non-alcoholic wine

[Kcwhippet]

Wow, I can't believe this thread got reopened. Orbro sounded back then like not much more than a marketing shill. Interesting that he's from Willamette Valley but he grows Zin in NoCal. The commute must be hell.

Tasting Room Girl - There are quite a few folks here who have been ITB for probably more years than you've been alive. We know all about adding and subtracting various substances when making wine. Did you know that Clos Pegase's award winning Merlot is made by draining off about 15% of the juice at crush. All the stems, seeds and skins go with the rest of the juice to make a more highly concentrated wine. The 15% is bottled as a Vin Gris de Merlot. And, that spinning cone technology Sutter Home touts is not revolutionary. It's been around for years. Anyway, the bottom line is that a wine that's had most (never all) of its alcohol removed is no longer a wine. Finding a good dealcoholized wine is a tough task. Alcohol is a very important component of wine because it affects the aroma, the mouthfeel, the taste and the overall character of the wine. When the alcohol is removed, then the remaining product is missing a vital part of its entity. How would your favorite baseball team be if they've had their shortstop removed - permanently? How would your car drive if it now had three wheels? It's the same sort of thing if you remove the alcohol from a wine. On top of that, do you think any winery would remove the alcohol from their better wines? Not likely. They use lesser bulk wines, remove the alcohol and add back some flavorings. Yuck!