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Non-alcoholic wines and sparkling wines

Although they are one of the smallest segments in the wine industry, the demand for dealcoholised wines is growing.

  • < 1%

    Market share

  • 15%

    Awareness

  • < 0.5 % vol.

    Alcohol

The range of dealcoholised wines and sparkling wines from wineries, winegrowers' cooperatives and commercial wineries has increased significantly in recent years. The taste of dealcoholised wines has also developed positively.

Number of producers on the rise
A search for wine producers who offer alcohol-free wines, sparkling wines or secco now returns over 60 results (2022).

Low level of awareness
Following the trend towards dealcoholised wines and sparkling wines, the market research institute Nielsen conducted a consumer survey on the consumption of dealcoholised wines and sparkling wines in spring 2020. 16,883 respondents from the Nielsen household panel were comparatively unaware that there is also wine without alcohol. Only 15 per cent of respondents were aware of non-alcoholic white wine, twelve per cent of the red and nine per cent of the rose-coloured alternative. Of these groups of people, around a quarter had already drunk the specified non-alcoholic type of wine. The level of awareness of non-alcoholic sparkling wines was significantly higher at 53 per cent. Almost two thirds of people who were familiar with non-alcoholic sparkling wines had already consumed them.

Making alcohol-free wines
In order to produce alcohol-free wines, a wine must first be produced from which the alcohol is then removed. This is done by means of vacuum distillation.

At a lower pressure, the boiling temperature of the liquid to be separated is reduced to up to 30 degrees so that the alcohol can be gently removed.

Alcohol-free wine therefore undergoes the same development stages as normal wine and still contains many of the original flavourings after alcohol reduction, but only has an alcohol content of 0.5% or less.

How do non-alcoholic wines taste?
According to the Nielsen study, some respondents stated that they were very reserved when it came to non-alcoholic wines, even though they had never consumed the products before. This may well be justified in view of the early production of alcohol-free products. Non-alcoholic wines were produced by removing the alcohol from the wine at elevated temperatures, as a result of which the wine lost a large part of its aromatic diversity. In recent years, non-alcoholic wines have developed significantly in terms of flavour thanks to the new production process. Bouquet varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc or Gewürztraminer are often used as base wines. This gives the end product an intense fruity flavour, which goes some way to compensating for the lack of alcohol. For sparkling wines, carbonic acid is used to compensate for the flavour.

Why more and more consumers are having to give up alcohol
Conscious enjoyment and a balanced lifestyle are much more important today than in the past. The fact that non-alcoholic wines often contain significantly fewer calories also plays an important role in the popularity of non-alcoholic products. So if you want to consciously avoid alcohol, alcohol-free wines and sparkling wines are a good alternative.

Good to know
According to European food law, sparkling wine, wine or beer containing a maximum of 0.5 per cent alcohol by volume (% vol.) may be declared as "alcohol-free". The amount of this percentage of so-called residual alcohol varies from drink to drink.

Podcasts: Non-alcoholic wines and sparkling wines

The DWI podcasts "Alkoholfrei" (Episode 69), Alkoholfeier Wein" (Episode 46) and "Alkoholfreier Schaumwein" (Episode 30) are available on the production of alcohol-free wine products.

What is the market share of dealcoholised sparkling wine ?

The market share of dealcoholised sparkling wine is 5%.

with wild mushrooms Cream of potato soup

with wild mushrooms

  • 300 Gramm geschälte Kartoffeln
  • 100 Gramm Wurzelgemüse
  • 100 Gramm Waldpilze
  • 1 ganze Zwiebel
  • 1 ganze Knoblauchzehe
  • 30 Gramm Speckwürfel
  • 40 Gramm Margarine
  • 750 ml Brühe
  • 200 ml Sahne
  • 1 Zweig Thymian
  • nach Belieben Petersilie, Butter, Salz, Pfeffer, Muskat

Clean, wash and finely dice the root vegetables. Finely dice the onion and garlic clove and finely chop the thyme. Sauté the diced bacon with the margarine in a pan until lightly browned, add the diced onion, garlic, root vegetables and thyme. Sauté, add the stock and cook for 2 minutes.


Finely grate the potatoes, add to the soup and cook for a further 5 minutes, add the cream, season and flavour. Clean, wash and chop the mushrooms and sauté in a pan with butter. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with chopped parsley and pour over the soup when serving.

  • Riesling (trocken)
  • Riesling (halbtrocken & feinherb)

with honey and thyme Goat's cheese tower

with honey and thyme

  • 1 großer Apfel
  • 1 Rolle Ziegenkäse
  • 4 Scheiben Bacon
  • 4 TL Honig
  • 1 TL Thymian
  • 4 Blätter Eichblattsalat
  • frische Zweige Thymian zum Garnieren
  • nach Belieben Salz & Pfeffer

Preheat the grill to the highest setting.

 

Fry the bacon slices without fat in a non-stick frying pan until crispy and drain on a piece of kitchen paper. Leave the rendered fat in the pan.

 

Wash the apple, core it with a corer and then cut it into four, approx. 1 cm thick slices. Slowly fry the apple slices in the remaining bacon fat until just cooked, using the tip of a knife to check the doneness. Place the apple slices in a lightly greased baking dish, sprinkle with thyme and place a crispy fried bacon slice on top of each one.

 

Divide the goat's cheese into 4 thalers and place one thaler on each apple slice, sprinkle with thyme again and drizzle with 1 teaspoon of honey.

 

Bake under the grill until the cheese is lightly browned.

 

Serve the goat's cheese and apple tartlets on a lettuce leaf or, if you prefer, on a bed of lettuce (add a honey-flavoured dressing)

  • Dornfelder (halbtrocken & feinherb)

with dry sparkling wine Sparkling wine and lime dessert

with dry sparkling wine

  • 300ml Winzersekt
  • 4 Limetten
  • 100g Zucker
  • 30g Speisestärke
  • 100g Butterkekse
  • 50g ungesalzene Butter
  • 2 Eiweiße
  • 50g grieschicher Joghurt
  • 150g Schlagsahne

Pour the sparkling wine and sugar into a pan. Chill the remaining sparkling wine. Wash 1 lime with hot water and finely grate the zest. Halve the lime and 2 others, squeeze out the juice and mix with the cornflour. Pour everything into the pan and bring to the boil briefly. Remove the pan from the heat and chill the cream in the fridge.

 

Fill the shortbread biscuits into a freezer bag, crush with a rolling pin and place in a bowl. Melt the butter in a pan, pour over the crumbled shortbread biscuits, add a pinch of salt and mix well. Leave to cool briefly, divide half into large wine glasses and press down firmly.

 

Cut the lime into slices. Beat the egg whites with salt until stiff. Stir the yoghurt into the chilled champagne and lime cream. Whip the cream until stiff and fold into the cooled cream, one after the other, together with the beaten egg whites. Spread half over wine glasses, add another layer of shortbread biscuits and finish with a layer of cream. Garnish with lime slices and pour in the remaining sparkling wine. Toast and enjoy!

  • Riesling (trocken)
  • Pinot Blanc (trocken)

with pears, beans, parsley root and black walnuts Venison medallions

with pears, beans, parsley root and black walnuts

  • 12 Stück Rehmedaillions (a 80g)
  • 30 Gramm gebratene Speckstreifen
  • 200 ml Bechamelsauce
  • 3 EL Sonnenblumenöl
  • 8 kleine Petersilienwurzeln mit Grün (alternativ Knollensellerie)
  • 6 - 8 breite Schnippelbohnen
  • 1 große Birne
  • 4 - 6 schwarze Walnüsse
  • 100 ml Wildfond
  • 2 EL Butter
  • 2 Stängel glatte Petersilie
  • nach Geschmack Salz

Preheat the oven to 180 °C top and bottom heat. Clean, peel and trim the parsley roots. Clean the beans and cut into diagonal pieces. Blanch the parsley roots and beans separately in boiling salted water and rinse immediately in iced water.

 

Cut the walnuts into eighths and warm in the game stock. Wash the unpeeled pear, cut into eighths, remove the core and cut into thin slices. Fry the venison medallions on both sides in oil, then finish cooking in the oven for approx. 3 - 5 minutes.

 

In the meantime, toss the beans and parsley roots in melted butter and season with salt. Arrange the vegetables with the black walnuts and pear slices on large plates. Place the medallions on top, garnish with game stock, Béchamel sauce and bacon strips.

 

Tip: You can make your own black walnuts. To do this, prick the walnuts all over with a fork or skewer and place in water for 10 days. Change the water every day so that the tannic acid can drain off. Boil the nuts 3 times in salted water until they are deep black. Simmer with bay leaves and peppercorns for approx. 20 minutes until soft. Layer in preserving jars and cover with syrup. The nuts can be kept for approx. 1 year.

  • Spätburgunder / Pinot Noir (trocken)
  • Pinot Gris (trocken)

  • Wine knowledge Mulled Wine A warm pleasure for the cold season

    vintner's mulled wine in a pot with spices such as orange, cinnamon and vanilla

  • Wine knowledge Blanc de Noir The best of red and white wine

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