Best Non-Alcoholic Wine and Low-Alcohol Wines to Try This Year

Whether you’re abstaining from alcohol or hoping to reduce your consumption, there are options out there that let you have your wine and drink it too. The standard level of alcohol in wine usually falls between 11 and 13% ABV (alcohol by volume) while de-alcoholized wine lands around 0.5% ABV and alcohol-free comes in at the expected 0.0% ABV.

Before we dive into the good stuff, it’s important to note that the USDA recommends that alcohol be consumed in moderation – up to one drink per day for women, two for men. The one-drink-equivalent for a glass of wine with 12% ABV is 5 ounces, just under 4 ounces for 15% ABV, and 3.5 ounces for 17% ABV. With Coravin, you taste through multiple bottles throughout the week or month without the pressure to finish the bottle – whether it’s alcoholic wine or not.

Read on for our wine recommendations and additional non-alcoholic wine FAQs like how it’s made, where to buy it, and if it spoils.

Best non-alcoholic wines to try

If alcohol is on your no-fly list, there are options out there for both de-alcoholized (0.5% ABV) or alcohol-free (0.0% ABV) wines (more on the differences and nuances below).

Let’s start with some whites we’re looking to try:

• Leitz Eins Zwei Zero Riesling N.V.: Comes with a screw cap closure and pairs well with pork, shrimp, anc spicy dishes.

• Gisen 0% Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc: Hailing from New Zealand, this one has aromas of fresh lime, redcurrant, and lemon shortbread with flavors like citrus, blackcurrant, and passionfruit – making it a great pairing for fresh, light meals.

• Luminara Chardonnay Alcohol Removed: Grown and bottled in the Napa Valley, this Chardonnay has rich tropical aromas and a palate of Fuji apples and lemon cream. The finish is clean and crisp making it a great wine pairing for grilled fish, raw seafood, and vegetable-forward dishes.

Here’s a non-alcoholic rosé that people are buzzing about:

• Pierre Zēro Rosé: This wine is a brilliant rose color with intense aromas of red fruits. The Chardonnay and Merlot grapes that make up this non-alcoholic rosé are harvested at night in low temperatures. Pair it will grilled foods, salads, or anything sweet.

Now onto the non-alcoholic red wines:

• Ariel Cabernet Sauvignon: This Cabernet Sauvignon is de-alocholized meaning it has less than 0.5% ABV. It’s rich in color, oak-aged, and pairs great with manchego cheese, carne asada, Texas chili, and Friday wood-fired pizza.

• Surely Non-Alcoholic Pinot Noir: With grapes sourced on the California coast, this full-bodied win has a romantic, velvet hue. It’s easy-to-drink and pairs well with Asian dishes, Thanksgiving dinner, and even mushroom risotto – talk about versatility.

Non-alcoholic sparkling wine

We couldn’t leave Coravin Sparkling™ out of the mix. If bubbly has been on your mind since the holidays, here are some non-alcoholic sparkling wines to add to your cart:

• Codorniu Zero Brut: Hailing from Spain, this sparkling wine has fresh sweet tropical fruit, apple, and citrus flavors on a rich, fruity palate. Pale straw-gold with a gentle fizz it shows notes of sweet tropical fruit and blossom. Also available as a Brut Rosé.

• Noughty Alcohol-Free Sparkling Chardonnay: Made from 100% organic Chardonnay grapes, this wine is low in sugar and calories. Perfect to sip on over the course of a night or mix into a mocktail.

• TÖST Non-Alcoholic Sparkling Beverage: Made with white tea, TÖST and TÖST ROSÉ are great additions to the alcohol-free section of your bar cart. Pair with salads, summer meals, and sweet dishes.

How is non-alcoholic wine made?

There are a few ways to remove alcohol from wine: cold filtration, vacuum method, and a spinning cone column. Here’s how they work:

• Cold filtration works by reverse osmosis and can eliminate alcohol from wine, as the name suggests, without any heat. It’s done at a low temperature (~55°F) so that the wine retains its natural flavors. In case you need a little science lesson about reverse osmosis (we did), wine flows from a base tank along a membrane rather than through it. This mesh-like membrane surrounds cylinders that separate wine into a syrupy mix of alcohol and water. The cycle is repeated multiple times and the final product is a concentrate that is free from alcohol.

• Vacuum distillation utilized vaporization to remove alcohol from wine. The process works by basically “boiling” the alcohol out of wine without the flavor-damaging high heat. The alcohol, existing in the vapor, is vacuumed out over the course of a few minutes.

• Spinning cone columns is another way to remove alcohol from wine. Like the name suggests, in a stainless steel spinning cone column alcohol is removed from fermented wine. During the process, the aroma and flavor compounds of the wine are separated from the alcohol, then the alcohol is removed instead of being mixed back in like an alcoholic wine.

Can I use Coravin on non-alcoholic wines?

Coravin Timeless, Coravin Pivot and Coravin Sparkling can all be used on non-alcoholic wines with any closures. Use Timeless on bottles with natural corks or utilize the Timeless Screw Cap for twist-off bottles. If you only need your wine to last up to 4 weeks, Pivot is your go-to for still wines and Sparkling is your move for Sparkling wines.

Will non-alcoholic wines spoil?

Yes. In general, apply the same rules as you would alcoholic wine. Wines last anywhere between one and five days once opened. If you aren’t using Coravin to pour non-alcoholic wines, be sure to cork unopened wine, store it upright in a cold, dark place like the refrigerator or countertop away from the stove, oven, and sun.

Where to shop for alcohol-free wines

You can shop for these wines at your local wine shop or grocery store, but probably more reliably online. If you love to shop local, have a conversation with the staff to express your interest in low or no-alcohol wines.

Tell us which low-alcohol or no-alcohol wines you’re loving lately. Send us a message on social media and we’ll add it to our list!