Lighter wines are becoming increasingly popular with customers. Some even want the wine non-alcoholic: new territory for some winemakers in Franconia.
Sommerhausen (dpa / lby) – The World Health Organization is campaigning for minimum prices for alcoholic beverages in Europe, according to experts, alcohol abuse can cause more than 200 diseases. Franconia’s winegrowers are now also feeling the desire of some customers for non-alcoholic wines. “A lot of winegrowers are concerned with it,” says the President of the Franconian Winegrowers’ Association, Artur Steinmann, in Sommerhausen near Würzburg. “It’s not perfect yet, but a lot will happen in the next two or three years.”
The technology is now so mature “that there are now really usable non-alcoholic wines that taste like wine,” says Steinmann. “Ten years ago I would have thought I’d rather drink water.”
The alcohol is removed from the wine either by filtration or vacuum distillation. “The wine is already strained by this membrane filtration,” explains Steinmann. “Aromas and flavors are lost.” The trick is to preserve as much of the other substances in the wine as possible. “This technique will probably get better and better.”
Accounting for 99 percent of the more than 6,400 hectares under cultivation, Franconia is the most important wine-growing region in Bavaria. There are around 2400 winemakers.
The winegrowers’ association “Frank
