Non-alcoholic wine is entering a new phase

For a long time, non-alcoholic wine was seen as an alternative: a product for people who could not or did not want to drink alcohol at a particular moment.
That view is becoming too narrow.
In Belgium, the non-alcoholic wine market reached €60 million in 2025, up 26.3% in value compared with 2024. Volumes grew at almost the same pace: 6.73 million litres, an increase of 23.8%.
And this growth did not start yesterday. In value, the Belgian market rose from €41.2 million in 2023 to €47.5 million in 2024, then to €60 million in 2025.
Source: NielsenIQ, Belgian non-alcoholic wine market, 2023–2025.
To me, these figures tell us something more important than simple market growth: non-alcoholic wine is becoming a category in its own right.

This is probably one of the most interesting shifts of recent years.
We still tend to divide people into alcohol consumers and non-alcoholic drink consumers. In reality, the line between the two is much less clear.
International IWSR studies show that moderation is gradually becoming part of everyday drinking habits. Many consumers are not necessarily giving up alcohol; instead, they are increasingly alternating between drinks with alcohol, low alcohol or no alcohol depending on the day, the occasion and the drinking moment.
A glass of alcoholic wine with dinner can therefore sit perfectly naturally alongside a non-alcoholic wine on another evening of the week.
That is a fundamental shift for our industry.
Non-alcoholic is no longer simply a response to a constraint. It is gradually becoming one choice among several.

A category can grow in two ways: by attracting new consumers or by being consumed more regularly by people who already know it.
IWSR now sees both dynamics in the no/low wine market, with growth increasingly supported by stronger engagement and more frequent consumption among existing buyers.
That is an important signal.
It means the challenge is no longer simply to convince someone to try a non-alcoholic wine.
We now need to make them want to buy it again, discover other products and, above all, find the right option for different occasions.
Aperitif, meal, weekday glass, celebration, restaurant: as the category matures, it needs to meet a wider range of occasions.

This is probably where the next stage will be decided.
When the offer was still limited, simply providing a non-alcoholic alternative could be enough to meet an expectation.
That is no longer the case.
IWSR is seeing rising expectations around no/low wines: consumers are increasingly looking for credible taste, suitability with food and a genuine drinking experience, rather than a product perceived as a compromise.
And that is excellent news for the category.
Because it forces producers to improve.

« Is there a non-alcoholic version? »

is gradually becoming

« Do I actually want to drink it? »

The difference is considerable.

Rising expectations do not mean consumers automatically accept paying more.
International IWSR data show, on the contrary, that in most markets studied outside the United States, consumers still expect a no/low wine to cost less than a traditional wine.
That creates an interesting paradox for our industry.
Consumers are demanding higher quality, while producing a good non-alcoholic wine involves additional steps: wine selection, dealcoholisation, work on the final balance, quality controls…
So we will need to keep explaining the value of the product while continuing to improve its quality.

This transformation also raises a very practical question for retailers.
How do you present a category that is becoming both more important and more diverse?
When a handful of products were enough, an “alcohol-free alternative” logic could work.
Today, the offer is beginning to take shape: still wines, sparkling wines, different grape varieties, formats, price tiers and products designed for different occasions.
Consumers need to be able to understand that offer quickly.
Visibility on shelf, segmentation, clear 0.0% communication and the ability of brands to explain their differences clearly will all become increasingly important.
The growth of a category does not depend only on the number of products available. It also depends on how easy it is for consumers to navigate the offer.

In restaurants, there is still sometimes a striking contrast between the attention given to the wine list and the attention given to non-alcoholic alternatives.
Yet expectations are also changing at the table.
IWSR identifies several motivations for choosing non-alcoholic drinks, including staying in control of consumption, being able to drive, taking part fully in a social occasion and accompanying a meal.
Offering only water or a sweet soft drink to someone who does not want alcohol is therefore increasingly falling short of that expectation.
The potential is considerable: to give the non-alcoholic consumer a genuine dining experience.
That requires different products, but also work on service, recommendations, pairings and presentation.

With growth of more than 20% in both value and volume in Belgium in 2025, it would be tempting to sum this up as a category that is booming.
I believe the challenge now lies elsewhere.
We need to turn that growth into a sustainable category.
That means continuing to improve products, segmenting the offer more clearly, working across different drinking occasions and giving non-alcoholic drinks a natural place both in stores and at the table.
At Maison 1895, this is the evolution we want to support through complementary propositions: Vintense, designed to make 0.0% accessible across different drinking occasions, and Héritage 1895, developed around a more gastronomic approach to non-alcoholic wine.
But no single brand will build this category on its own.
Producers, retailers, restaurateurs and sommeliers all have a role to play in moving non-alcoholic drinks from an alternative towards a genuine drinking culture.
And to me, that is probably where the most interesting part of its story begins.

Anne Stassen — COO, Maison 1895
Anne Stassen supports the development of Maison 1895’s activities and brands. Her work focuses in particular on commercial development, distribution and the evolution of the market for drinks with and without alcohol.

Sources

NielsenIQ — Belgian non-alcoholic wine market, 2023–2025 data.
IWSR — Opportunities in No- and Low-alcohol Wine 2025, published in 2026.