ZENOTHEQUE
FAQ
Find answers to the most frequently asked questions.
There are various reasons why a winegrower should stock non-alcoholic wines:
- Consumer behaviour and social change
Whether we like it or not, the way in which alcohol, and wine in particular, is consumed is changing rapidly. On the one hand, states and organisations (e.g. WHO) are increasing their influence on the marketing and consumption of alcohol. It is now one of the most important health and social issues. It is considered certain that alcohol taxation will be increased and advertising will be severely restricted in the coming years. On the other hand, consumers have also changed. From the younger generation, who consume alcohol much more consciously, to senior citizens, who no longer want to or are not allowed to drink alcohol as often, the target group for non-alcoholic wines and sparkling wines has grown significantly. And with the increase in quality and the variety on offer, this will only accelerate.
- Differentiation of the product range and positioning on the market
Let’s assume you want to win new markets for yourself. This could be in the export or domestic market. As a winegrower, you have a unique product, namely your wine with the character and flavour of your soil and your know-how. Unfortunately, there are many other winegrowers who say exactly the same thing about their product. Non-alcoholic wines make you a much more interesting business partner for agents, wine merchants, restaurants or food retailers because you cover the entire product spectrum. And it is certainly worth positioning yourself on the market at an early stage.
With non-alcoholic wines, you make more sales, more profit and position yourself with existing and new customers.
This is a “Business +” for you. A customer needs two bottles of wine for a dinner with friends? There are sure to be people who want to drink little or no alcohol. You can score points here with non-alcoholic wine. You can also position yourself excellently with the younger generation or with senior citizens who do not want to or are not allowed to drink much alcohol.
In the B2B sector, you can differentiate yourself from your competitors with a wide range of non-alcoholic wines and sparkling wines: many retailers have good wines. Very few have good non-alcoholic wines – you do!
This depends heavily on the technology you want to use and the quantities you want to dealcoholise. In addition, we often recommend having the products bottled immediately at the dealcoholiser for reasons of hygiene. Expect to pay an additional €1-2.50 per bottle compared to your “normal” wine.
No, no excise duty or sparkling wine tax is due. The normal VAT rate of 19% in Germany also applies.
Estimates put the number of bottles at around 150 million, with a strong upward trend. The market has doubled within a year in the USA and the trends in Europe and Asia are similar.
Yes, non-alcoholic wines and sparkling wines can be organic and vegan. We work with certified organic dealcoholisers and bottlers and already have several productions and certifications behind us.
De-alcoholised wines are not normally flavoured or coloured. The wines are sulphurised after dealcoholisation and in some cases Velcorin (E242) is also used as a preservative.
Yes, but you should choose particularly aromatic wines to get the best non-alcoholic product. Important characteristics when selecting wines are low acidity and SO² level.
There are three main processes for dealcoholisation, two of which are based on vacuum technology, known as vacuum distillation. The process is chemical-free, meaning that many of our products are certified organic and vegan.
Basically, the aim is to keep the distillation temperature as low as possible in order to retain the flavours in the wine. In the first stage, the wines are gently heated to 28 to 32 degrees Celsius under vacuum and distilled. During this process, the wine’s own natural flavours are also captured and added back in. This is known as flavour recovery.
After this stage, the product is simply harmonised by adding a shipping dosage. This dosage consists of a little sugar or must to sweeten the wine and, depending on colour and preference, a little CO² to make the wine more sparkling. As with almost every wine, some SO² (sulphites) is used to preserve the wine.
We also like to work with a third and very rare process in which reverse osmosis and a membrane contactor work hand in hand. The osmosis then works at the molecular size level and the membrane contactor at the distillation level.
In order for the product to be sold as alcohol-free, the limit value of 0.5% alcohol must be adhered to. Our products therefore vary between 0 % and 0.5 % residual alcohol and are labelled accordingly.
No, but something even better. In our case, we select a finished wine (with alcohol) that is particularly suitable for dealcoholisation and then remove the alcohol. In our dealcoholisation process (carried out by partners), the wine is placed under vacuum and slightly heated. At around 30 degrees Celsius, the alcohol then separates from the liquid and we have our alcohol-free wine. No additives are required for this process; the alcohol-free wine is then refined with must or sugar and a little CO₂. The result then tastes like a wine, is not as sweet as juice and is significantly lower in calories than juice and wine.
No, on the contrary! By removing the alcohol, the non-alcoholic product is significantly lower in calories than the original wine (up to -70%). The majority of our products contain less than 4g of sugar per 100ml. The sugar can be added in the form of sucrose or concentrated grape must and serves to round off the flavour.
The target group of consumers is diverse:
- Aunt Antonia, who has to take medication,
- Max, who is training for his marathon,
- Annika and Tim, who are expecting their first baby,
- Moritz, who never drinks alcohol (not a hipster 😉)
- Beata, the managing director, who has an important appointment the following day,
- Tom the sales professional who has lots of business lunches and wants to lose weight,
- and also you (we’re on a first name basis throughout the website) and me, who just want to enjoy!