Aroma stripping
What it is
When dealcoholisation pulls out too many volatile aroma compounds (esters, higher alcohols, varietal notes) and they are not recovered or put back well, the fault is aroma stripping. On the nose the wine smells muted, flat or generic.
It is not a reductive wine and not a microbial fault. Ethanol does not leave alone; it takes part of the aromatic profile with it. That is why vacuum routes work in stages (capture essence, remove alcohol, return essence) and why aroma modules such as Solos exist: they do not remove alcohol; they adsorb and reinject aroma from a distillate.
On aromatic whites and 0.0% wine
On Verdejo, Albariño, Godello and kin, stripping is the risk you taste first. A spinning cone, GoLo or another vacuum column can recover a lot of essence; still, pass order, temperature and reinjection decide the result. On membrane routes, volatiles on the permeate or strip side still need a deliberate rebuild plan before bottling. Context: aromatic whites.
A muted wine after dealcoholisation is not fixed by “more fruit in the vineyard” alone. You need a capture-and-return plan (or an aroma module). Do not confuse stripping with cork taint or Brett: the cause is physical carry-over of volatiles with the ethanol.
Label / EU note
There is no legal mention called “stripping”. Labels speak in category and strength (dealcoholised, alcohol-free / 0.0%); aromatic quality is a cellar decision.