In 2016, when White Claw (a low-calorie soda wine) and other hard seltzers entered the market, the wine industry took a hit. This new category enters the market and increases exponentially year after year, even during the epidemic. Five years ago, the scale of this industry was 41 million U.S. dollars. It is predicted to exceed 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2021 and may reach 14.5 billion U.S. dollars by 2027. Although this is still less than the annual wine revenue of 330 billion U.S. dollars, however, its growth does bring each impact to the wine industry. Hard soda water is particularly attractive to the youngsters by its low alcohol and calorie, which sync with their healthy lifestyle.

Last year, Cupcake Vineyards, a subsidiary of the Wine Group, together with a few producers, launched wines that contain low-alcohol and low-calorie. To achieve the balance in between, many winemakers try to adjust the alcohol level. The concept of removing alcohol from wine actually can be traced back to 1992, Trinchero Winery introduced several non-alcoholic wines to the market.

In order to produce these low-alcohol and low-calorie wines, most producers use the spin-cone technology, that is, 1/3 of a batch of wine releases ethanol through a vacuum cryogenic column. This process reduces the alcohol to 4% (abv), and mixing the processed wine with the remaining wine. The finished wine with 9% of alcohol, while the alcohol in the classic wine is between 11-13%. Other producers use reverse osmosis, a two-stage filtration commonly used for mild alcohol conditioning.

Although we think that the new wines are good for us, the World Wine Association does not believe that this will do any harm to the traditional wine market. The person in charge said: "We are only creating a space for more people to participate in the wine field. Therefore, you don't have to completely abstain from drinking in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle."

Lydia Zhao  POINT PLUME