Over in Beer World, the NA (non-alcoholic) category is booming. Sales by market leader Athletic Brewing Company continue to grow while more and more other brands introduce NA products. There is a lot of interest in NA here in Wine World, too. The most-read single Wine Economist article of this year so far is an essay on “Non-Alcoholic Wine and the Second-Glass Test.” However, NA wine remains a niche product compared to NA beer.
More of the Wine World focus is on LA (low-alcohol) wine, which is promoted variously as “light,” low-calorie, “better for you,” and so on. Many new products have been launched to take advantage of interest in LA wines. Some producers seem to think this is a new category, and it may well be to some consumers.
Everything Old is New Again?
We recently received a story pitch for a brand that seemed to think it invented the idea of LA wine. That rubbed the wrong way because low-alcohol wine has a very long history. German Rieslings, for example, have long featured their moderate alcohol (they might have been the first “session” wines). Stella Rosa wines, which have alcohol levels so low that they have to include nutritional data on the labels in addition to the usual alcohol warnings, are very popular and widely distributed. Riunite Lambrusco, once the most popular imported wine in the U.S., is
This Article was originally published on The Wine Economist
