Academics aim to solve NOLO wine conundrum

Academics at the University of Queensland are on a mission to solve the issue of why no- and low-alcohol wines do not taste like full-strength wines. 

Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation PhD candidate Huanhuan Li said there was a substantial sensory gap between NOLO and traditional wines, with aroma a major contributor to both quality and acceptance.

She is on a quest to identify key aroma compounds that could make no- and low-alcohol (NOLO) wine more attractive to drinkers.

Li and project leader Professor Heather Smyth say: “Reducing alcohol content changes a wine’s sensory characteristics considerably.

“It seems that important volatile aroma compounds are lost or altered during the dealcoholisation process.

“Combining chemical analysis with sensory evaluation is helping us determine which compounds are reduced or missing in NOLO wines.”

QAAFI recruited regular white wine drinkers to determine if adding compounds identified by chemical analysis to NOLO wines improved the perceived vinosity of the drinks.

“Vinosity, or wine-likeness, is an important concept in our research because it describes how closely the aroma of a NOLO product resembles that of conventional wine,” Li said.

“We needed people familiar with white wine and what a typical white wine should smell like.

“We asked them to assess whether restoring the aroma compounds increased the perceived wine-likeness, as well as fruitiness and overall consumer acceptance of the NOLO wine.”

Following the chemical and sensory analysis, microbial and fermentation strategies are being used to try to naturally increase the production of the aroma compounds in NOLO wine.

Smyth said consumer interest in NOLO wines had grown rapidly in recent years.

“Driven by health and wellness trends and a desire to moderate alcohol consumption, there is increasing demand for products that deliver the flavour and aroma of traditional wine without the alcohol,” she said.

This research was funded by Wine Australia and also involves the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology.