde champagne it’s quite Aromatic there’s quite a lot of exotic Flavors coming through a little bit of Pineapple a little bit of passion fruit On the palate it is quite light i’m Guessing that it’s again because the Sugar level is quite low with 29 grams Per liter so It’s not very long and very intense There but it’s a fairly good one or not One uh i call free one sparkling Beverage buckling beverage made from Alcohol free wine the next one is a Still wine it’s a riesling from the naha Region in germany it’s a cooperation Between colonel null and annette Kloszeim so Let’s see All right this does taste like riesling
It’s actually quite nice there’s lemon Zest there a little bit of green apple It’s really good the acidity is strong There’s good freshness there but there’s Also quite a little bit of sweetness i Mean the sugar level is again at 29 Grams per liter so it’s not super sweet But you can feel some sweetness there It’s actually pretty good i like it Another white wine this time from one of The most famous producers of spain the Nato rio muscat from taurus winery Taurus super well known producing Everything from the entry level to the High end for those who are interested in This kind of thing aqua free one Actually often has less calories than Normal wine this is because the alcohol Itself also adds calories to the wine And this bottle of wine has 26 Kilocalories per 100 milliliter while a Normal bottle of wine would have more Like 80 kilocalories per 100 milliliters Musket is an aromatic grape variety so I’m expecting lots of flavor here and I’m not being disappointed this smells a Little bit artificial though it smells a Little bit like well this bag of gummy Bears but It’s not bad i mean there’s quite a lot There at least on the palette it’s quite Intense and juicy there’s quite a lot There 45 grams of residual sugar so it Has more texture it’s more anxious on
The palette than the previous one but i Must say that this will get a little bit Boring yeah if you want something more Juicy and aromatic this is the way to go But i think this doesn’t really offer Everything i’m looking for and it’s not Really whiny to finish me off today We’re now getting into alcohol-free red Wines the first one is the 0.5 Cabernet sauvignon from lights cabernet Sauvignon in germany doesn’t have a Great reputation So i’m not really sure what to expect Here but let’s taste it i don’t know Whether you noticed but all of the Alcohol-free wines were actually bottled Under screw cap which makes a lot of Sense i think those wines are not Supposed to be stored alko free wines Don’t keep as well as normal wines do so You don’t really need to put it under Cork when i think cabernet sauvignon From germany i think Red bell pepper green bear purple Slightly spicy a little bit of cassis i Don’t really get any of that it smells More like prunes or plums quite juicy Not really cabernet sauvignon like on The palette it gets really interesting Think of it as grape juice with added Tannins Slightly funky notes and 45 grams of Sugar so that’s not a nice combo it
Smells less like wine than it tastes Like wine but the way this alcohol-free Wine tastes is really Off-putting no Next This is the last one and it’s another Red wine it’s the natural red from Taurus i was told that this is But it doesn’t say so on the label what It tells you on the label is that it was Actually Matured in bariks before being the Alcoholized so let’s see whether we can Still smell and taste the burrito this Is interesting almost exactly like the Moscato from taurus this is very Expressive very intense it smells a bit Of gummy bears again so it doesn’t Really smell and taste like wine like Red wine at all do you know the haribo Wine gums I think this is the wine they are made From this was really interesting but it Was really just that interesting not Very enjoyable but i see quite a lot of Potential for this category so in a few Years we might get some really amazing Alcohol-free wines Let’s see my favorites in this tasting Were the lights sparkling beverage and The riesling from colonna noodle i’m Going to mention all of the ones down Below this video and i’m also going to Add the prices and all that kind of
Stuff So Yeah i mean why not why not experiment More with those alcohol-free wines i’m Certainly going to look out for new Producers and new interesting products So thank you for watching if you like This video then please like it down here Subscribe to my channel if you haven’t Done so already my question of the day Is What do you think about alcohol-free Wines have you tasted them what are your Impressions comment down below i hope i See you guys again soon until then stay Thirsty [Music]