On a recent visit to Brooklyn’s Four Horsemen, we uncorked a bottle of fermented sour cherry, lacto beets and ice clarified tomato: a non-alcoholic collaboration between Four Horsemen and the maker Muri. Which got us thinking: should restaurants make room for more N/A wine in their cellar?
A hospitality-first mindset makes a compelling argument for doing so. There is a choreography to enjoying wine with dinner: opening a bottle establishes the flow of an evening, complementing the flavors of a meal in a way that a cocktail might not. Adding a zero-proof pour ensures everyone can join in the dance.
While we’ve seen a rise in N/A offerings, especially at tasting-menu spots like Huso and Joo Ok—where upstart labels like NON are featured—N/A wine is not quite a fixture of the beverage world, yet. But like folding a napkin, offering to check coats, or touching tables, N/A wine is a gesture of good service. We spoke to some trusted beverage industry companions about the challenges and rewards of embracing N/A wine, including offering it at below-target margins.
Oset Babür-Winter, wine writer + founder, Prix Fixe
“How much care and attention a restaurant puts into its N/A program speaks volumes about the staff’s creativity, curiosity, and overall appetite for inclusivity. Having an N/A sparkling option by the glass is a classy move, in my view, because nothing sucks more than toasting with soda water.”
Michael O’Callaghan, sommelier, Huso:
“While you might expect an N/A Riesling to taste like Riesling, none of your producer/region knowledge or general wine knowledge will really help you. There’s some overlap in vocabulary, but learning about N/A wine is similar to learning about an entirely new wine region.”
Flo Barth, wine director, I Cavallini
“We lose money on N/A products in general. Specifically on the wine side of things, we mark it up less than our usual markup for wine by the glass. The wholesale price for N/A wine is more expensive than a lot of the wines we normally pour by the glass. I mark it down about $2 from what our traditional wine pricing would be just to encourage people to try it, because it’s a new thing. We want to give everybody something to drink and make them happy.”
Anonymous big-name restaurateur we recently lunched with:
“N/A wine? I don’t think about it.” Scoffs and sips Gibson.
