Best Nonalcoholic Sparkling Wines
It's easier than ever to find a good alcohol-free substitute for cava, Champagne, or prosecco
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There are now hundreds of alcohol-free beers, wines, and spirits on store shelves, and it seems like more arrive every week. The demand for these drinks keeps growing. About 4 in 10 people say they’ve tried nonalcoholic beer, cocktails, wine, or spirits, and 39 percent are interested in trying at least one of these drinks, according to a nationally representative Consumer Reports survey of 2,062 U.S. adults conducted in August 2023 (PDF).
It’s very bubbly, with a pretty pink color and a soft, fruity flavor, with notes of apple and pear. This was a hit with most of our tasters; even those who said it wasn’t to their taste had something good to say about this one. Some thought the apple flavor was too strong, but many called it refreshing and sweet but not overly sweet. (Note that the price on Amazon is for two bottles.)
Nutrition per 5-ounce glass: 33 calories, 7.5 g total sugars (7.5 g added)
Pleasantly sweet, refreshing, and very bubbly about sums up our tasters’ take on Fre. It’s rich with a "distinct apple/pear taste—which is a plus," one said. Others thought it would go well with hors d’oeuvres. A few tasters said that while it was good, the sweetness would probably keep them from going back for a second glass.
Nutrition per 5-ounce glass: 34 calories, 7.5 g total sugars (0 g added)
This cava-style sparkler “feels like an elevated drink, good for a party; more than just sugar and bubbles," one taster said. Others called it "easy to drink." Most thought it was slightly dry and mildly sweet, with some citrus and herbal flavors. The price makes it a good option to serve to a crowd.
Nutrition per 5-ounce glass: 40 calories, 6.6 g total sugars (6.6 g added)
Rieslings can be supersweet, but this sparkler is dry, with just a little sweetness and a citrusy flavor. The haylike and yeasty notes are similar to those in some dry champagnes, and some of the tasters thought it could pass as an alcoholic sparkler. Very bubbly.
Nutrition per 5-ounce glass: 20 calories, 4.5 g total sugars (4.5 g added)
"This feels and looks like a dry champagne," one taster said. Refreshing, light, and effervescent, it had a citrusy flavor.
Nutrition per 5-ounce glass: 20 calories, 4 g total sugars (4 g added)
Made by one of the largest producers of real prosecco, it has a slight sweetness with notes of pear, which tasters liked. It was quite bubbly, but some noted that it went flat in the glass pretty quickly. One taster said it would be good to use in a faux Aperol spritz, while another thought it would be great for a holiday toast or at a summer barbecue.
Nutrition per 5-ounce glass: 15 calories, 3 g total sugars (3 g added)
Slightly sweet with big fruit flavor (one taster said it was like a Golden delicious apple), this light-colored offering was nicely balanced—although some tasters thought it had a hint of a bubblegum taste.
Nutrition per 5-ounce glass: 25 calories, 6 g total sugars (6 g added)
This sparkling wine alternative doesn’t seem designed to replicate a prosecco or a Champagne. Instead, it tastes more like a spicy ginger ale or ginger beer. Tasters were divided on Töst: Some felt it tasted "medicinal," while others called it "aromatic" and "lovely."
Nutrition per 5-ounce glass: 28 calories, 7 g total sugars (7 g added)
A sparkling wine alternative with a cherry/berry, "candylike" flavor and a slightly salty aftertaste, which most tasters didn’t enjoy.
Nutrition per 5-ounce glass: 37 calories, 7 g total sugars (2 g added)
Most of the tasters gave this wine low marks. It was dry but sharp, sour, and bitter. One taster said it might be better with food.
Nutrition per 5-ounce glass: 13 calories, <1 g total sugars (<1 g added)
How We Evaluated Nonalcoholic Sparkling Wines
Twelve CR staffers participated in a blind-tasting of eight de-alcoholized sparkling wines (which are made with grapes and then fermented like wine, with the alcohol removed at the end) and two sparkling wine alternatives (which are blends of ingredients such as tea, herbs, and fruit). In the evaluation, they assessed the following criteria:
Flavor and texture: Flavor means what the wines taste like (i.e., hints of apple, pear, or citrus; generally fruity, floral, or spicy) and texture means how it feels in your mouth (i.e., dry, creamy, thin, smooth, or bubbly)
Bubbliness: They assessed the number and size of the bubbles—for instance, was it very effervescent with seltzer-sized bubbles or were the bubbles small and fine?— in the drink and how long the bubbles held up after pouring.
Would you buy it? The tasters were asked how likely they’d be to buy the wine if they were looking for a nonalcoholic sparkler.
Should You Expect a Nonalcoholic Wine to Taste Like a ‘Real’ One?
“Alcohol is a flavor carrier, and when you remove it you lose some of the nose of a wine, and smell is important to taste,” Bodkins says. But the flavor of many de-alcoholized wines has gotten better in the past few years, he says, in part because more companies that make high-quality alcoholic wines are now producing zero-alcohol versions. “The taste isn’t exactly the same—there are different varietals and styles—but that’s also true of regular wines.” That’s especially the case with wines that have a very defined flavor profile, like a California Chardonnay or a Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.
But that doesn’t mean a nonalcoholic version of the same wine isn’t good or can’t complement a good meal. “The most telling piece of this entire category’s growth is that nonalcoholic wines are starting to show up on restaurant wine lists, even Michelin star restaurants, where the actual focus is on the food,” Bodkins says.
All that said, though, sparkling wines may come the closest to the real thing. “The carbonation in sparkling wines carries the flavor to the top so you get a good nose from the wine,” Bodkins says. He suggests buying a few bottles of different wines and doing your own tasting. “Experimenting with different flavor profiles will help you find new preferences.”
Why Are Some Nonalcoholic Wines So Expensive?
Although some of the wines in our tasting are quite affordable, others, while not as pricey as a Perrier-Jouët or Moët & Chandon champagne, cost $25 or more per bottle. The reason might surprise you. “You’ll see the percent alcohol on a bottle of regular wine. When you remove the alcohol, you’re actually decreasing the volume of the bottle by that percentage,” Bodkins says. “It takes about 1.1 liters of a full-strength wine to make a 750-milliliter bottle of de-alcoholized wine, so it makes sense that the price would be on par with regular wines.”
This product evaluation is part of Consumer Reports’ Outside the Labs reviews program, which is separate from our laboratory testing and ratings. Our Outside the Labs reviews are performed at home and in other native settings by individuals, including our journalists, with specialized subject matter experience or familiarity and are designed to offer another important perspective for consumers as they shop. While the products or services mentioned in this article might not currently be in CR’s ratings, they could eventually be tested in our laboratories and rated according to an objective, scientific protocol.
Like all CR evaluations of products and services, our Outside the Labs reviews are independent and free from advertising. If you’d like to learn more about the criteria for our lab testing, please go to CR’s Research & Testing page.
Editor’s Note: This article also appeared in the November/December 2023 issue of Consumer Reports magazine.
