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Inside the Non-Alcoholic Wine Boom

With all the buzz about non-alcoholic beverages in the past few years, people often ask us what’s driving the uptick in demand and options. Reports tracking non-alcoholic trends regularly re-confirm the growth of the category, and a recent Nielsen report found that sales of non-alcoholic wine grew over 20% in the last year.


Null wines were created to meet the growing demand for thoughtful, high-quality non-alcoholic drinking options — and fill the gap we ourselves wanted for delicious, transparently-sourced wines that happen to be non-alcoholic! And since we launched in 2021, the market and audience for non-alcoholic beer, spirits, and wine has only continued to grow. 


According to the Nielsen findings, sales of non-alcoholic drinks in the United States grew 20.6% between August 2021 and August 2022. Within the broader non-alcoholic category, non-alcoholic wine represented 13.4% of sales, growing +23.2% from 2021. Amidst this sustained growth, non-alcoholic products are now literally taking up more store-front real estate than ever, with non-alcoholic bottle shops popping up all over the country, and on menus at restaurants and bars. You can see this happening throughout the country via our stockist list, which includes some of the best spots selling non-alcoholic wine.


📈 What’s driving the Non-Alc boom


Health is one major driving factor driving the sale of booze-free products. At Studio Null, we’ve found our consumers come from a wide spectrum of drinking preferences, ranging from wine-lovers who are newly interested in non-alcoholic options, to sober and sober-curious drinkers. More than ever, we see a trend of folks preferring to drink alcohol some nights of the week, but looking to spare themselves the downsides of alcohol consumption on others. According to the Washington Post, per the country’s leading non-alcoholic trade group, about 80 percent of those who purchase non-alcoholic products also still consume alcohol.


The interest in alcohol-free options is also generational. In 2018, the drinks industry couldn’t stop talking about this study, which revealed how Gen-Z consumers are drinking less alcohol than previous generations — including less than 20% compared to their millennial counterparts. As more Gen-Zers come of age, the expectation is this trend will continue and beverage industry offerings are already shifting in response.


🍇 How premiumization is shaping the Non-Alc category


While non-alcoholic beer, wine, and spirits options have existed for quite some time (people had to drink something during Prohibition!), the non-alcoholic boom of recent years has led to more curiosity, exploration, and ultimately desire for high-quality products. According to a recent industry report, 54% of 18-34-year-olds are more inclined towards premium beverages, compared to just 35% of people 55 and older.


Non-alcoholic wine is a particularly intriguing sub-category because it can be quite diverse. While some other brands create their product with grape juice or additional adjuncts like vinegar, botanicals, and flavorings, Studio Null wines are real wines. Instead of juice or adjuncts, we source wine from award-winning makers, which is then carefully de-alcoholized through a vacuum distillation process to preserve aroma, body, and taste.


🥂What’s next in the Non-Alc space?  


With non-alcoholic options appearing on more menus, creative sommeliers and bartenders are working with brands to shape consumer education around these products. Innovative concepts like hybrid non-alcoholic bottleshop tasting rooms, and somm-curated N/A pairing menus at Michelin star restaurants, are redefining the consumer’s first sip and impression of non-alcoholic products. And with Dry January giving way to Dry July and Sober October, there are even more opportunities to try them.


At Studio Null, we look forward to continuing to explore terroir and provenance in our non-alcoholic wines through our releases. In our most recent release, The Set, we feature two great family-run vineyards in Europe. Try our Grüner Weiss, sourced from Austria and made with the region’s signature varietal, and our Prickly Red, made using a Tempranillo Syrah blend from Spain. Salud!


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