Is Nonalcoholic Wine Any Good?

[A version of this article appears originally in Volume 1 Issue 2 of LOKL News]

Non-alcoholic drinks have not always had the best reputation. But times have changed, my friend.

The market for non-alcoholic, or NA, beer, wine and spirits has surpassed $8 billion. With a B.

Having increased 40% in the last decade alone, sales are expected to double in the next five years. 

NA spirits have exploded, growing 86% in the last year alone. Even Katy Perry has one.

Also, we hear a lot about NA beer due to endorsements from the likes of Tom Holland and Charlie Sheen. But what about non-alcoholic wine?

For a little perspective, we spoke to wine expert Peter Clarke from Amanti Vino in Morristown.

What’s behind the growth in NA?

Alcohol sales spiked during COVID, but afterward, “The alcohol business got worse and it stayed that way. People still wanted to drink, but they didn't want the alcohol. And soon they wanted better tasting NA stuff. We’ve grown our NA selection exponentially because we’ve gotten so many people asking about NA products.

How does one determine good NA wine from not-so-good?

Peter breaks it down: “My number one rule is drink what you enjoy. Life is too short to drink what you don’t like!”

But in terms of wine quality, the parameters are the same for regular wine. “Is it dry or is it sweet, and if so how sweet? Does it taste like wine instead or grape juice?”

“Another point is de-alcoholized versus true alcohol-free. De-alcoholized wine has tiny trace amounts of alcohol. It adds some weight and character to the wine instead of it being like grape juice. If I was looking for a good NA wine, I’d probably choose de-alcoholized, but if you really want no alcohol at all for any reason, then you would go for true 100% alcohol-free wine. Regardless, there’s no way to know you'll like it from the label. What makes it good is, how does it taste to you?”

I’ll drink to that, and still be good to drive!