00:00Europe's wine industry is under pressure.
00:02In many countries, people are drinking less alcohol.
00:05At the same time, a new category is growing – alcohol-free wine.
00:09In Austria's Burgenland region, one family-run winery has massively expanded its production within just a few years.
00:17In Paris, an entire shop is now dedicated to alcohol-free drinks.
00:22Could this be the solution to the industry's future?
00:27Patrick Bayer and his wife Katja are in the middle of the grape harvest.
00:31In Neckenmark, an hour south of Vienna, his family has been producing wine since the 90s.
00:36Today, those same grapes also provide the basis for high-quality, alcohol-free wine.
00:43The grapes are very, very small this year.
00:45That means that they are highly concentrated and that is perfect for alcohol-free wines,
00:50which need a lot of body and substance.
00:55Already as a teenager, Patrick joined the family business.
00:59After he met Katja, she came on board as well.
01:02It was her idea to try alcohol-free wine.
01:04She was pregnant and at dinner, she didn't want to drink only water or juice.
01:09Yes, it took a bit of convincing.
01:12But as everyone knows, you never say no to a pregnant woman.
01:16Important life lesson!
01:19So this was the point when we said, okay, we are really going to try this.
01:27The couple began tasting alcohol-free wines.
01:30Many of them failed to convince them.
01:32So, when they tried to make their own, they took an unusual risk.
01:35We decided to take our best wine and that is a highly acclaimed one.
01:40That is probably what makes it special.
01:43Nobody before us had really tried it this way.
01:46How is alcohol-free wine made?
01:49The finished wine has the alcohol removed under vacuum at a low temperature.
01:53At around 33 degrees Celsius, it is taken out without heating the wine as much as in conventional distillation.
02:00But alcohol affects the wine's body, texture and aroma.
02:04Remove it and the taste changes too.
02:07At first I thought it would actually be relatively easy.
02:12You take your best wine, remove the alcohol and end up with a great alcohol-free wine.
02:17The basic idea was right, but getting there was much more complicated than I had expected.
02:24They spent two years experimenting until they were satisfied with the result.
02:29Since then, the new side of the business has grown rapidly.
02:33We could barely keep up with production.
02:36We are now active in 26 countries around the world and doubled the output of the winery within 18 months.
02:44Exports are a major driver of that success.
02:47This year, for the first time, the Bayer family is producing more alcohol-free wine than traditional ones.
02:53Their international success reflects a wider trend.
02:56Sales of alcohol-free wine are growing around the world.
03:00Canada, Japan and the US recorded the strongest growth between 2019 and 2024.
03:07But sales are also rising in more traditional wine markets such as France.
03:12This shop in Paris sells only alcohol-free drinks.
03:15Augustin Laborde opened his store in 2022.
03:19Today, he has more than 550 different drinks on offer.
03:22The majority of our customers are what we call flexi-drinkers.
03:29People who still drink alcohol but want an alternative when they don't feel like drinking alcohol.
03:37Today, he and his customers are also tasting the Bayer's Austrian wines.
03:42The nose is very pleasant and really appealing.
03:46On the palate, you can clearly tell that this is not just sparkling grape juice.
03:51For red wine, it's trickier. This bottle, 37 euros.
03:56Red wine is a bit more complicated. You have to be lucky to find a good, non-alcoholic one.
04:05Back in Austria. For the Bayer family, alcohol-free wine is not replacing traditional wine.
04:11They want both parts of the business to grow side by side.
04:15That is the future. And also our vision for the winery.
04:19To create high-quality, carefully crafted wines with character that everyone can enjoy.
04:24Whether with or without alcohol.
04:30For the Bayer family, alcohol-free wine started as an experiment.
04:34Three years later, it has become one of the main pillars of their business.
