For many, the dawn of 2026 brings dry January and the goal to cut down alcohol consumption well beyond the first month of the year. This means more of us are reaching for a glass that tastes like wine, without the morning-after regrets. As such, sales of low and alcohol-free wines more than doubled in 2024, and I’ve every reason to belive 2026 will see them grow even further.
Big-name winemakers are vying for consumer’s attention and advances in industry technology mean it’s now possible to remove the alcohol from tipples, while keeping the flavours and aromas true to their booze-filled counterparts. Though, it pays to know that a small number of ‘non-alcoholic’ wines still contain a tiny 0.5 per cent ABV. Then again, this falls far below plenty of store cupboard essentials – even tomato ketchup clocks in at 0.67 per cent.
Whether you prefer red, white or sparkling, here’s my pick of the best non-alcoholic wines for 2026, as a wine critic with years of tastings under my belt.
The best non-alcoholic wines for 2026 are:
- Best overall – Thomson and Scott noughty non-alcoholic white: £9.95, Noughtyaf.com
- Best red – Cognato dealcoholised cabernet sauvignon: £10.99, Thealcoholfreeco.co.uk
- Best sparkling white – Vilarnau 0.0% alcohol free sparkling white wine: £8.97, Amazon.co.uk
- Best sparkling rosé – Oddbird sparkling non-alcoholic rosé wine: £14.84, Thealcoholfreeco.co.uk
- Best budget buy – Codorniu zero sparkling alcohol free wine: £5, Ocado.com
How I tested
The wines were tasted in the same way that IndyBest taste-tests regular wines, by smell, by taste and by flavour, sometimes with a little food but mainly by themselves to gain the fullest impression of the wine. You can find a more detailed breakdown of my testing criteria below.
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Thomson & Scott noughty non-alcoholic white
Best: Non-alcoholic wine overall
ABV: Less than 0.5%
Grape: Chenin blanc and chardonnay
Vegan: Yes
Why we love it
- Creamy
- Flavoursome
Take note
- Best served chilled
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.
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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.
Buy now £9.95, Noughtyaf.com
Cognato dealcoholised cabernet sauvignon
Best: Non-alcoholic red wine
ABV: 0.5%
Grape: Cabernet sauvignon
Vegan: Yes
Why we love it
- Full-bodied and rich flavour
- Notes of red berries and ripe fruit
Take note
- Best served slightly cooler than room temperature
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.
Buy now £10.99, Thealcoholfreeco.co.uk
Vilarnau 0.0% alcohol free sparkling white wine
Best: Non-alcoholic sparkling wine
ABV: 0%
Grape: Macabeo, parellada
Vegan: Yes
Why we love it
- Effervescent appeal
- Balance between sweetness and acidity
- A barbecue favourite
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.
Buy now £8.97, Amazon.co.uk
Oddbird sparkling non-alcoholic rosé wine
Best: Non-alcoholic sparkling rosé
ABV: 0.5%
Grape: Chardonnay and shiraz
Vegan: Yes
Why we love it
- Fruity notes
- A celebratory favourite
Take note
- As with all sparkling wines, it tastes better chilled
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.
Buy now £14.83, Thealcoholfreeco.co.uk
Codorniu zero sparkling alcohol free wine
Best: Budget non-alcoholic wine
ABV: Less than 0.5%
Grape: Xarel·lo and chardonnay
Vegan: Yes
Why we love it
- Fresh and zesty flavour
- Affordable price
Take note
- Does have 0.5% alcohol content
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.
Buy now £5.75, Ocado.com
Wednesday's Domaine vignette alcohol-free red wine
Best: Non-alcoholic Spanish red
ABV: 0%
Grape: Petit verdot and tempranillo
Vegan: Yes
Why we love it
- Rich and plummy flavours
- Spicy notes
Take note
- More expensive than most
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.
Buy now £14.99, Laithwaites.co.uk
Giesen 0% New Zealand rosé
Best: Non-alcoholic rosé
ABV: No more than 0.5%
Grape: Syrah and cabernet sauvignon
Vegan: Yes
Why we love it
- Refreshing and crisp
- Only 13 calories per 100ml glass
Take note
- No more than 0.5% alcohol
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.
Buy now £10.99, Thealcoholfreeco.co.uk
Schloss Wachenheim AG eisberg selection pinot grigio 0%
Best: Non-alcoholic pinot grigio
ABV: 0%
Grape: Pinot grigio
Vegan: Yes
Why we love it
- Fresh and lively
- Hints of dried fruit
Take note
- Best served 5-7C
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.
Buy now £8, Majestic.co.uk
Kylie Minogue Wines alcohol free sparkling rosé wine
Best: Non-alcoholic party wine
ABV: 0%
Grape: Fermented grape juice with green tea
Vegan: Yes
Why we love it
- Light and refreshing
- Summer fruit flavours
- Vegan-friendly
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.
Buy now £6, Tesco.com
Very Cautious shiraz no alcohol red wine
Best: Australian non-alcoholic wine
ABV: 0%
Grape: Shiraz, petit verdot, ruby cabernet, viognier
Vegan: Yes
Why we love it
- Vibrant and juicy
- Soft tannins and notes of spice
Take note
- An Australian wine that’s made in Belgium
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.
Buy now £8.85, Ocado.com
Your questions answered on non-alcoholic wine
What is the best non-alcoholic wine?
The Noughty non-alcoholic white is the best non-alcoholic wine. It provides you with the aroma and flavours of the chenin blanc and chardonnay grapes that go into the making of it, but with the alcohol gently filtered out. I’m not saying you won't necessarily notice the lack of alcohol, but the gap between this and a regular wine is less than you might think – and it's getting smaller.
If it's bubbles you're after, the best choice of sparkling, the Vilarnau 0.0% alcohol free offers them in abundance, together with a pleasing, not too sweet taste. Much the same can be said about my budget choice, the Codorniu zero sparkling, which brings in the party vibe at a very affordable price.
How were the best non-alcoholic wines tested?
To put together my list of the best alcohol-free wines, I put each bottle through a series of practical, taste-focused tests to see which ones could really stand in for the real thing. I wanted to know not just whether they were drinkable, but if they delivered the depth, aroma and satisfaction you’d expect from a full-strength wine.
By the end, I had a clear sense of which alcohol-free wines were genuinely enjoyable on their own and which could seamlessly replace their boozy counterparts, whether for dinner, a barbecue, or a celebration. Here’s what I looked out for:
How is alcoholic wine made?
These are usually made by leaving out the alcohol entirely or removing it at the last moment, and it has proved difficult to replicate the flavours, mouthfeel and depth of wine without the alcohol. It’s generally easier to make the switch if you look for sweeter wines, such as riesling, or non-alcoholic fizz, which has a similar mouthfeel to bona fide bubbly.
Remember that UK government guidance specifies alcohol-free drinks can actually contain up to 0.05 per cent ABV, while dealcoholised drinks (with the alcohol removed) should have no more than 0.5 per cent. Though these are negligible amounts for most people, anyone who wants to avoid alcohol completely may still prefer to swerve some of our recommended wines.
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
John Clarke draws on his lifelong passion for wine to compile reviews and guides on the wide range of wines available to consumers. He started writing wine reviews for The Independent in 2015, and has discussed everything from German wines and Hungarian wines to classic sauvignons and whites. He puts his extensive wine knowledge to good use when testing non-alcoholic wines for this round-up, offering his honest opinions on which ones are worth your money.
Looking for low-ABV tipples? Read our round-up of the best alcohol-free beers
