‘Wine’ for pregnant women launched

A US entrepreneur has created a range of sparkling “wine” aimed at encouraging pregnant women to “pop the cork”.

Founded by North Carolina-based former recruitment consultant Carrie Marvin, the 9Months brand is based on her “not-so-crazy-idea that pregnant women like feeling part of the celebration, too!”

The non-alcoholic sparkling drink is made from grapes grown in South Australia, whose juice is then kept at 0°C to prevent fermentation before being filtered, pasteurised and carbonated.

The current range features a red blend and a white made from Muscat, both carrying a retail price of $16.50 (£11) per bottle and packaged to look like other sparkling wine products.

Explaining the appeal for pregnant women, the website comments: “9Months sparkling blend is for mothers-to-be who can pop the cork while they, themselves, are waiting to pop! We’ve never been ones to miss out of the fun so we set out to develop a beverage for expecting moms so they, too, can raise their glass and partake in toasts whatever the occasion.”

The brand marks the latest addition to a growing market for non-alcoholic wine. Nielsen data indicates that sales of non-alcoholic wine in the US rose by 5.6% in the 12 months to November 2014, with a value of just under $100 million.

With “a percentage” of sales going to a baby’s health charity March of Dimes, the company says: “Just because you’ll soon be preparing bottles of a different variety, doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy a bottle of our delicious non-alcoholic bubbly – you’ve earned it!”