Are Non-Alcoholic Wines worth the hype?

When shopping for a non-alcoholic wine, be sure it says “De-alcoholized” or “Alcohol removed” on the bottle.

Non alcoholic wines have increased in popularity over the last 3-4 years. Whether it’s a tendency towards a seemingly healthier lifestyle or simply generational habits shifting, wine makers are racing to come out with great non-alcoholic options. But how do you know if you’re buying good alcohol free wine or just grape juice?

When shopping for non-alcoholic wine, the first thing you want to look for are the words “De-alcoholized” or “alcohol removed” on the bottle. If the wine doesn’t include one of these terms, it’s likely that the wine in the bottle is grape juice that hasn’t even been fermented. Technically Welch’s could call their juice “non-alcoholic" wine” because they are pressed grape juice, right? The terms “de-alcoholized” and “alcohol removed” signify that this wine was made in the same method as a traditional bottle of wine. It was fermented and alcohol was produced, but somewhere along the way, the alcohol was removed. These are going to be your best bet at finding something that doesn’t have alcohol, but tastes similar to an alcoholic wine.

It’s important to note that similar to a lot of non-alcoholic beers, many non-alcoholic wines can still contain trace amounts of alcohol. To be considered “non-alcoholic”, they only have to legally contain less than 0.5% ABV (alcohol by volume). So many non alcoholic wines are not alcohol free! In order to be alcohol free, they must have 0% alcohol.

That said, there are some fruit juices and even sodas that have trace amounts of alcohol from natural fermentation. They are all considered non-alcoholic by the US Food & Drug Administration because they have less than 0.5% ABV.

Check out Episode #26 of The Wine CEO Podcast for live reactions to some Non-alcoholic wines!

Non-Alcoholic wines can be a great option for women who are pregnant! In Episode #26 of The Wine CEO Podcast, I tasted 4 de-alcoholized wines with a few of my friends. It was a hilarious episode where we gave live responses to each of the wines and rated their drinkability. I’ve listed the wines below, but be sure to check out the full episode to listen to us try each one!

Below are the 4 wines that we tried as well as a brief review of each wine. Be sure to listen to the show to get our full reactions and why we rated each wine as below!

1. Almost Zero Ravishing Rose

Rating: 5.5/10

• This wine label from South Africa makes a white, red, rose, and sparkling that are all de-alcoholized. They claim that all of their wines have 0.4%ABV and are lower in sugar than the average wine.

• Sadly, we were underwhelmed by their rose. It had a very odd aroma and a weird aftertaste.

• Only 1/3 of my friends said that she would drink this while she was pregnant. The other 2 said that they would drink it over ice with some sparkling water or juice, but wouldn't drink it on it's own.

• Overall, we rated it a 5.5/10 as someone who likes dry rose and is desperate for a glass of wine during pregnancy may enjoy it.

2. Giesen 0% Sauvignon Blanc

Rating: 7/10

• This was definitely the best NA wine we tried. I actually did a blind tasting where I gave everyone this wine and a regular alcoholic sauvignon blanc from New Zealand. Everyone guessed correctly which one was non-alcoholic, but they did hesitate for a moment, which speaks to the quality of the de-alcoholized wine.

• The aromas were pleasant and the flavor profile did remind me of a lighter sauvignon blanc. Sadly, it was a bit flat on the end though and lost so much flavor within seconds.

• Again, only 1/3 of my friends said they would drink it on their own and the other 2 said they would turn it into a white sangria or mocktail.

• Overall we rated this wine a 7/10 as it was the best of the 4 we tried. If you were looking for a glass of white wine, this is the best one I've found on the market.

3. Alternativa 0.0 Rosso 

Rating: 0/10

• I can't beat around the bush....this wine was awful. We all agreed that it had almost no flavor. It had a very light scent on the nose and then no body at all.

• Sadly it tasted watered down. Maybe we got a bad bottle, but it was truly terrible.

• I was disappointed since I love Italian red wines and this one was made from the well known grape varietal Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.

• But at the end of the day, we rated this a 0/10 as we could not in good faith recommend it to anyone!

4. St. Regis Cabernet Sauvignon

Rating: 3/10

• Although this red wine was better than the Alternativa 0.0, we were still disappointed by the lack of flavor.

• For a Cabernet Sauvignon, it had extremely light body and almost no structure. One of my friends said that it tasted like grape juice to her and not wine at all.

• We rated this wine a 3/10 because it has enough flavor that you could turn it into a red NA sangria, but it's not good enough to drink on its own.

It was suggested that we need to do a second episode on non-alcoholic sparkling wines. I agree this would be a popular topic and will have to add this to my list for future content. Sadly, at this point, I’ve concluded that while there may be a few decent non-alcoholic wines on the market that could be used as mixers in mocktails or sangria, they can be hit or miss to drink on their own. Additionally, they can be surprisingly expensive for the quality ($14-$25).

I will be on the lookout for better options though and will continue to update you all. I'm determined to find a great non-alcoholic wine for my pregnant friends and others who want to cut back on alcohol, so stay tuned and let me know if you’ve tried any great non-alcoholic wines!