How is alcohol-free wine made?

According to Annex VII of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, wine must have at least 8.5 percent alcohol in wine-growing zones A and B, and 9 percent in the other zones. A product with 0.5 percent does not meet that.

Since the amendment of 2021 there have therefore been separate designations. Dealcoholized means at most 0.5 percent alcohol. Partially dealcoholized is above that but under the minimum of the category for the treatment. Regulation (EU) 2026/471 of 24 February 2026 adds sales denominations to that: alcohol-free up to and including 0.5 percent, 0.0 up to and including 0.05 percent, and a designation for reduced alcohol content above 0.5 percent with at least 30 percent less alcohol than the category minimum. The labelling rules apply from 19 September 2027.

The European rules allow three techniques: partial evaporation under vacuum, membrane techniques and distillation. This division into three comes from resolution OIV-OENO 394A-2012 of the international wine organization, adopted in 2012.

Membrane techniques include reverse osmosis and osmotic distillation. Under reduced pressure alcohol boils at a much lower temperature, so the wine itself suffers less. In a comparative study from 2025, vacuum distillation worked with a water bath of 30 degrees rising to 40 degrees, and 50 degrees for redistillation. The spinning cone column separates the aroma compounds in the first step at 0.04 atmosphere and 26 to 28 degrees, and then removes the ethanol at about 38 degrees. Reverse osmosis ran at 20 degrees. All eight methods studied ended up below 0.5 percent.

Alcohol carries aromas with it, and those partly disappear with the ethanol. That is why the spinning cone column captures the volatile substances in a separate first step, before the alcohol is removed, and adds them back afterwards.

The international wine organisation also sets two conditions for the treatment: it may not be applied to wine with organoleptic defects, and it must be supervised by an oenologist or a specialised technician. The same resolution also provides for a lighter form, in which up to about 20 percent of the alcohol content is removed to correct the flavour balance without the wine becoming alcohol-free.

Full dealcoholisation is only permitted for wines without a protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication. Partial dealcoholisation is permitted for all wines, including wines with such a designation.

The designations apply to wine, sparkling wine and semi-sparkling wine with added carbon dioxide. The limit of 0.5 percent is not a European invention: it comes from the international agreements of 2012 and was included in European wine law with the 2021 amendment. Regulation (EU) 2026/471 extends this further, including with the possibility of making sparkling wine from dealcoholised still wine.

In the Netherlands, a drink only counts as alcoholic when, at twenty degrees Celsius, more than half a percent by volume of it is alcohol. De-alcoholised wine with 0.5 percent or less therefore falls just outside that.

Voor bier bestaat wel een Nederlandse gereserveerde aanduiding: alcoholvrij bier mag ten hoogste 0,1 volumeprocent bevatten, alcoholarm bier meer dan 0,1 en ten hoogste 1,2 volumeprocent. Voor wijn bestaat zo een nationale aanduiding niet; die regels komen rechtstreeks uit de Europese wijnverordening. Voor alles wat wel boven een half volumeprocent uitkomt geldt NIX18: verstrekken aan iemand onder de achttien is verboden.

In 2024, 1.9 percent of Dutch adults drank alcohol-free wine or cider monthly. Alcohol-free beer is much higher, at 16.7 percent.

Those figures come from the Leefstijlmonitor of the Trimbos-instituut, together with the RIVM and the CBS. Alcohol-free beer grew from 9.6 percent in 2018 to 16.7 percent in 2024. Among men it is 22.7 percent, among women 10.8 percent, and highest in the age group 30 to 39 with 23.2 percent. Alcohol-free wine thus remains a small category, though one that is growing in range.