"A top French wine salon risks upsetting the traditional defenders of the country's famed viticulture by handing over increased space to the booming alcohol-free sector. Wine Paris, which will take place in February in the French capital, announced Tuesday zero-percent wine and spirits would have their own dedicated space for the first time called "Be No", with 62 exhibitors. "Wine Paris is the celebration of wine, whether with or without alcohol," chief organiser Rodolphe Lameyse told a press conference."
"That view is likely to sit badly with the vast show's most conservative exhibitors, who have long viewed alcohol-free wine as a betrayal of their centuries-old traditions. Although the technology is constantly improving, the alcohol-removal process is seen by many to erase fragile grape aromas, while the alcohol is also viewed as a foundational flavour. Driven by health or religious concerns, consumers around the world are increasingly seeking out no- and low-alcohol drinks, however."
Wine Paris will dedicate a new 'Be No' area to zero-percent wine and spirits with 62 exhibitors, marking the first time alcohol-free products have a separate space. The event frames wine as inclusive of alcohol-free options and presents these products as potential responses to falling domestic and global wine consumption. Many conservative exhibitors view alcohol-free wine as a betrayal of centuries-old traditions, arguing that alcohol removal can erase fragile grape aromas and that alcohol contributes foundational flavour. Consumer demand for no- and low-alcohol drinks is rising for health and religious reasons, some French restaurants now list zero-percent wine, and global consumption fell to a 60-year low in 2024 while France dropped another 3.6 percent.
Read at The Local France
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]