Wine Spectator: Do De-Alcoholized Wines Deliver?

When Wine Spectator puts non-alcoholic wine through a serious blind tasting, it feels like a real moment for why we started Joyus in the first place. Our mission has always been about making celebrations more inclusive, so choosing sobriety, moderation, or a night off never feels like missing out. Seeing non-alcoholic wines evaluated with the same care and respect as traditional wines is a big step toward making everyone feel welcome at the table.

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It may be Dry January, but nonalcoholic drinks have become a year-round fascination. A convergence of evolving lifestyle trends and growing anti-booze activism has pushed overall drinking statistics downward, especially among younger consumers. So it’s no surprise that both established brands and entrepreneurial newcomers have leaped at the opportunity to meet a rising demand for inventive, nonalcoholic alternatives to wine.

Until recently, my experience with de-alcoholized (DA) wines was limited—mainly because I much prefer the real thing. Still, I’m intrigued by the idea of nonalcoholic (NA) beverages crafted for grown-up palates. We’re long overdue for inspired alternatives to juice, soda and tonic—complex, delicious options for when we want a drink without actually wanting to drink. There are a variety of approaches emerging, including creations based on tea, juice or verjus, often with added botanicals, that are nonalcoholic to begin with. For this report, I focused exclusively on de-alcoholized wine: liquid that starts as alcoholic wine and has its booze removed.

These DA beverages, just like good wine, should fulfill a craving for engaging flavors, dynamic textures and a sense of tension and resistance—whether through acidity, bitterness, richness or other distinctive elements. And because different occasions call for different experiences, a broad range of flavors and characters to choose from is called for too.

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