While most consumers assume that wine without alcohol should be easier to produce and therefore less expensive to purchase, the reverse is actually the case. Creating a high-quality alcohol-free wine requires at least two extra production steps, beyond regular winemaking:
1. Grow and harvest high-quality grapes (using low-quality grapes results in a low-quality wine)
2. Ferment the wine (using traditional methods, with yeast—usually in a stainless steel tank)
3. EXTRA STEP: Remove the alcohol from the wine (which usually strips the wine of many flavors and aromas—different technologies include vacuum distillation and reverse osmosis)
4. EXTRA STEP: Add the wine flavors and aromas back into the wine. (Here most high-quality wines add back a small percentage of the actual wine/grape juice, usually 5 to 9%.)
5. In addition, if the wine is sparkling, then a fifth step of creating the bubbles is necessary. However, this is the same with both traditional and AF wines, and the bubbles can be produced by fermenting the wine a second time (either in a bottle or tank) or injecting CO2 bubbles.
Therefore, since it takes more work and time to produce high-quality AF wines, the cost to consumers is usually the same or slightly more than traditional wine. The benefit to the consumer who is seeking an alcohol-free alternative is that they can still enjoy a high-quality glass of wine, usually with lower calories.
Shifting Regulatory Requirements For Producing AF Wines
The regulatory requirements for producing and selling AF wine can also be challenging because they differ by state and country. For example, the TTB (U.S. federal agency that regulates alcohol in the U.S.) defines it as containing 0.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) or less. This is the same regulation that is used in Europe.
However, New York and Tennessee currently require non-alcoholic wines to have 0% ABV. So does Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries. But the state of Kentucky allows up to 1% ABV for AF wines, and so does Japan and Canada at up to 1.1% ABV.
Another difference is that the TTB defines traditional wine as having between 7% – 24% ABV. This means that AF wines, which are less than 7% (they must be 0.5% ABV or less) are subject to the FDA labeling regulations, and must include ingredient, nutrition and allergen labeling requirements. However, since the TTB is now considering this type of labeling for all alcohol (the E.U. has already mandated this), it may not be that much of an extra regulatory step in the future.
NOTE: Portions of this article were published in Forbes.com.