By John Lovett
As health-conscious consumers continue to seek lower alcohol content in their wine, scientists like Zachary Bean are working on ways to both meet this demand and make it better.
In addition to finding ways to ferment grape juice without producing as much alcohol, Bean’s work also explores novel yeasts and methods to overproduce aromas to compensate for their eventual loss when reducing alcohol through grape juice dilution.
“Most low- or non-alcohol wines are made by removing alcohol after fermentation,” said Bean, a master’s student in the department of food science for the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas. “Since many of the aroma and flavor compounds in wine are very delicate, when you use heat or mechanical separation to create low or no alcohol wine, you can lose those volatiles or create cooked or burnt aromas.”
According to research, many wine consumers — particularly among younger generations — are drinking less due to a greater awareness of the risks associated with alcohol consumption and a focus on less calorie consumption. No- and low- alcohol wines have gained popularity, with global consumption of no-alcohol wines increasing by 13 percent per year and low-alcohol wines by 21 percent per year between 2018 and 2023, according to a 2025 Wine Australia market update using International Wine and Spirits statistics.
Source : uada.edu