Why So Many Non-Alcoholic Wines Miss the Mark, According to Wine Science
/Findings from Oddbird R&D expert Dr. Mihaela Mihnea
If you’ve ever opened a bottle of non-alcoholic wine, poured yourself a glass, taken one sip and thought, “Nope, this is not it,” you are not being dramatic.
You are also not wrong.
For years, non-alcoholic wine has carried a very difficult burden: it’s been expected to taste exactly like wine, while missing one of the main components that gives wine its body, warmth, texture and finish. That doesn’t mean non-alcoholic wine can’t be good - a lot of it is very good if you can appreciate why. But it does help explain why so many bottles can smell promising to you and then fall flat the second you taste them.
This is something Dr. Mihaela Mihnea has been studying closely. Dr. Mihnea is the Head of R&D at Oddbird International and holds a PhD in Wine Science. With more than 20 years of experience in wine research and innovation, she specializes in the development, sensory evaluation and consumer acceptance of dealcoholized wines. She is also the initiator and coordinator of DEALWINE, an international research consortium bringing together academic, industry and professional partners from more than 20 countries to advance the science, technology and market integration of dealcoholized wines.
In other words, this is not just another conversation about whether non-alcoholic wine is “good enough.” This is actual wine research asking a better question: what do consumers really want from alcohol-free wine?
The Goal May Not Be a Perfect Copy
One of the most interesting points from Dr. Mihnea’s work is that the industry may have been asking the wrong question. For a long time, the goal seemed to be: how do we make alcohol-free wine taste exactly like conventional wine?
When you remove alcohol from wine, the chemistry changes. The sensory experience changes. The way aroma, acidity, sweetness, bitterness, body and finish interact is no longer the same. Most consumers I know will compare an n/a wine to what they know when evaluating it, such as “does this taste exactly like Burgundy?”. The better question might be “does this give the consumer a pleasurable, balanced, layered wine experience?”. Dr. Mihnea thinks that distinction matters.
For consumers buying non-alcoholic wine online or in a retail store, the issue is often not that non-alcoholic wine tastes different. The issue is that it tastes incomplete. They feel like they’ve wasted their money on an unfinished product.
The Problem Is Usually Mouthfeel
A lot of non-alcoholic wines smell better than they taste. You pour a glass and get berries, citrus, florals, oak, herbs or something that feels wine-like on the nose. Then you take a sip and all of that disappears.
It might taste thin, sour, bitter, watery, hollow or too short. Maybe even sweeter than you expected. Consumers in the Oddbird R&D research reported wine tasting hollow, or too drying.
According to Dr. Mihnea, consumers often struggle to describe mouthfeel, but they know when it is not there. Where wine professionals might be able to say, “This wine lacks structural complexity” the average consumer has no idea what this means - it’s inside baseball. You’re more likely to say “something feels like it's missing.”
Many years ago, there was an interesting phenomenon in my world. Lots of consumers on Facebook groups and reddit swore up and down that they loved Ariel non-alcoholic cabernet sauvignon. I found it to be a cheap parody of a wine, but everyone I talked to said it had the ‘weight’ of a good red wine. They were willing to forgive the unperfect taste in exchange for the body and mouthfeel.
That’s the missing piece - body and structure and that is one of the biggest challenges in non-alcoholic wine. Aroma can attract you, but mouthfeel and structure are the things that make you want a second glass. A wine can smell beautiful, but if it has no body, no length and no satisfying finish, the experience falls apart.
Sugar Is Not Always the Villain
We’re all sugar-conscious now and many people shopping for non-alcoholic wine are specifically looking for lower-sugar options (my favourites are here).
But one of the more useful insights from this research is that sugar is not always there just to make a wine taste sweet. In dealcoholized wine, sugar can also play a role in balance.
When alcohol is removed, the wine can become sharper, thinner or more exposed. A small amount of sugar can help rebalance the wine, soften the acidity and create a more complete drinking experience.
That doesn’t mean every non-alcoholic wine should taste sweet. It does mean that “zero sugar” does not automatically equal better. In some cases, a tiny amount of sugar may be part of the reason one bottle tastes harmonious and another tastes like sour grape water.
So you may have to take one for the team and have sugar in your wine.
Red Wine Is Still the Hardest Category
If you have been personally victimized by a bottle of non-alcoholic red wine, science sees you.
Red wine is still one of the most difficult areas of dealcoholized wine production. In Dr. Mihnea’s research, more than 100 commercial alcohol-free red wine samples were mapped to better understand the sensory space of the category. The findings showed a clear split between wines consumers accepted and wines they rejected.
The wines consumers preferred were balanced, fruity, fresh, pleasant, complete and layered.
The wines they rejected had too much bitterness, too much acidity, too much drying sensation, harshness, medicinal notes or a finish that disappeared too quickly. Ironic, since Oddbird Addiction is so tannic it hurts (but I LOVE it).
This tracks with what many of us experience as consumers. A non-alcoholic red does not fail simply because it doesn’t have alcohol. It fails when it has no middle, no softness, no persistence or structure. Zeronimo Leonis Blend is one of the only wines in the space that hit all the right notes (including a bit of umami which is so unique).
Better Non-Alcoholic Wine Starts Earlier Than You Think
One of the biggest takeaways from Dr. Mihnea’s work is that dealcoholization should not be treated as the final step.
You can’t just make a conventional wine, remove the alcohol and hope for the best.
Different grape varieties respond differently to dealcoholization. Different methods of alcohol removal affect the wine in different ways, so the base wine matters and so does the vinification. For the best outcomes, the structure has to be considered before the alcohol is removed and not patched together afterward.
Dr. Mihnea says this is where the category is growing up. The best non-alcoholic wines are not just regular wines with the alcohol stripped out. They’re wines designed from the beginning with the intention of becoming alcohol-free.
That may sound technical, but as a consumer, you can taste the difference.
What This Means When You’re Shopping
The next time you try a non-alcoholic wine and it disappoints you, it could be because the product really is not there yet (or…you regularly drink wine with alcohol and your palette hasn’t adjusted…).
The research is showing that there are many bottles that work for consumers. The better ones tend to have balance, and may not taste exactly like alcoholic wine, but they still feel complete. They have fruit, freshness, texture, structure and some kind of finish. They offer an experience instead of an imitation.
As a final note, Dr. Mihnea shared she doesn’t think there’s one non-alcoholic product that suits everybody. And I agree. As I always say, try, try and try again when searching for a non-alcoholic wine that suits your tastebuds.
