Loire start-up focuses entirely on alcohol-free offerings

There are still only a few wine-based alcohol-free beverages, and not all of them are great quality. But the market will change, with better quality products, because there is demand”. Baptiste Brossard-Kimmel’s determination is as firmly rooted as his entrepreneurial strategy. The thirty something, Paris-based engineer specialising in management has launched a start-up company with four partners to produce de-alcoholised Loire wines. The company, Vins Bécat, is based in Contres, in the Loir-et-Cher region.

Brossard-Kimmel believes that the Loire Valley lends itself particularly well to de-alcoholised wines: “The wines there are not too high in alcohol and winegrowers are more open-minded. Our aim is also to develop de-alcoholisation services for winegrowers who want to complement their range with alcohol-free labels. Some producers, in Loir-et-Cher and Muscadet, are ready to give it a go”.

At the start of this year, the young partners released their first label, ‘Sarment O’, with an ABV of around 0.5%. “We produced 4,000 bottles from Chenin grown in Montlouis. We enriched it with rectified concentrated grape must after de-alcoholisation using vacuum evaporation and then stabilised it using SO2 and sorbic acid”, explains Brossard-Kimmel. “We secured listings with a Paris wine merchant where it retails for €16.50 and online at €12. Sales have got off to a good start. We are also starting to work with an agent to grow sales in restaurants and wine merchants”.

The entrepreneurs have set a target of 20,000 bottles for this year. They plan to release a second label, an alcohol-free rosé made from Gamay, Pinot noir, Grolleau or Cabernet from the Loire Valley.