Mestrado em Viticultura e Enologia - Instituto Superior de Agronomia / Faculdade de Ciências. Universidade do PortoThe work investigates the technological and legal aspects of producing and commercializing
alcohol reduced wine. For various reasons – related to health concerns, consumer fashions, and
tax regimes among others – the global wine consumer market currently demands lower alcohol
products. In response, industry and researchers have been working together to examine how to
produce alcohol-reduced wines that maintain the technological features and organoleptic
character of quality wine. As part of this effort, this work reviews the current state of the art in
wine alcohol reduction technology, especially the stabilization of the wines during storage and
their organoleptic quality. Through a series of cellar-based trials, the work shows that 50 mg/L of
free SO2 are efficient to avoid microbial spoilage in wines containing 4% and 8% (v/v),
respectively. Moreover, based on a series of sensorial taste panels, the work makes
recommendations on how to improve the organoleptic quality of alcohol-reduced wines,
especially with regard to acidity, bitterness and body. At a different level, the work examines the
legal framework for alcohol-reduced wines. It argues that once the actually available technology
allows the production of quality alcohol-reduced wines and consumers desire such products,
current OIV and EU regulations defining wine as grape fermented beverage containing at least
8.5% (v/v) may need to be revised. It is recommended to create a new legal category for ‘light
wines’ containing between 4% and 8,5% (v/v)
