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The beverage start-up Bolledrinks based in London is bringing what it claims to be the world's first alcohol-free sparkling wine with secondary fermentation and yeast aging to market. The key to this is a special yeast that produces very little alcohol under controlled conditions.
As the industry magazine Drinks Business reports, the base wine consists of 90 percent Chardonnay and ten percent Silvaner from La Mancha in Spain. It aged for three months in French oak barrels. After that, the alcohol was removed using a double-column vacuum distillation. By adding a specially selected Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast and fresh grape juice as a nutrient, fermentation was restarted. This yeast works even at very low sugar content and under pressure and cold. Under these controlled conditions, it produces only minimal amounts of alcohol. Afterward, the Grand Reserve aged on the yeast for nine months, which no other manufacturer has achieved in the alcohol-free sector so far.
As Bolle emphasizes, "the extended aging on the yeast brings creamy texture and brioche aromas. It adds flavor depth and complexity without additives." The Grand Reserve is a "milestone for alcohol-free wine production" and a "breakthrough for the category." The production amounts to 4,000 bottles. It is currently available exclusively in the USA and the UK, with a selling price of around 57 euros.
(al)
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