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How Non-Alcoholic Wine Is Made: The Innovation Behind Today's Flavorful Alcohol-Free Wines

How Non-Alcoholic Wine Is Made: The Innovation Behind Today's Flavorful Alcohol-Free Wines

One of the biggest challenges facing the non-alcoholic wine category is the wines have had a less-than-stellar reputation. Historically, alcohol-free wines wines were, well… bad. Like, really bad. If you were an early Dry January adopter and picked up a bottle of NA wine from your local supermarket 10—or even five—years ago, one sip was probably enough to turn you off the category for good.

Why? Because making non-alcoholic wines that are delicious and deliver layered and full flavors is hard. Wine’s complexity comes from alcohol’s ability to carry flavor and balance elements like sweetness, acidity, and tannin. When you take the alcohol out, you risk losing what makes wine taste like wine.

But the good news? Over the past few years, advancements in non-alcoholic wine production have transformed the category, with innovative minds rethinking how NA wines are made. From advancements in farming practices that emphasize flavor-packed grapes to cutting-edge alcohol removal techniques that preserve wine’s essence, the category has transformed.

At Tomorrow Cellars, we’re proud to be part of this revolution. Our mission is to bring non-alcoholic wines into the mainstream—making them as delicious, accessible and celebrated as their traditional counterparts. To do that, we’re committed to crafting wines that are good enough to sit on the same shelf as the best bottles out there.
Here’s what sets the NA wines of today (and Tomorrow Cellars) apart from that disappointing experience you might remember:

New Farming Techniques that Lower Alcohol Naturally 

Winemaking starts in the vineyard, and how our grapes are grown and when they are harvested makes all the difference for non-alcoholic wine. Less sugar in the grapes we use for our wines means less alcohol that needs to be removed. Viticulturalists are experimenting with inputs like sun and water to manage how much sugar the grapes produce. Techniques like reducing leaf area, preharvest irrigation, and post-veraison leaf removal are being used to grow grapes that are naturally lower in sugar and thus lower in alcohol.  

Varietal selection is another key component of crafting flavorful NA wines. We chose Marsanne grapes as the base of both our Rhône Blanc and Blanc de Rhône blends because they are naturally incredibly flavorful. In fact, the reason you don’t see many traditional wines made from just Marsanne is because of how robust the flavors are. In a conventional wine, it would be overpowering, but for us, it’s perfect as the flavors that get left behind after the alcohol is removed are nicely balanced. 

Innovation in Alcohol Removal Technology 

Over the past few years, improvements to alcohol removal technology—like vacuum distillation and spinning cone technology—and new cutting-edge aroma capture methods have revolutionized how non-alcoholic wine is crafted. These innovations have set a new standard for quality by preserving delicate flavors and aromas throughout the process.

Vacuum Distillation
Vacuum distillation is a popular method for creating non-alcoholic wines. In this process, the wine is placed in a vacuum, which lowers its boiling point to a much gentler temperature range of 70 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit (21 to 35 degrees Celsius). This controlled environment ensures the alcohol can be removed without subjecting the wine to excessive heat that might strip away its flavors and aromas.

By carefully maintaining the temperature and pressure, winemakers preserve the wine’s integrity, keeping the nuances of its original profile intact. After the alcohol is removed, a small amount of grape juice or natural aromatics is often added back to enhance the wine’s flavor and texture, resulting in a balanced and satisfying non-alcoholic wine.

Spinning Cone Technology
Spinning cone technology takes a slightly different approach to alcohol removal while achieving similarly impressive results. This method uses a series of inverted cones inside a spinning column combined with a low-pressure, low-temperature vacuum evaporation process.

Here’s how it works: The wine is poured into the top of the column while nitrogen gas is introduced at the bottom. As the wine flows downward through the spinning cones, centrifugal forces and evaporation separate its delicate aromas and flavors from the alcohol. These essences are collected and safeguarded from oxidation, maintaining the wine’s signature characteristics.

The process is repeated several times to thoroughly remove the alcohol, after which the preserved essences are blended back into the wine base, often alongside unfermented grape juice. The result is a non-alcoholic wine that retains its depth, aroma, and complexity, offering a drinking experience that rivals traditional wine.

Innovating for Even Better Wines 

Tomorrow Cellars is exploring new and better non-alcoholic wine-making methods for each vintage. We are excited about what is on the horizon. The future is bright for our fans seeking delicious wines full of flavor but without alcohol.