November Notes: Exploring the Evolving World of Non-Alcoholic Wine
- thenasommelier
- Nov 17
- 5 min read
Updated: Nov 17
As the holiday season speedily approaches, let's take a moment to acknowledge the joys of day drinking...specifically day drinking NA wine. As I write this, at 11 am on a Monday morning I am guiltlessly sipping a glass of Missing Thorn Red Blend (my latest NA red discovery), listening to Mills Brothers and watching the Seattle dark slowly take over the autumn's brilliant orange and yellows. Thank the gods for day drinking indeed.
This November, I’ve devoted my attention to a category that is evolving faster, and with more creativity, than almost any other in the non-alcoholic beverage world: NA wine. I’ve spent the last few years dedicated to studying how flavor, texture, and balance can be built without alcohol, and this moment feels like a turning point.
What once lived on the bottom shelf as a grape-juice alternative has transformed into a vibrant category with its own innovators, language, and unmistakable craft. Don't get me wrong, this category is still in its infancy but more and more I can see the story of NA wine maturing with intention, technique, and genuine culinary artistry.
A Brief, Candid History of NA Wine
From early 1900's Puritan attempts at de-alcoholized communion wine to Germany's Carl Jung pioneering vacuum distillation, NA wine has been around for a minute. But as mindful drinking, sober-curious culture, and inclusive hospitality gains traction, everything is changing. Serious winemakers, chefs, fermentation scientists, and beverage creators are applying their craft to the challenge of making wine without alcohol.
And it is a challenge.
Alcohol is not just a source of intoxication, it’s a carrier of aroma, a builder of texture, and a key to integrating sweetness, acidity, and tannin. Remove it, and the entire architecture collapses unless rebuilt with intention. Today’s top NA wine producers aren’t “taking shortcuts.” They’re solving a sensory puzzle and I am so here for it.
Why Making NA Wine Is So Difficult
A great NA wine succeeds in spite of three major technical hurdles:
1. Preserving Aroma Without Alcohol
Aromatics are delicate. Without alcohol to lift them, producers must capture, protect, and recombine aroma compounds so the wine still blossoms on the nose.
2. Creating Texture and Structure
Alcohol provides body, weight, and viscosity. Modern NA winemakers rebuild this using tannins, acidity, fermentation byproducts, lees work, and blending techniques.
3. Restoring Balance
Removing alcohol shifts the entire flavor equation. Sugar, tannin, acidity, and fruit expression must be recalibrated to achieve harmony.This is why today’s great NA wines feel like such an achievement.
Understanding the NA Wine Landscape
For consumers and hospitality professionals alike, it helps to understand the three main categories:
1. Dealcoholized Wine (Traditional Wine, Alcohol Removed)
These wines begin with full fermentation and flavor development before undergoing alcohol removal through:
Reverse Osmosis
Spinning Cone Technology
Vacuum Distillation
This category aims to stay closest to classical wine structure.
2. NA Proxies & Wine-Inspired Beverages
These are crafted from scratch using botanicals, teas, verjus, spices, and tannins to evoke wine’s structure and ritual. Brands like Proxies helped popularize the category with chef-driven flavor design.
3. Grape Juice, Single-Varietal Juices & Verjus
Not technically wine, but often beautiful, complex sippers. High-quality verjus (pressed unripe grapes) brings vivid acidity and works beautifully alone or in NA cocktails.
Standout NA Wines From My Cheeky & Dry Tasting
Last weekend, I spent the afternoon tasting at Cheeky & Dry, where owner Kirsten opened nearly her entire NA wine wall. Kirsten has a great palate so there were a lot of good ones but out of dozens of bottles, four rose above the rest and left me genuinely excited for what’s ahead.
A revelation. This isn’t attempting to mimic wine — instead it leans into fermentation artistry. Steamed
rice is fermented with koji, undergoes a secondary fermentation to build acidity, and is blended with water kefir infused with smoked lavender and mahleb.
The result is savory, umami-rich, textural, and beautifully unexpected. A standout for anyone exploring alternative “white wine” pairings. This, my friends, is the closest(and only?) thing comparable to an NA Sake I have found so if you're a fan of that flavor profile, go grab a bottle now.
Noughty continues to be the reference point for dealcoholized wine and I am a sucker for their rose. Mineral, crisp, elegant — it genuinely drinks like wine.
Behind the bottle is founder Amanda Thomson, a woman of color reshaping the industry. Noughty is a certified B-Corp, ethically driven, and an early champion of treating NA wine as a legitimate culinary category. When I bring it to industry friends — beverage directors, sommeliers, bartenders — the reaction is consistent: “This actually tastes like wine.” And that is no small achievement.
This one stopped me mid-sip.Missing Thorn is the brainchild of celebrated Napa winemaker Aaron Pott and vintner Stephanie Honig, both respected for their craftsmanship and sustainability leadership. Their mission is simple in theory but difficult to execute: alcohol is not required for depth, structure, or aromatic complexity.
This red delivers:
plum and stewed cherry
black tea, cocoa, and subtle spice
tannic structure and balanced acidity
A true winemaker’s NA wine.
My favorite of the entire lineup. Crafted by Domaine Elena de Mendoza, this 0.0% sparkling rosé is made from 100% Airén grapes with low-temperature fermentation, vacuum distillation, and a rose infusion.
The palate offers pear, rose petal, fresh melon — with delicate bubbles and beautiful structure. It’s elegant, celebratory, unique and would absolutely shine on a wine list.
Why I'm Feeling Hopeful
When I began curating NA wine three years ago, I joked that NA wine was like vegan meat 30 years ago, earnest, but not quite there. Today, I no longer say that. We have real contenders. We have producers who care. We have bottles I’m proud to pour for industry pros.
The category is no longer fighting for legitimacy. It’s building momentum.
Speaking of NA Wines, This Thursday, I’ll be leading a tasting at WeRise Wines featuring four carefully selected NA wines. In addition, we’ll move into a hands-on session exploring how to:
build complex NA cocktails using these wines as a base
how do add texture, layers, and balance
augment aroma, structure, and mouthfeel
present NA beverages with hospitality-focused detail
If you’re curious about NA wine or expanding your beverage program, this is the perfect place to begin.
Final Thoughts
As someone who lives knee-deep in the NA world, it’s been fun watching this category glow-up in real time. Is NA wine perfect? Absolutely not. When you take out the thing that carries aroma and body, you can’t expect it to behave like a 2014 Bordeaux. If you approach the category with a little curiosity — and not the expectation of a religious experience — you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Because these days, the good stuff? It’s really good. Not “juice in a cup” good — good enough to wake up the wine nerd in me who wants structure, nuance, and a proper finish. And with the holidays coming up, it feels especially meaningful to have NA bottles I’m proud to bring to a dinner table, pour for friends, and feel just as much a part of the celebration as anyone holding a full-proof glass.
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