This is a very modern, alcohol free Riesling produced from grapes of young vines, with a lot of flavour. The taste is clean and fresh with notes of lime and citrus; there are subtle hints of rhubarb and red apples on an underlying mineral base. The finish is dry and relatively long. It’s Riesling and it’s definitely a nice treat for hot days and good food. A vacuum distillation system was used to create this alcohol free wine by allowing the wine alcohol to boil at 28ºC, preserving “wine-like” aromas and characteristics. As we all know, like fat, alcohol is a transporter of flavour, and without it, there needs to be something else to carry those flavours. Residual sugar does the work for this Riesling, though the sugar is nearly eaten up by acidity. It retains its wine-like aromas however of orange citrus, rhubarb and tarragon.
- Vintage: N.V.
- Variety: Riesling
- Country: Germany
- Region: Rüdesheim
- Appellation: Johannisberg
- Vinification: Stainless steel
- Alcohol: 0.0%
- Acidity: 7.1 g/L
- Residual Sugar: 38.9 g/L
- Bottle Size: 750 ml
Riesling ~ EINS ZWEI ZERO ~ Alcohol Free Wine
A little background:
As Mr. Leitz tells it, a Norwegian chef, Odd Ivar Solvold, spoke to him a few years ago about the need for a good nonalcoholic wine, particularly in Norway, where the penalty for drunken driving, Mr. Solvold told him, was 10 percent of one’s annual income. He wanted something that was balanced and would match his cuisine, and he offered to pay Mr. Leitz that same price he got for his conventional wines.
Mr. Leitz said he also had a personal desire for a nonalcoholic wine as heart issues were preventing him from consuming as much alcohol as had been customary for him.
How it is done:
Johannes Leitz is the only wine maker, that is using their own wines, that could otherwise be used for his outstanding entry level wines, for the production of their alcohol-free wines. The winery employs an adaptation of the vacuum distillation. In this process, the wine is warmed to 29ºC. Even this low temperature allows for a very effective removal of the alcohol. At the same time valuable aromas are being protected, which help the wine maker to create a product, that is as close to wine, as possible.
Does the product still contain traces of Alcohol?
Smallest amounts; yes – which, however, have no physiological effect. They are below 0.1% vol, which is well below the average alcohol content of fruit juices (tolerance when bottling is max. 0.38% vol | claim on the label from 1.2% vol).
