Bordeaux city centre has recently gained a shop dedicated to dealcoholised wines.
It is a sign of the times that central Bordeaux recently gained a shop dedicated to ‘dealcoholised’ wine, and alcohol-free alternatives in general.
While the concept may not be to everyone’s taste, plenty of curious winemakers and consumers have been calling in at Belles Grappes since it opened in 2024.
‘We have all types of visitors,’ said co-owner Anne Kettaneh. ‘Each week, I have wine-growers who come into my shop to ask to try a new dealcoholised wine.’
Producers supplying Belles Grappes, which is located near the city’s St-André cathedral, include those in the wider Bordeaux vineyard region, as well as in Provence, Germany and Austria.
‘I have white, red and rosé, [and] I have some sparkling white and rosé, too,’ said Kettaneh.
Similar shops exist elsewhere in France, and Kettaneh said she has been contacted by people interested in establishing their own businesses in other towns.
Research suggests more consumers are joining the no/low party, at least some of the time.
In the UK, 38% of adult drinkers told a survey by Yougov and industry body Portman Group they consume no- and low-alcohol alternatives semi-regularly.
Spanish wine producer Familia Torres recently announced it was investing €6m (£5m) in a new non-alcoholic wine cellar.
European Union policymakers are watching, particularly because declines in domestic wine consumption have contributed to surplus stocks. France’s government said recently it would pay more than €100m to ‘grub up’ vineyards.
The European Commission (EC) approved the terms ‘dealcoholised’ (up to 0.5% abv) and ‘partially dealcoholised’ for wine in 2021, under certain conditions.
Late last year, the EC also established a ‘high-level group’ to analyse challenges faced by the EU wine sector.
In December, this group recommended more action to help winemakers deliver ‘grapevine products more attuned to new consumer demands… especially fully and partially dealcoholised wines, and non-dealcoholised low-alcohol wines, while preserving the integrity of the sector’.
Ignacio Sánchez Recarte, secretary-general of trade body Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (CEEV), welcomed the high-level group’s proposals.
He told Decanter that next steps include defining more specific production rules for dealcoholised wines at the EU level. ‘Secondly…we want to complete the puzzle with further harmonised rules for the presentation of these new products.’
In France, Belles Grappes’ Kettaneh said producers were recently allowed to start putting ‘Vin de France Désalcoolisé’ – dealcoholised French wine – on bottle labels.
She said the category could happily live alongside wine, describing it as an opportunity rather than a threat for grape-growers. ‘If you can prove that there is a market, [growers] are fans of innovation.’
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The post Bordeaux gets alcohol-free wine shop as times change appeared first on Decanter.
Source : https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/bordeaux-gets-alcohol-free-wine-shop-as-times-change-549714/
