Nonalcoholic Wine Is Finally Having Its Moment in NYC

Come March every year, nothing about New York City feels charming to me—even the slightest train delay (looking at you, Q) sets me off, and my favorite wool coat suddenly feels like a straitjacket. This year, I happily traded that melancholy for the sandy beaches of Palm Heights, an iconic hotel on Grand Cayman. But unlike my previous early spring escapes from the city, this trip happened just weeks after finding out I was pregnant. So at the hotel restaurant, when I asked our server if I could order just the non-alcoholic bubbly in a zero-proof cocktail, he seemed confused.

“We have many drinks without alcohol,” he said, gesturing to the menu in front of me, which had six thoughtfully crafted options using various fruit juices, extracts, ginger beer, and tonic. After a bit of back and forth, my booze-free bubbly arrived, and upon signing the check, I suggested that the staff consider adding the zero-proof sparkler to the menu by itself. It was crisp, dry, and paired perfectly with my plateful of shoestring fries and Caesar salad. Rather than detracting from the carefully crafted mocktail list (as my server perhaps feared it might), the addition of the non-alcoholic wine would simply have made the menu more inclusive.

Mocktails are increasingly offered at restaurants in the US, at least at the ones worth their salt. But the options for someone who can’t or doesn’t drink, but just really craves a glass of wine—and isn’t a big cocktail drinker to begin with—are surprisingly still limited.

At Gramercy Tavern, non-alcoholic wines have become so popular that the staff are increasing their supply.

Thankfully, that seems like it is changing. A few spots in New York City are offering more nonalcoholic wine options (often abbreviated as “N/A wines”) both by the glass and bottle. At the iconic Gramercy Tavern, by-the-glass booze-free wines have become so popular that beverage director Randall Restaino recently added them to his usual bi-weekly bar ordering sheet. “We now restock these wines weekly,” Restaino tells Condé Nast Traveler. “I remember eight years ago, at Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, we had one guest per service asking for this. Fast forward and now at Gramercy Tavern, the N/A options are among the top ten wines sold nightly.”

I visited Gramercy Tavern recently on a quiet weekday, and I nosily clocked another bar patron, who seemed to be there for post-work drinks, asking for Dr. Steinbock Fischer’s Riesling Zero from Martin Hofstatter, who makes Riesling and Pinot Noir in Italy’s Alto Adige region. “He crafts real wine grapes from real terroir and then dealcoholizes them," Restaino says. "It’s a real pleasure when you drink a wine with no alcohol and the flavor profile really stays the same as if it were a traditionally made wine."

Many nonalcoholic wines today are, just like regular wine, thoughtfully produced, full of complexity, and can make whatever dish you’re eating taste pleasantly brighter, creamier, or sweeter. They’re also enjoyable sipped solo on an ordinary weekday—or as a toast, because special occasions do happen regardless of your alcohol consumption status. In my case, landing a big project or finding an incorrectly marked Marni skirt on The Real Real—or, yes, learning I was pregnant—deserves the festivity of a popping cork and a glass of something sparkling.

I'd also argue that the ultimate flex a chef or beverage director can show is inclusivity, whether that involves accommodating allergies or providing options for those who, for whatever reason, aren’t consuming alcohol, beyond soda or lemonade. While I’m looking forward to enjoying a glass of Beaujolais after delivering this fall (like, really looking forward to it), I’ll always have a special respect for the bars and restaurants that made me feel welcome during this time in my life.

Stand-out nonalcoholic wine menus in New York City

Gramery Tavern serves a great dealcoholized bubbly.

Gramercy Tavern

Few dinners out feel more quintessentially New York City than Michelin-starred Gramercy Tavern’s bar: Come for the burger, stay for the incredible floral arrangements. The N/A list includes dealcoholized bubbly, a bold Grenache-Syrah-Mourvédre blend, rosé, and Riesling. The burger, incidentally, pairs perfectly with the zero-proof Riesling.

Lei has six hard-to-find N/A wines.

Lei

Leave it to Annie Shi, co-owner and beverage director at the restaurants King and Jupiter, to build a robust wine list that casually showcases six (and soon to be more) hard-to-find N/A options alongside a stellar Champagne selection, as well as rare bottles from the Iberian Peninsula, Greece, and China. The Cul Sec Rouge is an especially juicy blend of Sangiovese, Pecorino, and Chardonnay grapes with an unexpected funky note from kombucha.

Both locations of La Compagnie Vins des Surnaturels have a list of 15 nonalcoholic wines.

La Compagnie Vins des Surnaturels

Order a charcuterie board and make your way through the comparatively whopping list of 15 nonalcoholic by-the-glass options at both New York City locations of Compagnie—the original in Nolita, and its younger sibling in the Flatiron district. The adventurous drinker will get excited about the fermented teas and botanical blends; if you’ve got a more classic palate, there are plenty of dealcoholized still and sparkling wines.

Felice

Felice is, to my surprise, one of the only places in the city for an expertly made bowl of spaghetti bolognese and a glass of booze-free still red or sparkling wine. I highly recommend chasing your dinner down with one of their zero-proof amaros or vermouths.