Whether you’re dabbling with drink-free days or turned your back on booze for good, more of us than ever before are choosing to go alcohol-free. So much so, research by Alcohol Change UK found that almost nine million people in the UK planned to skip drinking in January 2023, almost a million more than the previous year. Luckily, if you’re drinking less or exploring the 0% ABV options, you don’t need to reach for boring drinks as there is now a huge range of alcohol-free wines and other tipples on the market.
These are particularly good for anyone who finds it difficult to break from the routine of pouring a drink or those who still want to feel like they’re indulging, without risking a bad head the next day. While booze-free beer has long been big business, wine has taken longer to catch up. It has traditionally been difficult to replicate the complexities, flavours and mouthfeel of wine without the alcohol.
Non-alcoholic wines are usually produced by leaving out the alcohol entirely, or by removing the alcohol at the last stage to help replicate the taste of ordinary wine, but technologies are constantly improving to make alcohol-free vino taste more like the real thing.
Most alcohol-free wines are sweeter than normal wines so those that mimic sweeter wines – such as prosecco or riesling – are the best choice when looking for an alternative. Drinks with bubbles also offer a similar mouthfeel to the real thing, so non-alcoholic fizz is usually a far more satisfying swap than sticking with still wine.
Bear in mind that UK government guidance says alcohol-free drinks may contain up to 0.05% ABV, while de-alcoholised drinks that have had the alcohol removed should not be more than 0.5%, so some of these are still not suitable for anyone wishing to avoid alcohol completely.
How we tested
We tested all these wines exactly as we would their alcoholic alternative, swirling and sipping to make the most of each vino’s flavours and smell. For each, we judged the taste, aroma and appearance and rated how similar it was to normal wine, plus how satisfied we’d be enjoying a glass after a long day or on a night out.
The best non-alcoholic wines for 2024 are:
- Best non-alcoholic wine overall – Community.Co zero alcohol sparkling white NV: £3.99, Virginwines.co.uk
- Best budget non-alcoholic wine –Belle & Co. 0% sparkling rosé: £3.50, Amazon.co.uk
- Best organic non-alcoholic wine – Vilarnau 0% sparkling white: £7, Amazon.co.uk
- Best non-alcoholic wine for a special occasion– French Bloom Le Blanc organic French bubbly, £31.99, Selfridges.com
- Best non-alcoholic red wine – Eisberg Merlot alcohol free wine, £3.50, Tesco.com