illustration: Danielle Grinberg
Working as a drinks bizz journalist has its many boozy perks. But as the weeks, months, and, apparently, whole years have whizzed by, those innumerable bottles of something new, exciting and of substantial proof have been matched by their less heady but no-less-worthy no- and low-alcohol counterparts. Never more so than during Dry January — or indeed, “try” January, as it has been dubbed for 2021 — do I feel the full magnitude of the sheer abundance of this emerging category.
And while the beer and spirits are plentiful, the absence of low- and no-ABV wines in an otherwise flooded market is still noticeable. So, I asked a handful of prominent sommeliers in the United States and the United Kingdom which no- or low-ABV wines they’d like to put on their lists. Reader: They couldn’t name a single one. Instead, they favored the likes of sparkling teas, kombuchas, or low-alcohol table ciders — beverages that you can still serve with that sparkling-wine pop, in stemmed glassware.