“Those who make alcohol-free wine should go to jail. If I had the power to send them there, honestly, I would”

rmand Heitz’s motto is ‘Terroir, unfiltered’. A Burgundy winegrower, éleveur and agronomist, he lives up to it – never one to beat about the vine when it comes to sharing his opinions about the wine industry. His candour is on full display in this interview where he rails against what he sees as the excesses of the temperance-driven Dry January movement, and against the very notion of alcohol-free wine.

Armand Heitz: First of all, there is no such thing as alcohol-free wine – it’s an oxymoron. If you don’t fancy alcohol, there’s a whole host of alternatives already out there: kombucha, kefir, fermented drinks full of life, yeast and bacteria that are very good for gut microbiota. Alcohol-free wine is the product of an era in which humanity believes it can control natural things, appropriate them and reshape them through machines and technology. The result is Frankenstein. Let’s be honest for once – alcohol-free wine is crap, there is no other word for it. It tastes awful. There is no molecular structure capable of delivering even the slightest organoleptic value or quality. Today, people are afraid to say what they think. We say yes to everything, but we shouldn’t be afraid to call something out when it’s lousy.

I am very familiar with de-alcoholisation techniques – I actually hosted a seminar on de-alcoholisation at the estate. When the aim is to remove a few degrees of alcohol, it can make sense and the environmental impact is not that significant. In this regard, it can be compared to traditional methods. But going from 9-12% ABV to 0%? That’s nonsense! It’s absurd. It makes no sense whatsoever. Those who make alcohol-free wine should go to jail. If I had the power to send them there, honestly, I would.

No. Because by tolerating this kind of nonsense, we’re destroying the planet. We’re destroying it right now, it’s killing us, and everyone just carries on regardless. But what are we leaving to future generations? What is my daughter going to say to me? “Dad, you let people keep doing all these absurd things that destroyed the planet – and you were a part of it, even though I will probably die because of it”. Why do we have cancer? Why are we losing our fertility? How do you explain that? It’s precisely because we have been too accommodating – too willing to tolerate this kind of thing.