Best non-alcoholic wines, taste-tested by an expert wine critic

A South African wine that is produced from chenin blanc and chardonnay grapes from vineyards in the Western Cape region. The wine is left on the lees for two months and then made alcohol-free using spun cone technology. That may sound like something out of a sci-fi novel, but it just means evaporating the wine over rotating blades to reduce the alcohol.

The result is a wine that has the mouthfeel of its alcoholic equivalent with creamy fruit-forward flavours and a satisfying finish. Slightly more nuanced than the Eisberg pinot grigio, but both offer good value.

Swedish cousins David Sommestad and Adam Malmnäs’s aim was to “produce an alcohol-free wine that we, as wine enthusiasts, would be delighted to savour alongside a fine meal”. Their quest led them to South Africa, where they found production partners who could supply the grapes they needed.

The picked grapes were macerated to extract colour and tannins, and after fermentation, left in the tank with the lees for a further two weeks to complete the development of the wine. Strong flavours of ripe fruit and red berries remain.

A Spanish sparkler from a small but notable maker of organic cava that lies between the Monserrat mountains and the Mediterranean. Produced from the local macabeo and parellada grapes, it has instant party appeal with fine and very persistent bubbles and creamy orchard and floral flavours with a hint of freshly roasted almonds.

Not too sweet and not too acidic, either. It’s a perfectly balanced alternative barbecue wine for those who have volunteered to do the driving. It’s a great feel-good wine, as is the slightly cheaper Codorniu zero.

It’s female Swedish winemaker Moa Gürbüzer who is leading the way here after she envisioned a world where asking “Would you like your wine with or without alcohol?” would become a routine question.

It’s a wonderfully sparkling rose from the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France that has been “liberated from alcohol” by using what Oddbird terms “a specialised technique designed to remove alcohol while preserving their full potential and desired characteristics”. Well, as they say, the proof is in the tasting, and beautifully fresh and rounded fruit-forward flavours of orchard, citrus, and ripe berries do make this particular sparkling wine stand out.

Here’s sparkling cava-like alcohol-free wine from Catalonia’s famed Codorniu winery in Spain that gives you all the bubbles you need for a celebration without giving you the fuzzy head that could follow.

Made with chardonnay and xarel-lo grapes, it’s bright and crisp with notes of tropical fruit, citrus and apple. Enjoy it as an aperitif or as a welcome partner to seafood and salads. At less than £6 a bottle, it’s a bargain.

Wednesday’s was founded in 2022 by Luke Hemsley, whose mantra is: you can have a lovely wine-drinking experience and mouthfuls of flavour without the alcohol.

Made using petit verdot and tempranillo grapes from La Mancha region of central Spain, it's a soft and fruity red that has the alcohol removed before being blended with natural ingredients to lift the body and accentuate the flavours and aromas. What comes through most is a rich and plummy flavour – think plums and damsons – with notes of spice and ginger helping to up the ante.

Here’s a beautifully crisp and mouth-wateringly fresh dealcoholised rosé from New Zealand. The vino is made from grapes grown in vineyards in Marlborough and Waipara, and they’re chock full of summer flavours.

Made as a full-strength wine, the alcohol is removed using spinning cone technology. It’s a good wine to choose if you’re watching the calories, as there are only 13 per 100ml glass – 80 per cent fewer calories than those present in a 12.5 per cent alcohol bottle.

A German pinot that has its alcohol removed using a vacuum distillation system, where the boiling point is lowered and the wine’s natural alcohol evaporates at 32C.

What remains is the actual character of the wine, with crisp and fresh citrus notes aided and abetted by welcome hints of dried fruit. This is a good wine to pair with a cream cheese or light fish dish.

You can’t argue with success. Since its launch in 2020, Kylie Minogue wines has sold more than 17 million bottles globally (that’s 100 million glasses if you’re counting). And the alcohol-free version of this popular rosé has garnered the sort of praise that wouldn’t go amiss if applied to Kylie herself.

With strawberry-led fruit notes, a sparkling mouthfeel and a satisfying dry finish, this is a great option for your next party.

An international story here. As it boasts on the label, this product of the famed third-generation De Bortoli winemakers has 95 per cent Australian ingredients but is actually made in Belgium.

However, despite the slightly complicated parentage, this shiraz (or syrah, if you prefer) has plush, on the nose, red berry flavours, hints of spice and pleasing tannins that should afford it a place on any dinner table.