Dealcoholised wine: EU and Italian rules and the 0.5 % vol threshold
Since Regulation (EU) 2021/2117, wine can be dealcoholised or partially dealcoholised. The EU and Italian rules, alcohol-free beer data from Germany and a study on the 0.5 % vol threshold.
Since Regulation (EU) 2021/2117, wine can be dealcoholised, fully or partially, and remain a wine product. In Italy the national rules arrived between the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2026, while in Germany production of alcohol-free beer is growing and that of alcoholic beer is falling. The value that separates the two categories set by the regulation is 0.5 % vol.
The EU rules
Regulation (EU) 2021/2117 of 2 December 2021, published in the Official Journal of the European Union L 435 of 6 December 2021, amended Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 on the common organisation of the markets in agricultural products. The wine product categories of Annex VII, Part II, point 1 and points 4 to 9, that is wine and the categories of sparkling and semi-sparkling wine, may undergo total or partial dealcoholisation after they have fully attained the characteristics of their category.
On the label, the designation of the category is accompanied by one of two terms:
Dealcoholised
If the actual alcoholic strength of the product is not more than 0.5 % vol.
Partially dealcoholised
If the actual alcoholic strength is above 0.5 % vol and below the minimum actual alcoholic strength of the category before dealcoholisation.
The same regulation added the nutrition declaration and the list of ingredients to the compulsory particulars of wine and, for dealcoholised products with an actual alcoholic strength by volume below 10 % vol, the date of minimum durability. For wines with a protected designation of origin or a protected geographical indication, according to the recitals of the regulation, only partial dealcoholisation should be authorized.
In Italy
The decree of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests of 20 December 2024, on the national implementation of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 for dealcoholised wines, was published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale No 36 of 13 February 2025. Among its provisions, the decree:
- takes over the EU definitions of "dealcoholised" and "partially dealcoholised" and the permitted processes: partial vacuum evaporation, membrane techniques, distillation;
- excludes products with a protected designation of origin or a protected geographical indication from total or partial dealcoholisation;
- prohibits increasing the sugar content of the must used for the wine to be dealcoholised, and adding external water or aromas to the dealcoholised product; the wine's own water and aromas may be recovered only within the process, in a closed circuit;
- requires the category and the term "dealcoholised" or "partially dealcoholised" to appear on the label in a uniform text, in characters of equal prominence.
The tax regime followed with the decree of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance of 29 December 2025, which governs excise duty for wine dealcoholisation processes, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale No 3 of 5 January 2026.
The market: the example of beer in Germany
For beer, where alcohol-free products have existed for a long time, data from the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) show the size of the trend. In 2025, about 616 million liters of alcohol-free beer were produced in Germany, 6.5 % more than the almost 579 million liters of 2024. In the same year, production of alcoholic beer fell by 5.8 %, to about 6.8 billion liters.
616 million liters
Alcohol-free beer produced in Germany in 2025
+6.5 %
Compared with almost 579 million liters in 2024
−5.8 %
Alcoholic beer in 2025, about 6.8 billion liters
A narrow threshold
The category on the label depends on the actual alcoholic strength, that is, on a measured value. Near 0.5 % vol, even small interventions on the product can change the category.
The Tempranillo rosé study, Beverages 2024
A Spanish experimental study published in Beverages in 2024 shows this. A La Mancha Tempranillo rosé was dealcoholised in a spinning cone column; the aromatic distillate collected during dealcoholisation was then added back to the dealcoholised wine at 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 % v/v, to recover the lost aroma. The intensity of fruity and sweet notes increased with the dose. With 1.5 %, however, the alcoholic strength exceeded the legal limit for dealcoholised wine, and the sample was classified as a reduced-alcohol wine; with 1.0 % it stayed within the limits. The authors identify 1 % as the dose that enhances aroma while remaining in the category. In Italy the 2024 decree allows the wine's own aromas to be recovered only within the dealcoholisation process, in a closed circuit.
Measuring alcoholic strength
The actual alcoholic strength of wines, musts and beers is determined on the distillate. The reference method OIV-MA-AS312-01 involves distilling the sample and measuring the mass density of the distillate, from which the alcoholic strength is derived with the alcoholometric tables.
SDEE and MIA 2020
For this method Gibertini Elettronica makes the SDEE automatic distiller, which distills 100 mL of wine in 3–4 minutes, and the MIA 2020 hydrostatic balance, which measures alcoholic strength from 0.050 to 99.980 % vol with 0.005 % vol readability and ±0.01 % vol repeatability between 15 and 25 °C.
0.050–99.980 % vol
Alcoholic strength range, MIA 2020
0.005 % vol
Alcoholic strength readability, MIA 2020
±0.01 % vol
Repeatability between 15 and 25 °C, MIA 2020
3–4 minutes
Distillation of 100 mL of wine, SDEE
- Regulation (EU) 2021/2117 of 2 December 2021, OJ L 435 of 6.12.2021: Article 1, point 32 (Article 119 of Regulation No 1308/2013) and Annex VII, Part II.
- Masaf decree of 20 December 2024, dealcoholised wines, Gazzetta Ufficiale, general series No 36 of 13 February 2025 (in Italian).
- MEF decree of 29 December 2025, excise duty for wine dealcoholisation processes, Gazzetta Ufficiale, general series No 3 of 5 January 2026 (in Italian).
- Destatis, production of alcohol-free beer in 2025, 7 July 2026 (in German).
- M. Osorio Alises, E. Sánchez-Palomo, M. A. González Viñas, "Enhancing the Aroma of Dealcoholized La Mancha Tempranillo Rosé Wines with Their Aromatic Distillates", Beverages 10(4):123, 2024.
Last updated: November 10, 2026