BALTIMORE – Alcohol-free wine is creating a buzz, the Baltimore Sun reports. With fewer calories, non-alcoholic vino also provides some of the health benefits associated with moderate regular-wine consumption, said Fergus Clydesdale, head of the department of food science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

“If the same grapes were used, the wine would have the same kind of phenolics (antioxidants), ” said Clydesdale.

Usually, alcohol-free wine extracts the alcohol via a filter or vacuum process that leaves its other components intact. By law, these wines must contain less than one-half to 1 percent alcohol.

The public is beginning to embrace non-alcoholic wine. Ariel Vineyards sold 1.2 million bottles of alcohol-free wine last year, according to Craig Rosser, sales marketing director for Ariel and export director for J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, Ariel’s parent company.

Even Carl Jung wine, made in Germany and available only online in the United States, managed to sell 20,000 bottles in the United States in 2006, said Ray Hermiston, the company’s Internet sales manager.

Alcohol-free wine targets consumers who don’t like alcohol or can’t drink it for medical reasons. Designated drivers and pregnant women also like non-alcoholic wine options. “Our core customer is someone who hasn’t developed a taste for wine, and they like their beverages sweet,” said Rosser.