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The colour in my drink is a rich golden yellow. I raise the glass and breathe in the scent of ripe apples. My first sip tastes surprisingly dry, with a pronounced, stimulating acidity, followed by subtle tannins.
Although this sounds like a wine description, there is no wine in this glass. In fact, there is no alcohol at all.
Such scenes play out frequently for wine journalist Christoph Raffelt and sommelier Anne Tenschert, who run a podcast on alcohol-free drinks, which remain part of the world of fine wines.
“You have to let go of the expectation that it will taste like wine,” Raffelt says. Instead, it is about discovering new worlds of flavour.
The traditional wine industry is changing, and the range of non-alcoholic alternatives is growing.

Jennifer Kiessling, founder of The Mindful Drinking Club in Berlin, Germany, is a specialist retailer of non-alcoholic adult drinks. She sees a cultural shift happening.
“It’s not about abstinence or a defensive stance against alcohol, nor is it about a copy, but rather a counterpart with a similar purpose: for toasting or as an accompaniment to food.”
Here is what can be found on menus, and how new drinks are being made.
De-alcoholised drinks: the technical solution
This is a classic among alcohol alternatives, in which alcohol is removed after production, usually through vacuum distillation. This method incurs additional costs, but it works well with beer. Wine is a little more complicated, partly because it contains more alcohol.
“Alcohol is a flavour carrier. If it’s missing, the aromas and body are often lost too,” says Simon Schlachter, a chef at the one-Michelin-starred restaurant Pavo in Allgau, Germany.
He increasingly relies on his own creations and sparkling wines to accompany his menus without alcohol.
“There are already good products in the latter category, because the carbon dioxide provides a lively fizz and balances the acidity,” he says.

Proxies: the wine substitutes
Proxies are a new category of distinctive, complex drinks with a mouthfeel reminiscent of wine. The proxy name is no coincidence – the word refers to something that takes the place of another thing.
Instead of alcohol, fermented drinks such as kefir, as well as tea, herbs, roots and vinegar, are used as substitutes. They produce a kind of tannin, acidity and structure – usually without sugar.
“Proxies break new ground in terms of flavour and are fun, without trying to be something they’re not,” Kiessling says. “It’s not about imitating or replacing the taste of wine, but about having an alternative for all those moments when we often drink wine out of habit.”
Those moments might be a special occasion or meal, a film premiere or work event, or even an evening bath after a busy day.
Chinese-style sparkling tea
In China, tea has been served alongside wine with meals for centuries. This trend is now coming to Europe, particularly in the form of “sparkling teas” made by brewing high-quality tea varieties and then carbonating them.
The infusions are often refined with natural flavours from herbs, flowers or fruit essences.
“Tea naturally contains tannins,” Raffelt says. The tannins create a textural sensation in the mouth that resembles that of red wine.
Fermented drinks like kombucha
In kombucha, yeasts and bacteria transform sweetened tea into a tangy, sparkling drink.
“It’s alive; something is happening in the glass,” Kiessling says.
Fermentation produces flavours – often funky, tangy and complex – that cannot be created artificially, but the process requires time and craftsmanship.

Shrubs, oxymels and verjus: the tangy kicks
Juice made from unripe green grapes is known as verjus, which is less sharp than vinegar and more delicate than lemon. It is, Kiessling says, “an old condiment that is currently enjoying a revival”.
Shrubs and oxymels are variations of a vinegar-based syrup, and people used to drink them for medicinal purposes. When mixed with soda or tonic, they instantly become astonishingly complex drinks.

Spirit alternatives for cocktails
These days, you can also find alcohol-free gin, rum or whisky. They are still made by distilling herbs and spices, but on a water base.
They really come into their own in cocktails when combined with home-made extracts or syrups.
You can also make these at home, as Schlachter and his head barman Martin Masch do in their latest recipe book, where they have dreamed up drinks mixing mango, fennel and honey, and a cocktail with blood orange, almond and tonka bean.












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Make your own non-alcoholic additions
In fine dining, making the non-alcoholic accompaniments from scratch has long been standard.
They are an integral part of the menu structure at Pavo. “The drinks are often more interesting because we’ve put even more thought into them than we do with the wine selection,” Schlachter says.
To achieve an intense and complex flavour, the restaurant makes its own syrups and essences through processes that range from infusing to fat washing.
Alcohol-free is not the same as non-alcoholic
The legal situation varies by country, but in many places, the term “alcohol-free” allows for up to 0.5 per cent alcohol by volume – a quantity of alcohol that even a ripe banana can contain. Only the label “non-alcoholic” means 0.0 per cent, or absolutely no alcohol.

When it comes to price, complex non-alcoholic drinks can cost as much as wine or mixed drinks, sometimes between €12 (US$14) and €28.
“Anyone who uses high-quality, natural ingredients and crafts the drinks by hand has high production costs,” Kiessling says.
Presentation matters. Raffelt recommends serving drinks, even alternative drinks, in wine glasses.
“These are highly complex drinks; they need air to allow the flavours to develop,” he says.
Not only that, but holding something that evokes the same feeling as sipping a glass of wine also plays a role in the drinking experience.


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From Chinese-style sparkling tea to shrubs and verjus to spirit alternatives, here are some non-alcoholic alternatives now on menus


From Chinese-style sparkling tea to shrubs and verjus to spirit alternatives, here are some non-alcoholic alternatives now on menus.


Alcohol-free drinks are on the rise. Here’s what’s new on menus

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From Chinese-style sparkling tea to shrubs and verjus to spirit alternatives, here are some non-alcoholic alternatives now on menus

From Chinese-style sparkling tea to shrubs and verjus to spirit alternatives, here are some non-alcoholic alternatives now on menus