Non-Alcoholic Wine: Labels, How It's Made and Taste

Non-alcoholic wine is usually real wine that has had its alcohol removed after fermentation, leaving less than 0.5% alcohol by volume. In the US, the label words matter: “dealcoholized” and “non-alcoholic” allow a trace of alcohol, while “alcohol-free” means none can be detected. Wine Folly says to expect a lighter body than the original, and some producers add a little sugar. It suits anyone who wants a glass of something wine-like without the alcohol, such as the designated driver, guests who aren’t drinking, or anyone taking a night off.

Note: This guide covers labels, production and taste. It isn’t medical advice. If you avoid alcohol for a health reason, ask your doctor which products are right for you.

What the US label terms mean

Wines with less than 7% alcohol fall outside the federal wine labeling rules that the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) enforces. TTB’s guidance says they are covered instead by the food labeling rules of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including ingredient, nutrition and allergen labeling where those apply. TTB doesn’t issue label approvals for them. That is why a bottle of non-alcoholic wine often carries a Nutrition Facts panel that regular wine doesn’t.

FDA’s Compliance Policy Guide 510.400 sets out how dealcoholized wine should be labeled:

Term on the label	What FDA’s guidance says
Dealcoholized or alcohol-removed	Goes directly before “wine” (or a wine type) in the product name, in letters as large as the word “wine”. FDA considers these terms misleading if the product has more than 0.5% alcohol by volume.
“Contains less than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume”	Should follow the product name on a dealcoholized wine.
Non-alcoholic	Allowed as an extra claim on dealcoholized wine, because FDA treats beverages with trace alcohol under 0.5% as non-alcoholic. It can’t replace “dealcoholized” or “alcohol-removed” in the name.
Alcohol-free	Not the same as non-alcoholic. It may be used only when the product has no detectable alcohol.

TTB adds one more line: wine with at least 0.5% alcohol has to carry the government health warning statement. A wine below that level doesn’t.

In our view, “alcohol-free” is the word to look for if you want no alcohol at all, and “dealcoholized” is the word that tells you it started life as wine. For more on how strength is shown on regular bottles, see our guides to wine alcohol content and how to read a wine label.

Dealcoholized wine vs wine alternatives

Not everything on the non-alcoholic shelf began as wine. Wine Enthusiast’s guide to non-alcoholic wines separates dealcoholized wine from “wine alternatives”, which, as a hotel beverage director quoted there explains, are made by blending fruit juices, teas and spices to imitate wine. They can be good drinks, but they aren’t dealcoholized wine, and FDA’s “dealcoholized wine” naming applies to wine that had its alcohol removed. If a bottle doesn’t say “dealcoholized” or “alcohol-removed”, read the ingredient list to see what’s inside.

How the alcohol is removed

The challenge is to take out the alcohol without cooking off everything else. Boiling wine at normal pressure would do that, so producers use gentler methods. The Institute of Food Technologists’ Food Technology magazine described the main ones in a 2000 feature, and Wine Enthusiast’s 2023 report quotes wine producers who use vacuum distillation today.

Method	How it works	Typical temperature
Vacuum distillation	Lowering the pressure lowers alcohol’s boiling point, so it evaporates at a mild temperature. Aromas are captured and returned.	86°F to 95°F, according to producers quoted by Wine Enthusiast
Spinning cone column	Wine runs as a thin film over alternating spinning and stationary cones under a vacuum. A first pass strips the aromas, a second removes the alcohol, then the aromas go back in.	26–28°C (79–82°F) for the aroma pass and 33–35°C (91–95°F) for the alcohol pass, per Food Technology
Reverse osmosis	Wine is pumped against a fine membrane at about 450 psi. Alcohol and water pass through; larger flavor compounds stay behind. The alcohol is separated out and water is added back.	45–55°F, per Food Technology

Vacuum distillation

Two producers explained their process to Wine Enthusiast. Yoko Sato, winemaker for Freixenet’s alcohol-removed sparkling wines, said vacuum distillation lets them remove alcohol at about 95°F and reach 0 to 0.05% alcohol. Amanda Thomson of Noughty said her sparkling Chardonnay is fermented dry, the alcohol is taken out at 86°F, and a very small amount of organic sugar is added at bottling for balance. Wine Folly gives a similar figure, around 30°C (86°F), and notes that the method can keep bright fruit but may lose some subtle complexity.

Spinning cone column

The spinning cone also works under a vacuum, at mild temperatures. Food Technology reported that Sutter Home chose it because it did a better job of preserving the wine’s aromas and flavors. Wine Folly calls it one of the most highly regarded methods, but expensive and technically demanding.

Reverse osmosis

Reverse osmosis avoids heat almost entirely. Food Technology reported that Canandaigua Wine Co. made its first non-alcoholic wine in 1975 by a heated vacuum process, then switched to reverse osmosis in 1989. Wine Folly says the method is precise but costly and needs several passes, each removing only a few percentage points of alcohol.

How non-alcoholic wine tastes

Taking the alcohol out changes more than the strength. Wine Folly lists what alcohol normally does in wine: it carries aromas to your nose, adds body and warmth, and helps extract tannin during fermentation. Without it, Wine Folly says:

• Body is lighter, and some producers add a touch of sugar to build it back.
• Aromas can smell different, though aromatic grapes such as Muscat, Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling keep their character better.
• Reds are the hardest category, because tannin (the drying, grippy compound from grape skins) behaves differently without alcohol.
• The finish is usually shorter.

Wine Enthusiast’s report makes the same point from the producers’ side: the main concern for winemakers is how to keep or replace the weight and body that alcohol provides.

Wine Folly’s advice for newcomers is to start with sparkling wines or aromatic whites, where bubbles and acidity make up for the missing alcohol, to choose fruit-forward styles if you try a red, and to check the sugar content on the label. We agree with starting sparkling: a dealcoholized sparkling wine is the easiest swap at a toast or brunch. Serve it in a proper wine glass at the temperature you’d serve the regular version.

Calories in non-alcoholic wine

Most of the calories in regular wine come from alcohol, so removing it cuts them sharply. USDA FoodData Central’s entry for non-alcoholic wine lists:

Per serving	Non-alcoholic wine (USDA)	Red table wine (USDA)
100 grams	6 calories	85 calories
5 fl oz glass	About 9 calories	About 125 calories
Carbohydrates per 100 g	1.1 g (all sugars)	–
Alcohol per 100 g	0 g	–

The 5-ounce figures use USDA’s portion weights: 29 grams per fluid ounce for the non-alcoholic entry, and 147 grams per 5-ounce serving for red wine. Two cautions: USDA’s entry is from its SR Legacy database, which was last released in 2018 and won’t be updated, and today’s brands differ. Wine Folly notes that sugar levels vary by brand and style, and some labels now say “no added sugar”. Because these drinks follow FDA food labeling, the Nutrition Facts panel on the bottle is the best guide to the one in your hand.

Who it suits

In our view, non-alcoholic wine works best for:

• The designated driver who still wants something in a wine glass.
• Anyone not drinking tonight, for whatever reason, who’d rather not explain it.
• Hosts who want one bottle on the table that every adult can share.
• Long dinners, where alternating glasses keeps the evening going without adding more alcohol.

Remember that “non-alcoholic” can mean up to 0.5% alcohol. If you need to avoid alcohol entirely, look for “alcohol-free” on the label, and ask your doctor if you’re unsure. For a lower-alcohol drink rather than a zero one, a wine spritzer stretches a glass of wine with soda water.

If you’re cooking for someone who avoids alcohol, our guide to the best white wine for cooking lists alcohol-free substitutes, such as broth with a little vinegar or lemon juice, with amounts.

How to choose a bottle

• Read the name. “Dealcoholized” or “alcohol-removed” means it started as wine.
• Check the alcohol line. “Less than 0.5%” allows a trace; “alcohol-free” means none detectable.
• Look at the sugar. The Nutrition Facts panel shows sugar per serving; we’d pick a lower number if you like dry wine.
• Start with bubbles or aromatic whites, as Wine Folly suggests, before trying reds.
• Look for the method. Producers who say how they remove the alcohol are, in Wine Folly’s view, often the more transparent ones.

For more on how wine is made, stored and labeled, browse Wine Basics.