When the alcohol wears off, does the terroir remain?

It may exist "terroir" In a dealcoholized wine? And why, five years after European law opened that door, has almost no Portuguese region crossed it? The market is growing, but the major designations of origin remain cautious about a category that raises doubts about identity, quality, and value.

It is said in the sector that the European Union "prohibits" designations of origin on non-alcoholic wines. That's not quite right. The law distinguishes between two different products – fully dealcoholized and partially dealcoholized – and only closes the door to the former. For the latter, it has been left ajar since 2021, on the condition that each region decides whether to follow it. 

One Portuguese geographical indication has already done so, and others are moving in that direction. The major designations of origin – Douro, Vinho Verde, Alentejo – remain stalled at the entrance. The interesting question, then, is no longer " why doesn't the European Union allow it?" but rather "why, given the possibility, has almost no one decided to proceed yet?".

It is important to first understand the scale of what is at stake. According to IWSR, a leading authority in beverage market analysis, the non-alcoholic and low-alcohol wine categories grew by 9% in volume in 2025, with a projected cumulative expansion of 36% by 2029. Between 2019 and 2024, this growth was across the eight main markets analyzed by IWSR, albeit at very different rates: more moderate in mature markets such as France (+4%) or Germany (+9%) and much faster in Anglophone markets and Japan – the United States grew at a compound annual growth rate of 23%, Canada at 27%, and Japan at 26%. Consulting firms estimate that the global value of the non-alcoholic wine category is above two billion dollars, approximately 1,73 billion euros, with compound annual growth rates close to double digits until the end of the decade – the exact estimates vary depending on the source, but they all converge in the same direction. 

It is therefore not a residual category awaiting legal regulation: it is a segment that is already growing at double-digit rates in several of the world's largest markets, and which Europe, historically more conservative in this matter, is now beginning to catch up with.

The door that the law left open

The legal starting point is Regulation (EU) 2021/2117, which amended the common organisation of the market for agricultural products and, for the first time, gave a legal name to a category that already existed on the shelves of half of Europe: dealcoholized wine. The regulation distinguishes between two products. One is "de-alcoholized" wine, with an alcoholic strength equal to or less than 0,5% vol. – in practice, alcohol-free. The other is "partially dealcoholized" wine, which maintains an alcohol content above this threshold, but below the minimum required for the category of origin. The distinction is not cosmetic: it determines everything that follows.

For wines without a designation of origin or geographical indication, the law allows both total and partial dealcoholization. For wines with a PDO or PGI, only partial dealcoholization is permitted. A Vinho Verde, a Douro, or an Alentejo cannot, by legal definition, be totally dealcoholized and continue to be called Vinho Verde, Douro, or Alentejo. But it can be partially dealcoholized and retain that designation – with one condition: the region must amend its specifications to expressly provide for this possibility.

The European Commission clarified this distinction in detail in a communication published in the Official Journal of the European Union in 2024, with questions and answers on the application of dealcoholization rules. The document explains that a partially dealcoholized wine can continue to be considered a wine of its origin category, provided that the dealcoholization occurs after the wine has fully reached the characteristics required for that category and authorized oenological processes are used. In other words, from a European regulatory point of view, "alcohol-free wine is no longer wine" is a simplification. The question is not whether it can continue to be wine – it is whether it can continue to be "that" wine, with that origin designation.

Why the extra caution for protected designations? The regulation itself provides the explanation: in 2021, these were still innovative products, and the European Commission considered more time and evidence necessary to ensure that the complete removal of alcohol did not compromise the differentiating characteristics of wines protected by a PDO or PGI. In other words, the law did not decide that the origin disappears with the alcohol. It only decided that there are not yet sufficient guarantees that it will not disappear and pushed that decision to the regions themselves, specification document by specification document. This is where the story becomes more interesting than the simplified version circulating in the sector.

A Vinho Verde, a Douro, or an Alentejo wine cannot, by legal definition, be completely dealcoholized and still be called Vinho Verde, Douro, or Alentejo. However, it can be partially dealcoholized and retain that designation – with one condition: the region must amend its specifications to expressly provide for this possibility.

Portugal has already begun to cross it.

In Portugal, a geographical indication has already crossed that threshold. The General Council of the Tejo Regional Wine Commission, the managing entity of the Tejo PGI, decided in November 2024, and again in July 2025, to introduce partial dealcoholization under the production and marketing conditions of the region. The change was published in the Official Gazette on August 1, 2025, through Notice No. 19336/2025/2, and the text of the notice itself underlines that this is an innovation made possible by Regulation (EU) 2021/2117. In practice, partial dealcoholization of wines entitled to use the Tejo PGI is permitted.

The Portuguese Institute of Vine and Wine (IVV) confirms that the Tejo region is not alone. “This possibility is already foreseen in the Tejo PGI and the Setúbal Peninsula PGI. It is also in the final stages of introduction in the Lisbon PGI ,” responds Francisco Toscano Rico, president of the institute. This fact changes the context of the issue: the “legal door” opened in 2021 has not been left untouched. There are already Portuguese geographical indications with partially dealcoholized wine foreseen in their regulatory framework.

However, there is a distinction that the sector tends to blur, and which is important to maintain rigorously here: Tejo, Setúbal, and Lisboa are PGI – Protected Geographical Indication – not PDO – Protected Designation of Origin. It is a broader level of protection, historically associated with less strict production criteria than those of the designations of origin proper, such as Douro, Vinho Verde, Dão, Bairrada, or Alentejo. None of these major Portuguese PDOs has, up to the date of this report, altered its specifications to allow partially dealcoholized wine under its respective designation of origin.

Who has to take this step? It's not the State. “Changes to the production and marketing conditions of PDO and PGI wines are promoted by the regions, through their respective management entities and representing the winegrowers and producers,” explains the IVV spokesperson. “Under European regulations, it is not the State's responsibility to initiate these changes. Its role is to evaluate the proposals submitted, assess their regulatory compliance and their respective impacts on the region and the sector .” In the Portuguese case, it is the IVV itself that carries out this assessment and processing – but only after the proposal arrives from a regional wine commission.

If they can, why don't they go ahead?

This shifts the question. It's no longer "why doesn't the law allow it"—it's "why haven't the regions that could apply yet?" And here are the answers gathered by... Grande Consumo Together with producers and organizations, they paint a more nuanced picture than simply corporate resistance.

The IVV, for its part, makes no secret of its openness. “I have no melancholy or ideological reservations about the present matter ,” summarizes Francisco Toscano Rico, who says he is following market developments without rushing to take hasty positions. “If a particular innovation allows for increased competitiveness, generates greater added value for production, and maintains the quality and reputation of Portuguese wines, then it should be analyzed positively and responsibly,” he adds, comparing the case to what the institute says it wants to do soon with disease-resistant grape varieties. At the same time, he warns: “There are regions that may choose to integrate these categories and others that may feel they do not fit within their positioning. This diversity is legitimate and should be respected . ”

ViniPortugal, responsible for the international promotion of the Wines of Portugal brand, takes a more cautious stance and doesn't hesitate to name what's at stake. “When a wine cannot display a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) on its label, as is currently the case with non-alcoholic wines, an important part of that differentiation capacity is lost ,” states Frederico Falcão, president of ViniPortugal, for whom origin is “one of the main assets of Portuguese wine .” When directly asked if he would advocate with the IVV (Instituto da Vinha e do Vinho – Institute of Vine and Wine) or the European Commission for a change that would allow some Portuguese designations to include partially dealcoholized wine, the answer is not a yes. It's a “it depends on the sector” : “ViniPortugal will always be available to participate in the reflection on the evolution of the regulatory framework, provided that any change results from a broad consensus within the sector.” And that consensus, Frederico Falcão assures, does not yet exist.

Where, then, does this lack of consensus lie? ViniPortugal points to three concrete causes: a category that is “still relatively recent in Portugal and not yet fully accepted by all producers” ; a demand that is “still limited when compared to markets such as Germany, the Netherlands or the Nordic countries” ; and a dealcoholization technology that is “not yet equally available to all producers” , either because of the process itself or the investment it entails.

It is precisely at this point – what technology can or cannot preserve – that the distance between institutional discourse and the experience of those who have already made the product arises. José Maria da Fonseca is a pioneer in Portugal in this category: it began investigating dealcoholization in 1998 and launched O%riginal in 2009, “long before the market existed” . When asked if he feels a loss of commercial value for not being able to use a designation of origin, the head of Marketing for the company, António Soares Franco, does not hesitate: “Today, honestly, no. In this category, value is built on trust in the brand and on the quality of the tasting” . The company communicates the grape variety – Sauvignon Blanc, currently – and what the law allows, but dispenses, without apparent drama, with the name of the region. “It is natural that the framework of designations will evolve, and we will follow this evolution with interest ,” he adds, more as an observation than as a demand.

Real Companhia Velha, the largest historical winery in the Douro region, founded in 1756, offers a third position – perhaps the most revealing of all, because it separates the legal issue from the product issue. “It makes sense” to open a historical designation to such a recent category, responds the president, Pedro Silva Reis, comparing the journey to that of non-alcoholic beer, which “took decades to reach a competent solution ,” but “reached a successful conclusion .” The company says it views “with openness a possible evolution of the region” and admits to “carefully studying options .” But it tempers expectations with a phrase that returns the discussion to the glass: “To this day, we have not yet been able to be (positively) surprised by a dealcoholized wine that we consider 'good' .” Regarding plots like Samarrinho or centuries-old vines, the answer is even more direct: would a dealcoholization process preserve that identity? “I fear not.”

Adega do Cartaxo, a cooperative in the Tejo region, already has a product on the market: in 2025, it launched two dealcoholized wines, Absolvido white and Absolvido sparkling white – not under the Tejo brand, which it reserves for the house's traditional wines, but as its own brand. When asked if the winery would be interested in the region allowing partially dealcoholized wine with the name "Tejo" on the label, the director of oenology, Pedro Gil, is pragmatic: "At this moment, it doesn't seem to be a necessity, since it's already permitted as a Geographical Indication of the Tejo ." In other words, for those already producing, the PGI is sufficient. The designation is not what's lacking today.

At the other end of the spectrum is a different category, but one that illuminates by contrast the extent of the diversity of positions in the sector: Port wine. Adrian Bridge, CEO of The Fladgate Partnership, which brings together Taylor's and other historic Douro brands, leaves no room for ambiguity when asked if the house has ever considered an alcohol-free or dealcoholized version of one of its wines: “No. Port wine is a unique category, defined by a very specific production method, in which fortification plays an essential role. Alcohol is not an accessory element; it is part of the wine's identity, its balance and its longevity.” It is a position of a different legal nature – Port is fortified wine, not a table wine , and the discussion of partial dealcoholization in PGI does not apply in the same way – but it serves as a benchmark: between those who already sell alcohol-free wine without missing the designation and those who refuse even to consider the possibility, the Portuguese sector today covers the entire possible spectrum.

“There are regions that may choose to be included in these categories and others that may feel they do not fit within their positioning. This diversity is legitimate and should be respected.”

A choice still open.

What emerges from this cross-referencing of responses is a more interesting story than the initial idea. It's not true that Europe has closed the door to designations of origin for non-alcoholic wines – it has only closed it to total dealcoholization and left partial dealcoholization ajar. Nor is it entirely true that Portugal hasn't decided anything yet – the Tejo IGP has already decided, the Setúbal Peninsula IGP already foresees this possibility, and the Lisboa IGP is in the final stages of introduction. What hasn't happened yet is a symmetrical decision in the major designations of origin, those whose names carry more historical and commercial weight. And, reading the responses of those who manage these designations, the reason doesn't seem to be legal. It's commercial, it's technological, and above all, it's a matter of product: no one among the big names in the Douro has yet said they have tasted a dealcoholized wine that, in their opinion, deserves to bear the region's name.

That last sentence is also a bridge. Because the question of whether a partially dealcoholized Douro can one day use that designation depends on an answer that the law alone does not provide: after the alcohol is removed, how much of the place where that wine originated effectively remains in the glass?

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