Kelsey Quetsch*
*Conetech, 1450 Airport Blvd, Ste 180, Santa Rosa, CA 95403 (kquetsch@conetech.com)

Alcohol removal is becoming a more commonly used winemaking technique as climate change and consumer trends impact the trajectory of the wine industry. As global temperatures steadily increase due to climate change, grapes are producing more sugar and less acid, resulting in higher-alcohol wines. In contrast, consumer trends are steadily transitioning to healthier lifestyle options such as lower-alcohol wines. One alcohol removal option is low-vacuum, thin-film distillation, a distillation technique that uses reduced pressure to separate alcohol at a lower boiling point than at ambient pressure. Low-vacuum, thin-film distillation has been used for alcohol adjustment and production of high-quality low- and no-alcohol wines, but there is little information detailing how wine is affected during this process. Trials were con- ducted to better understand how alcohol removal via low vacuum thin film distillation affected the chemical composition of wine by analyzing the same wine before and after alcohol removal for pH, TA, RS, color, and F/T SO2. Trials have shown that the removal of alcohol via this method increases the concentrations of specific chemical components present in wine such as tartaric acid, glucose, and fructose, and com- pounds associated with color, but reduces volatile compounds such as sulfur dioxide.

Funding Support: ConeTech