Whisper – alcohol-free wine has arrived in France

In the vineyards of Bordeaux, the unspeakable has become something to drink. Alcohol-free wine has arrived.

Yesterday’s chaos is now – due to scientific and economic problems – today’s opportunity.

Wineries that would have burned their grapes instead of submitting to meat, are now openly considering a non-alcoholic bottle.

And developers are moving forward quickly, creating wines that are deliberately designed to get the most out of the detox process.

“When we started a few years ago, what we were doing was pure rubbish,” says Bordeaux botanist Frédéric Brochet, who helped develop the Moderato range of alcohol-free wines.

“But we have made great progress. And today we are very close to our goal. I think it will be a revolution in the world of wine.”

Bordeaux recently saw its first launch a cave – a wine shop – dedicated exclusively to non-alcoholic wines, marking a shift in opinion that surprised many in the industry.

“We opened four weeks ago, and already we get winegrowers from the area who come to ask about the non-alcoholic market,” said Alexandre Kettaneh, who owns Les Belles Grappes with his wife Anne.

“They don’t know how to do it, but they see it’s coming and they want to be a part of it.”

Many things have happened to make this time an opportunity.

First, the French wine country is in dire straits. Domestic consumption continues to fall and the Chinese market is not what it used to be. US President-elect Donald Trump is threatening new tariffs. The venerable ancient vineyards throughout France are being trampled upon.

Second, eating habits are changing, especially among young people. Supermarkets now give more space to beer than to wine. Most 20-somethings have never had a wine habit – and they’re also more health-conscious than their elders.

The non-alcoholic lifestyle is spreading. Currently 10% of the French beer market is non-alcoholic. In Spain it is 25%.

And third – technology has advanced by leaps and bounds.

In the past – and today with cheaper products – the method was to boil off the alcohol and add a compensatory flavoring. The result – especially the red – is very low quality. Such drinks cannot even be called wine, but “drinks based on alcoholic wine”.

Now, there are new ways to remove the low-quality vacuum, and to “capture” the aroma to return it to the still wine. The result is wines that can legally call themselves wines, and are starting to hold their own among discerning consumers.

“In red, you need to prepare for an experience that will not be the same as a traditional wine with alcohol. We will not pretend that we cannot reproduce, however, the full mouthfeel,” says Fabien Marchand-Cassagne of Moderato.

“But what you will get is the real wine moment. The bouquet, the tannins, the fruit, the balance – everything is there to be enjoyed.”

At the Clos De Bouard estate near Saint-Emilion, one-third of sales are now in the chateau’s two – soon to be three – non-alcoholic varieties. Owner Coralie de Bouard first saw the possibilities when she was asked in 2019 to create a non-alcoholic wine for the Qatari owners of the PSG football club.

“My family didn’t want to talk to me for a year, it was my ‘rebellion’. And even today I get hateful messages from wine growers saying I’m destroying the market,” he said.

“But now my father congratulates me and says that I am the one who is traveling on the wine train. And if we are living today in these difficult times it is because we have moved to the non-alcoholic market.”

“For the purveyors it has been very difficult to accept,” said Bernard Rabouy, winegrower of the Bordeaux Families cooperative.

“But we have to change. The truth is that the customers are not where they used to be. So we have to take them or they will go somewhere else.”

Proponents of alcohol-free wine make much of the impression that it allows non-drinkers – who felt left out – to join the wine-banter. And it is true that the practices of opening, sniffing, describing and comparing are now open to everyone.

“What we want to do is try to bring back the France of our youth – when everyone sat at the table and drank wine, and it was a real time to share,” said Anne Kattaneh.

“And these days the only way we’re going to be able to do that is if alcohol-free wines are part of the culture.”

“The idea that the world of wine has always been the same as it is now, is rubbish,” said biologist Brochet.

“Things are changing. Once upon a time the barrel was new. The cacao was new; the grape varieties were new. And now this new one – which can help save the industry and the amazing country and culture that goes with it. .

“Like [poet] Paul Valery said – what is tradition, but a successful innovation?”