It has been practiced around the world for about ten years de-alcoholization of wine, a process that allows the partial or total extraction of ethanol from wine.
There are several methods for de-alcoholizing a wine, but the most used is the one called "vacuum".
It is an alcohol extraction process that includes almost 4 main phases:
- heating the wine to 28 degrees Celsius at low pressure,
- the collection of aromas naturally contained in grapes,
- the evaporation of alcohol and the consecutive restitution of the aromas to the wine, now alcohol-free.
It is a process very delicate that lasts only a few minutes. A good de-alcoholization is the result of years of experience because the greatest difficulty lies in not damaging, so to speak, the wine's aromas. In other words, one does not improvise de-alcoholic masters overnight.
And if in Europe, America and Australia millions of liters of de-alcoholised wine are produced and marketed every year in a market, the non-alcoholic one, which is growing rapidly, on the other hand, in Italy, dealcoholisation is absolutely forbidden.
The only thing that cannot be prohibited is the marketing of de-alcoholized wine solely thanks to the Maastricht Treaty which establishes the free movement of goods in the EU.
At this point a question seems legitimate to me: why Italy, and only Italy, is so hostile towards a product like alcohol-free wine?
In this case we have an economic / political objection:
"Dealcoholated wine would disturb the commercial equilibrium of our peninsula with the sole consequence of obtaining a decrease in the national sales of wine, the real one".
A completely respectable opinion and generally the comment of those who can drink wine without problems. In fact, we forget all those people who, unable to drink alcohol for health reasons, are looking for a valid alternative to water and soft drinks.
Dealcoholated wine can be taken by anyone at any age with the exception of diabetic patients. It is important to remember that if it is true that a wine without alcohol has a much lower sugar content compared to alcoholic wine it is also true that the sugars naturally present in grapes persist even after the dealcoholization process. Analyzes indicate that 100 ml of dealcoholised wine return from 15 to 18 Kcal.
After this overview, alas, in Italy the knowledge of the dealcoholated wine phenomenon is practically nil. It is therefore indispensable improve communication about this product, highlighting all the information that may be useful to the citizen for a more informed purchase.
Some indications for the purchase
Here are some practical / tasting indications about this "non-alcoholic drink made from grape must vinified and subsequently de-alcoholized" or dealcoholated wine; this is the sentence that you will find on the bottle label in compliance with the regulations in force in Italy.
In Italy we find red, white, rosé, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and many others de-alcoholated wines for sale. We also find the de-alcoholated sparkling wines, in great demand during the holidays. These are dealcoholated wines which are followed by the gasification process, like any other carbonated drink.
In this regard, it is worth dwelling for a moment on the non-alcoholic sparkling wines made in Italy based on grapes.
These are drinks that have not already been de-alcoholised as much as, on the contrary, they have never been alcoholic. In practice, the grapes are fermented for a sufficient time at a low temperature, so as to avoid the transformation of sugars into alcohol, everything is gasified and here is what we could improperly define as a "non-alcoholic sparkling wine". To date in Italy we produce 4 products of this type of which only 2 are sold in Italy. These wine producers have understood that one of the ways to increase sales is to turn to a new market.
Where to find the alcoholic wine
For now it is not found in supermarkets. Rarely in bars, restaurants and wine bars. The fastest way to buy de-alcoholized wine in Italy is, for now, to use the internet. It is sufficient to write alcohol-free wine, non-alcoholic wine or de-alcoholized wine in any search engine that the 3 retailers in Italy of this product will immediately appear.
Do you think it is a valid alternative to the classic wine?