West Sussex vineyard Nutbourne has pressed and fermented a plump crop of Bacchus grapes, wine from which will be served straight from the cask in three London restaurants.
The wine is being dubbed the UK’s youngest and freshest and celebrates Nutbourne’s best crop to date, achieved thanks to the hot summer weather this year.
Restaurants the Shed, Rabbit and Nutbourne will serve the 2018 ‘vintage’ wine, which was poured just days after being picked.
High-sugar, low ABV
“The wine is served straight from the cask, resulting in a cloudy high-sugar, yet low-ABV wine,” said a vineyard spokesperson.
“This wine, similar to the German ‘Federweisser’, is made by adding yeast to the grapes, allowing it to ferment rapidly.
“The process, taking no more than 10 days from when the grapes are picked and pressed, results in a refreshing, grassy, sparkling wine, with notes of apple, pear and elderflower.”
Recent shopper data from market analyst firm Nielsen showed the value of non-alcoholic wine in the UK had risen by 66% last year.
Alcohol-free spirits
Alcohol-free spirits have received significant amounts of interest from companies including Diageo and Pernod Ricard recently, with the latter launching its Ceder’s brand.
At The Morning Advertiser’s Spirits Summit this month (October), Ceder’s co-founder Craig Hutchinson claimed the on-trade needed to do more to cater to teetotal consumers.
“One in five adults don’t drink alcohol at home and they have been neglected. How come if you’re not drinking alcohol, you don’t get the same options? We have seen a 30% rise in no-alcohol consumers since 2013,” he said.
“If we all drank the guideline 14 units a week, alcohol sales would drop by 38%. That isn’t something to be worried about, there’s an opportunity there.”