A New Year! ...and a new, rapidly growing category in the world of wine

Sunday, January 1, 2023

BC is not far behind the rest of the Wine World when it comes to exploring the extremely rapidly growing Non Alcoholic category of wine, with our own home grown entrepreneur and winemakers team Tyler Harlton (previously of TH Wines) and Chris Pagliocchini leading the way with their new sugar free, non-alcoholic BC wine project called ONES+. It is indeed a timely project, and as a category, provides us with a great way to enjoy a social gathering without the concern of arriving home safely, and especially for those avid wine lovers that need to avoid the alcohol, and in ONES+'s case, the sugar as well. To date in BC we have seen both sparkling and still 'no alchohol' wines, and in red, whites and rosé. It's made by first fermenting a dry wine, followed by implementing one of a handful of methods to remove the alcohol. Processes like, reverse osmosis, which I have mentioned in previous articles, spinning cone columns, and vacuum distillation are being used around the globe, all of which remove the alcohol (and many of the esters and flavour components from the wine, which are then added back to maintain mouthfeel and complexity).

We use premium Okanagan wine as the base product Tyler Harlton, Winemaker

The ONES+ team gives us a little insight into the acceptance and challenges in pioneering this new category in BC. They say, "As far as influences, we are making non-alcoholic wines that evoke our favourite alcoholic wines. We like the bright, red wines from the Okanagan, the Champagnes of France, and the Lambruscos of Italy. It just so happens that the styles we mimic do not feature sugar as part of their flavour. Regardless of the winemaker, excellent grapes turn into delicious wines. Our current focus has been on Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, and Chardonnay from the South Okanagan, but we would not limit ourselves to a grape variety or a particular region of the Okanagan Valley. We need to explore how terroir gets reflected in our non-alcoholic wines."

We will be certain of seeing this category continue to grow and develop here in BC, as there is clearly a demand for it. These products are being embraced by winelovers here in BC, and you can find them on our shelves as we do to : ) Enjoy!

 By Wendy Vallaster