All the medallists from the No- and Low-Alcohol Wine Masters 2025

Despite the growing global appetite for no- and low-alcohol wine, delivering flavour and texture remains challenging, reports Patricia Stefanowicz MW.

CONSUMERS AROUND the globe are becoming more and more health conscious, so there is an ever-increasing interest in no- and low-alcohol products to help reduce, or even eliminate, their alcohol consumption. In the wake of the success of no-alcohol beers and spirits, there is now a hope that no- and low-alcohol wines can follow suit.

However much enthusiasm there may be for the no- and low-alcohol wine category, the 2024 Global Low and No Alcohol Wine Masters competition found, as in previous years for this category, that achieving full flavour and deliciousness in no- and low-alcohol wines is really rather difficult. The challenge is partly that alcohol provides sweetness and body, and balances the tartness of acidity and, in reds, robust tannins. Without the alcohol, wines can sometimes taste thin, astringent or bitter.

And, in contrast to beers, where only about 4%–6% of alcohol is removed, or spirits, which are flavoured with numerous botanicals or creamy, smoky wood, often as much as 14% alcohol has to be removed for no-alcohol wines, leaving insipidly flavoured products. Solutions are, as yet, something of an enigma. Techniques have to address giving a full, smooth mouthfeel to any colour of wine. Sweetness is the most obvious answer, and most of our high-scoring wines this year, including the red wines, had significant levels of residual sugar. Bubbles are a noteworthy technique, giving a creamy texture to the palate and balancing acidity, and sparkling wines are generally fairly successful. In fact, sparkling wines certainly dominate our medal-winners for no-alcohol, and even low-alcohol, wines in the 2024 competition.

The most impressive no-alcohol wines are those that are ‘wine-like’. Four sparkling rosés – Zeno from Castilla-La Mancha in Spain, Törley Pezsgőpincészet from Hungary, Edenvale from Australia and Vilarnau from the Veneto – showed particularly well, and McGuigan’s gently fizzy Rosé Spritz was awarded a Gold. Perhaps it is simply that red and black fruits (without the tannins) give more fruit and flavour definition? That said, Giesen Sparkling Brut, based on Sauvignon Blanc, tasted rather well. There were some ‘wine-like’ still whites, too. The better examples tend to have good fruit presence and noticeable sweetness, like Tempus Two’s Zero Pinot Grigio, which was awarded a Gold. Edenvale’s Expedition Series VerdejoSauvignon Blanc, Kim Crawford’s Illuminate Sauvignon Blanc 0% and Kally’s Early Chardonnay were three good Silver medal winners. Delectable no-alcohol red wines are, so far, nearly impossible to achieve, but Edenvale Shiraz and Divin Pinot Noir were justly awarded Silver medals.

About the competition

With high-quality judges and a unique sampling process, The Global Low and No Alcohol Wine Masters provides a chance for your wines to shine. The 2024 competition was judged on 5 December at Ibis Styles London Bridge, employing experienced judges. The top wines were awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze medals according to their result, and those expressions that stood out as being outstanding received the ultimate accolade – the title of Low and No Alcohol Wine Master. This report features medal winners only. Please visit the Global Masters website for more information or, to enter future competitions, with a chance to appear in print and online, call: +44 (0) 20 7803 2420 or email Sophie Raichura at: sophie@thedrinksbusiness.com

CHARACTER DIFFERENCE

Most of our Gold medals on this judging day were given to low and lower-alcohol wines. Even 5% alcohol makes a significant difference in character and flavour. The wines that we judged at 5%–9% alcohol were often very good examples, and they wholly deserve their medals. They tend to be sweeter, however, and so they have some competition from sweet Moscato d’Asti, or Pradikat wines from Germany, such as spätlese Mosel Riesling. These latter wines are not marketed as low-alcohol wines; they just happen to be unique styles of extremely high quality, with naturally low alcohol levels.

There is certainly a need in the marketplace for no-alcohol wines (and probably low and lower-alcohol wines, too) but, based on the judging of this particular competition, many of these styles are still a work in progress.

White Sparkling No Alcohol (<0.5%)

White Sparkling Low Alcohol (0.5%-9%)

Rosé Sparkling No Alcohol (<0.5%)

Rosé Sparkling Low Alcohol (0.5%-9%)

Sparkling Fruit Juice No Alcohol (<0.5%)

Red Sparkling No Alcohol (<0.5%)

Still White No Alcohol (<0.5%)

Still White Low Alcohol (0.5%-9%)

Still White Lower Alcohol (9%-11%)

Still Rosé No Alcohol (<0.5%)

Still Rosé Low Alcohol (0.5%-9%)

Still Red No Alcohol (<0.5%)

Still Red Low Alcohol (0.5%-9%)

Still Red Lower Alcohol (9%-11%)

Kombucha No Alcohol (<0.5%)

Sangria Low Alcohol (0.5%-9%)