How to Choose a Great Non-Alcoholic Wine: Advice from a Sommelier
Walk into a supermarket today and you'll probably find at least a handful of alcohol-free wines. Browse online and you'll find hundreds. Sparkling wines from France, reds from Spain, Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, rosé from Provence—the category has grown so quickly that, for many people, the hardest part is no longer finding a bottle but working out which one is actually worth buying.
It's a nice problem to have. Five years ago, we were often trying to persuade people that good non-alcoholic wine existed at all. Today the conversation has changed. People know there are good options available; they just don't want to waste money finding them.
That's understandable.
Wine has never been a category where the biggest range automatically means the best choice, and alcohol-free wine is no different. After tasting hundreds of bottles over the years—some brilliant, some forgettable—we've found that the same principles we use to judge traditional wine apply just as well here.
The alcohol might be missing, but everything else that matters is still there.
Start with the winery, not the label
One of the first things I look for has nothing to do with alcohol content. I want to know who's behind the wine.
Are they a winery that has spent decades growing grapes and making wine, or is this simply another product in a lifestyle brand's portfolio? There's nothing inherently wrong with either approach, but in our experience the most convincing alcohol-free wines almost always come from people who understand wine first.
That probably isn't surprising. Making great alcohol-free wine still begins with making great wine.
If the vineyard is well managed, the grapes are picked at the right time and the base wine has balance and character before the alcohol is removed, you've already solved most of the challenge. The dealcoholization process is important, but it can't rescue an ordinary wine.
It's a bit like cooking. Exceptional ingredients don't guarantee an exceptional meal, but poor ingredients make it much harder to achieve one.
Don't assume expensive means better—but don't expect miracles from the cheapest bottle either
People often ask why a premium alcohol-free wine costs almost as much as a traditional one.
The answer is fairly simple. Everything that goes into producing a quality bottle of wine still has to happen. The vineyard still needs looking after, the grapes still need harvesting, fermentation still takes place and the wine still needs ageing, blending and bottling. Removing the alcohol is an additional step, not a replacement for any of the others.
That doesn't mean every expensive bottle is worth the money, but it does explain why a carefully made alcohol-free wine isn't automatically cheaper than its alcoholic equivalent.
Like most things in wine, value is usually a better measure than price alone.
Pay attention to the grape variety
People sometimes become so focused on the words alcohol-free that they forget they're still choosing a Sauvignon Blanc, a Pinot Noir or a Chenin Blanc.
Those grape varieties matter just as much as they always have.
If you enjoy the crisp, aromatic style of Sauvignon Blanc, chances are you'll be drawn to similar characteristics in a non-alcoholic version. If lighter reds are more your style, Pinot Noir is often a good place to start. The same preferences you already have haven't disappeared simply because you're drinking differently.
In many ways, the category becomes much less intimidating once you stop thinking of it as something entirely separate from wine.
From the Sommelier
One question we ask ourselves whenever we're tasting a potential new addition to the portfolio is surprisingly straightforward:
"Would we recommend this if alcohol wasn't part of the conversation?"
It's easy to be impressed by the technical achievement of removing alcohol while preserving flavour. But that's only part of the story.
At the end of the day, it still has to be a wine you genuinely want to pour with dinner, share with friends or recommend to a customer who's trusting your advice.
If the answer is no, it doesn't matter how clever the production process was.
Buy from someone who tastes for a living
The world doesn't need another retailer stocking hundreds of wines simply because they can.
We've deliberately taken the opposite approach.
Every bottle in our range has earned its place after a lot of discussion, comparison and, occasionally, disagreement. There have been wines that impressed us in the first five minutes but fell apart once food arrived. Others grew more interesting as the evening went on. Some were technically flawless but somehow lacked personality.
Those conversations are part of the job, and they're also the value of buying from someone who spends their working life tasting wine rather than simply listing products online.
Think about the occasion
A bottle that shines at a summer lunch isn't necessarily the one you'd open alongside a rich mushroom risotto in November.
One of the nicest things about alcohol-free wine is that it invites exactly the same thought process as traditional wine. You can still think about the season, the menu and the people around the table.
That, to me, is the point.
Choosing not to drink alcohol shouldn't mean giving up the pleasure of selecting a wine that suits the moment.
A final thought
If there's one piece of advice I'd offer anyone exploring alcohol-free wine, it's this: don't judge the category on your first bottle.
Most wine lovers didn't fall in love with wine after a single glass, and the same is true here. The more you taste, the more you'll begin to recognise the styles, producers and grape varieties that suit your own palate.
That's where the enjoyment lies—not in finding the mythical "perfect" bottle, but in discovering wines you'd happily come back to again and again.
