13 Best Non-Alcoholic Wine Brands You Can Buy

Having seen the detrimental impact alcohol can have on families and communities Moa Gürbüzer, an ex-social worker, launched Oddbird in an effort to prove that great-tasting wine need not be alcoholic. Key to this effort was developing a complex taste, achieved with minimal processing. This is a challenge that many non-alcoholic wine producers have faced, according to Wine Folly, with some feeling that there is little option but to use alcohol extraction methods that destroy the wine's delicate taste.

According to a press release by Oddbird, the company manages to avoid the destruction of the wine's flavor by removing the alcohol via a patented method. Although the details are unknown, it does involve vacuum distillation, a process that separates compounds based on differences in boiling points, per Busch.

Oddbird is clearly onto something, with the company's products tasting markedly superior to other non-alcoholic wines, as noted by Christine Parkinson, founder of Brimful Drinks, a no/low drinks consultancy. In an interview with Drinks Retailing, she said, "Until now, most non-alc wine was based on fairly entry-level alcoholic wines. The rise of specialist start-ups is changing that landscape, and better quality is the result. A good example is the Oddbird range. Their wines are drier and more expressive than most, and they are pushing boundaries. Their two reds (Oddbird Low Intervention Organic Red and Domaine de la Prade Organic) are good, and their sparkling rosé is currently the best available."

There are two main approaches when it comes to producing non-alcoholic wine. The more traditional way is to make a regular-strength wine and then extract the alcohol. The alternative is to create a beverage that is inspired by wine, one which — while not using traditional ingredients or production methods, nor directly imitating the taste — still fulfills the role of wine. Töst falls firmly into the latter category with the flagship product being made from white cranberry, ginger, and white tea. As a result, it is naturally alcohol-free and needn't undergo complex and potentially detrimental alcohol extraction processes.

The one issue with creating a wine-inspired beverage is convincing people that it is a suitable, adult replacement for wine and not just a glorified soda. Of course, one of the main ways of tackling this misconception is through design and marketing. With its sleek bottle and minimalist label, it is clear that Töst has been made to suit the most formal of celebrations. The appearance is mirrored by its mature taste, as explained by company CEO Brooks Addington. "Sophisticated, refreshing, meaningful, dry, and crisp — that's what we're going after," he said. "It has a ginger taste to it, but it has various citrus notes to it, also, to open it up. People are thrilled to have a non-alcoholic option, and our product offers a sophistication."

Luminara's two wines, a red blend and a chardonnay, consistently surprise consumers with just how close they are in taste, texture, and scent to regular, alcoholic wines. Of the two, the red blend seems to be slightly superior. PureWow gave this wine an impressive score of 97/100 and noted the classic smokey and spiced flavors that appeared on the palate. Luminara's chardonnay doesn't fall far behind and scored 93/100 Tasters note it was hard to tell the difference between this glass of chardonnay and one with alcohol.

While some may prefer the red blend, Luminara wines have a complexity of flavor not often seen in non-alcoholic wines. This is a product of the wine's aging process, which takes place in oak barrels. 

The wines are produced in Napa Valley, one of the best wine-producing regions in the world. Both varieties retail around the $20 mark, before taxes and shipping, making it markedly cheaper than most Napa Valley wines (via Better Rhodes), as if you needed another reason to try them.

It is true that non-alcoholic wine sales have lagged behind those of other non-alcoholic beverages, such as beer and spirits. Yet, the market for non-alcoholic wine is still growing. No brand typifies this better than the New Zealand-based Giesen which, as Forbes reports, has seen a huge 454% increase in shipments to the United States. 

Explaining this massive surge in demand was Giesen winemaker, Duncan Shouler. "Most of our consumers are habitual wine drinkers, and they want the experiential aspect of drinking wine while also prioritizing their own wellness choices," he said in an interview with Bar & Restaurant. "With alcohol-removed wine, many people have come to realize that an appealing option exists that includes both of these elements. This has driven a larger demand for premium, high-quality, dealcoholized wines that match the flavor and experience of drinking full-strength wines."

Giesen produces a number of wines, many of them full strength, and it is this robust knowledge and industrial expertise concerning all things wine that has enabled the brand to create such high-quality dealcoholized alternatives. Despite creating a range of dealcoholized wines, sauvignon blanc – New Zealand's most famous grape variety – is always going to be the yardstick by which any wine producer from the country is measured. Unsurprisingly, Giesen's zero alcohol sauvignon blanc passes the test with flying colors, demonstrating all the characteristics you would expect, including flavors of ripe fruits, a hit of tartness, and a crisp finish.

St Regis markets itself as a wine brand that caters to what it calls the "sober curious," those who sit at neither end of the alcohol-drinking extremes. The array of wines with which they seek to entice the sober curious is impressive, ranging from chardonnay to cabernet sauvignon. As with several other brands on this list, St Regis' wines begin with high-quality grapes from some of the world's best vineyards. They are fermented and aged using tried and tested, then vacuum distillation is employed to remove the alcohol.

While St Regis' products are made in the traditional manner, the brand stands out by promoting them not solely as a wine, but as an important addition to any mocktail cabinet. Exciting recipes for beverages, such as the Noma Sour, make unique use of St Regis' products, potentially opening up a whole new dimension for even experienced, non-alcoholic wine drinkers.

Having your wines praised by noted food writer and The New York Times columnist, Florence Fabricant is no mean feat. Yet, after launching Noughty in 2019, this kind of glowing praise is perhaps becoming routine for Amanda Thomson, founder and CEO of Noughty, currently one of the world's hottest, non-alcoholic wine brands.

Speaking to Smithsonian Magazine, Thomson stated how Noughty's newest offering, a dealcoholized syrah, regains its character post-alcohol extraction. "The less than 0.5 percent alcohol [in our dealcoholized wine] is from the flavor we build back into the wine," she says. "We use different tannins, mannoproteins and very small doses of sugar to rebuild the body and structure of the wine to our exacting taste." Aside from this great taste, Noughty is also an inclusive wine brand, with all their products being halal, vegan, and low in sugar.

The high quality of all three Noughty wines — a syrah, a sparkling chardonnay, and a sparkling rosé — should come as little surprise; Thomson has a string of accolades attached to her name, including a diploma in wine from Le Cordon Bleu and being one of Business Insider's 100 coolest people in the food industry in 2019.

It was the marriage of wine and wellness that was the inspiration behind Surely, as founder and CEO Ryan Hanson explained to Forbes. "We started Surely with this mindset of let's build something that's really high quality and [is] also a really clean label," he said. "So kind of feeling like you're able to have something that's sophisticated and elevated, just like all the other craft alcoholic beverages, but you don't have to make that health trade-off as a result. And not only not alcoholic, but also not a bunch of sugar, not a bunch of carbs — like something that really feels like you can maintain whatever your lifestyle goals are while enjoying being part of a moment with everybody else."

Since launching, Surely has gone on to meet this remit, with its high-quality wines — including sauvigon blancs, pinot noirs, and sparkling rosés — becoming hugely popular, especially in the months of January and October. Thanks to the sourcing of excellent grapes, a patient and diligent winemaking process, and the use of spinning cone column technology (via Surely), all products produced by the brand are uncannily close in both taste and texture to the wine industry's leading alcoholic options.