Fast forward a couple of years and there may not be a need for a separate Be No dedicated area for no and low alcohol products at Wine Paris as any successful wine or spirits company will have them as part of their core range.
It was noticeable how quickly this year conversations with producers and importers turned to 0% ABV drinks at the show. It might only be a tiny fraction of the overall wine and spirits market, but it is capturing everyone’s attention - particularly now with the ABV-driven duty regime in the UK.
Right across Wine Paris there was an enormous diversity in the styles and types of wines and spirits being promoted - pushing both categories into new exciting and different areas based mostly around low or no alcohol or flavourings and ingredient combinations
Robin Copestick, managing director of Freixenet Copestick, said it’s where the major retailers now want branded companies to be “focused on” and it is well placed to deliver what they need.
It’s an area Bernard Fontanazz, chief executive of Origin Wine has long been waiting for, quietly producing a whole range of no and low alcohol wines over the last four years, which, by his own admission, have been a bit hit and miss - but he is now confident the hits will now keep on coming.
“It’s a tough market, so you have to think outside the box, which is why zero alcohol wines really matter, now that the technology to make them is improving all the time,” he said. “Every supermarket is giving more space to 0% wines.”
So much so that Origin is now looking to build its own dedicated no and low production facility in Stellenbosch, South Africa, based on vacuum distillation rather than the spinning cone process.
Not just to de-alcoholise South African wines, but to ship in wines from New Zealand, Australia and Argentina, so that it is ready to answer the call from retail customers looking for the next big thing in no and low.
“Five years ago we would never have thought of doing that,” he added. “But we have reached the point of critical mass. It is becoming part of the mainstream and will be an important category for the wine industry. It is a different market now and we have to realise it is here to stay. People in the industry have to come down from their pedestal, they can be very precious about what a wine should be. We have to change if we want to have customers in the future.”
Boom in zero wines
There were no and low alcohol wines to be found right across Wine Paris and not just confined to the Be No dedicated area - like here with Trinchero's range of zero alcohol wines
Yes, all of this talk of no and low is nothing new, but it was at Wine Paris where 0% drinks, and wine in particular, moved centre stage to the point where you were surprised if a producer did not have their own new version to show you.
The dedicated Be No area took up half a pavilion and attracted 62 producers from 12 countries, and was looking to build on what was a 47% increase in exhibitors for the 2025 event.
If Willy Wonka was in the drinks business then this would be where he would be hanging out and there was an enormous choice of different types of drinks on show.
What was particularly interesting to see were the number of ingredient and flavour tech companies taking stands at the show, the companies and brands with the know-how and expertise to drive future developments in dealcoholisation.
Brands that are all about championing sustainable, health-conscious drinks and connecting with a new generation of drinker that has a completely different perspective on what they want to drink when and why.
There was a whole raft of new drinks products on show - like this range of RTD drinks that Boutinot makes to sell into its growing export markets
It’s an area that Groupe Grands Chais de France, for example, is now taking very seriously says Chris Davies, UK national account controller, with an increasing number of more premium 0% wines from across its multiple estates and producers. Helped enormously by the introduction of more advanced vacuum distillation techniques that have a big impact on the overall quality of the wines being produced both at 0% and the in the “moderation range” of 6%-8% abv single varietal wines.
Its Nozeco brand (often called Nosecco), produced in France from de-alcoholised Spanish wine, now claims to be the leading alcohol-free sparkling wine brand in the UK with a 26% market share, and sells 20m bottles worldwide and is on course to being a 50m bottle a year brand within the next two to three years, reveals Davies.
He said there has been growing demand, also driven by Wine Paris, from the on-trade for more single serve 0% wines in smaller 25cl formats. “It’s becoming key in the on-trade to have a single serve option,” he added.
The demand for 0% and more lower alcohol options is “coming from everywhere” and is not just being driven by the UK duty regime, stressed Davies.
New consumers
It is also, argues Fontannaz, bringing new people into the drinks category who might not have drunk wine before. A starting point that might encourage them, in time, to trade up into the wider wine category.
Kylie Minogue has managed to capture another number one spot in the UK with her alcohol free wines - she shared her story and move into wine at a special press conference hosted by Robert Joseph with her wine business partner, Paul Schaafsma, founder of Benchmark Drinks. Picture Sébastien d'Halloy
A point picked up on by none other than Kylie Minogue, who was at the show with her drinks partner, Benchmark Drinks, with her own Kylie Minogue Wines, stand. She has been able to capturethe number one spot in the UK for her 0% alcohol free sparkling rosé, and top spot for her lighter 7% ABV Petit Rosé brand and can lay claim to contributing to over half of the entire growth in the zero-alcohol sparkling wine category in the UK over the last two years.
She told a Wine Paris press conference that part of the inspiration for her wanting to do a 0% wine was to attract fans of hers who don’t drink- including many of the dancers and people in her team.
“I want to welcome everyone into Kylie Minogue wines,” she said.
Kylie’s 0% offer also demonstrates how far the “wine category” is now being stretched as the grapes being used are fermented not with yeast but with “good bacteria” to ensure they don’t produce alcohol and then infused with Chinese tea to ensure they still have the mid palate and tannin of a traditional wine, explains Paul Schaafsma, managing director of Benchmark Drinks.
He says the wider wine industry should welcome these new 0% wine-style drinks as they “are want people want” - proven by the huge rise in premium 0% beers and spirits.
"We can also keep the consumer who does not drink alcohol in wine,” he adds. “We need to work with that consumer.”
Kylie added: “It is all about the consumer and what they are looking for and over delivering on that.”
Kylie Minogue spent two days at Wine Paris talking to customers and potential new suppliers for her wines all over the world
She also shared her invaluable insights into what makes a successful brand - which considering she has sold over 27 million bottles in just five years - might be worth taking on board.
It all comes down to doing everything you can to get things 100% right. Not 99% or even 95%. If it means sending a bottling line back to get the right level of dimple in the heart shapes on a bottle then so be it.
The bottle, after all, like a record sleeve is the one chance you have to “connect with people”.
“Kylie’s attention to detail is incredible, but that is what is required if you are adding value and creating a quality brand,” added Schaafsma. “No wine goes into the market that she has not signed off on. It’s also critical for the authenticity of the brand.”
It’s also, stressed Kylie, about being “open to change” and being ready to “pivot” when the right newopportunities come along.
After all that is what she has done with the day job in order to “keep us entertained”.
Being flexible and open to embrace and move into all these new drinks categories, driven in the main by the no and low sector, has to be the way forward for even the most traditional wine or spirits producer and importer.
Just when traditional wine and spirits sales are under so much pressure the fact there are now so many more new beverage opportunities opening up could not have come at a better time.
