Article du sudouest.fr du 12/03/2023

Following a customer’s request, Coralie de Bouard launched last year a dealcoholized wine, produced according to the rules of the art.

Producing a dealcoholized wine, tel, is the challenge taken up by Coralie de Bouärd, owner of Château Clos de Bouärd classified in Montagne Saint-Émilion. Thus was born the brand Prince Oscar, contraction of the name of his son and the first customer to have placed an order for this non-alcoholic nectar: the Parc des Princes.

A marketing niche? Not for the winemaker in search of innovation. “This is aimed at pregnant women as well as people who have health or alcohol problems, but also evening captains or those who abstain for religious reasons… All will have the pleasure of tasting a nice product and sharing a moment of conviviality” summarizes the winemaker who embarked on the adventure because solicited

Aged in barrels

In the midst of the Bordeaux wine crisis, she knows the perilous subject. Moreover, the appellation Montagne Saint-Emilion does not appear on the label. “Without knowing, people attack. It’s scary because it’s not well known, whereas it comes out as a quality product.” It took a year of experimentation and a partnership with a Parisian start-up B & $ Tech, specialized in the vacuum evaporation process, before releasing the first bottles in spring 2022;

“The idea is to produce a high-end wine according to the usual process. It is thus completely fermented and aged in barrels, before being sent by tanker truck to a Parisian laboratory to be cold-cooled under vacuum, in a single pass through a membrane to keep the shine of the fruit. The cuvée is heated to 35° to remove all traces of alcohol. A heresy for some, even if the temperature is deliberately controlled to reduce the impact of this heating.

“We did everything to find the notion of fruit that we like to have,” says Coralie de Bouard. »

A fruity aroma

“We did everything to find the notion of fruit that we like to have. notion of fruit that we like to haveAlcohol brings taste, fat. We managed to rebalance his absence thanks to the addition of many. In the end it gives a fruitier wine for which we maintain a tannic structure, even if it is less present, summarizes Coralie de Bouard. The wine lovers we meet are rarely convinced. For most of them, the appearance works well, but the nose and taste do not deceive. Clearly, insiders place it between wine and grape juice. On the other hand, they find that it leaves the same sensation of deposit on the tongue. And for good reason, it is a wine produced according to the rules of the art.

Criticisms already heard by the winemaker but, for her, the visual and decorum count as much as the taste: uncorking the bottle, toasting, tasting a good bottle as dealcoholized as it is with a good little dish. “It helps to put everyone back together. It is also an element of connection and sharing. And in view of the orders that continue to grow in France as well as in Germany, Saudi Arabia, on the African continent and soon in Asia, Prince Oscar also seems to meet an expectation.