It is indisputable that the way the world consumes beverages socially is changing. Patterns are changing and sales are unpredictable, especially for the wine industry. The panic button has been pressed.
But in these times of impermanence, one category is holding its own: NoLo alcohol, or drinks with low or zero alcohol made to emulate traditional alcoholic beverages like spirits, beer or wine. NoLo developed on a “sober-curious” trend and health-driven movements like Dry January, and stablilised in the aftermath of the covid-19 pandemic. When it first appeared on shelves in the 2010s, it was dismissed as a fad, but it has evolved into a category that is here to stay—and is the only one showing steady growth. According to IWSR, the global body that provides beverage alcohol data and insights, the NoLo alcohol category is forecast to grow at 4% volume CAGR through 2028, with no-alcohol leading the charge at +7%. Between 2022 and 2024, the top 10 global markets added 61 million new no‑alcohol drinkers and 38 million new low‑alcohol consumers, underscoring the category’s momentum.
While the NoLo space covers beer, spirits and wine, it is the wine segment that has found it hardest to gain acceptance—early products were dismissed as being too unlike wine. But technological advancements have gradually changed that. NoLo wines are made by preventing alcohol creation during fermentation or by removing it after a base wine is made; this is often via several highly technical and expensive methods: reverse osmosis, dealcoholizing by spinning cone columns, vacuum distillation or membrane-based separation.
Increasingly, international wine producers have begun adding NoLo wines to their product portfolios, driven in part by flatlining sales of their traditional wines. In a recent development, Argentina’s Bodega Catena Zapata, named the world’s most admired wine brand 2026 by Drinks International, and a global standard bearer for quality Argentine wines, launched its own line of NoLo wine, called Domaine EdeM. Its team is led by third generation Catena family member, Dante McDermott Catena, son of powerhouse physician-winemaker Dr Laura Catena and grandson of Nicolas Catena, Argentina’s pioneering winemaker. Dante is part of Gen Z, the cohort widely regarded as being the reason behind the global dip in wine sales. Given Catena’s internationally recognized profile, this was an interesting development.
I connected with 24-year-old Dante over Zoom and asked him about the inspiration behind Domaine EdeM. His grandmother, Elena Maza (Elena de Mendoza), the wife of Nicolas Catena and mother of Laura, loved her two glasses of wine with dinner. “As she grew older, this became harder to sustain,” Dante says. “She asked if we could make her a lower alcohol wine, as she didn’t want to dilute the wine she loved so much with sparkling water, for instance.” That started the Catena family down the route that led to eventually mastering a whole new segment in winemaking. Bodega Catena Zapata is known for its icon wines and admired for its scientific approach to winemaking—the Catena Institute for Wine was founded by Dr Laura Catena for this. Its work included studies on terroir and high-altitude viticulture, and mapping how soil, climate, and elevation shape wine character, especially the Malbec grape. Recognizing that the NoLo project aligned perfectly with the Institute’s expertise, Laura entrusted Dante and winemaker Agustin Silva with leading the initiative.
Domaine EdeM took shape over four to five years, by trial and error and sustained by deep research and analysis into sensory winemaking. “We wanted to create something for lovers of wine. At the Catena Institute, we push boundaries with our brands and experiment with new things. Only when we reached the point where we were satisfied with the quality, did we launch in the market.” Laura oversees a significant part of the project as founder, he adds, “but you can say Domaine EdeM is a creative project of the institute.” Dante’s role focuses on strategy and consumer experience and Silva is the oenologist.
Wine, but not wine
Domaine EdeM portfolio includes three alcohol-free and two low-alcohol wines. The proof of the pudding is its taste, and with the taste of many insipid, uninspiring NoLo wines still looming large in my memory, I ask Dante about how they go about developing the structure of the wines minus the balancing mouthfeel of alcohol.
“The first question we considered was a sensory one: what does alcohol taste like? We discovered that ethanol has a naturally sweet entrance note, a hint of spiciness on the mid-palate and another hint of bitterness on the finish. We realized that no matter which product we were making, we needed it to go through those three stages that ethanol creates on the palate. This is what differentiates wine from simple grape juice, or a cocktail or mocktail.”
So EdeM’s zero-alcohol rosé, N.O ROSÆ went through complicated processes—the Airén grapes were fermented at low temperature in a vacuum that sucked out the alcohol but retained the aromas. “You heat the wine to 38 degrees and then spin it really fast before dealcoholizing by vacuum distillation,” explained Dante. “The aromas are recaptured and then reintroduced into the wine before the carbonation process (adding bubbles). Floral aromatics in wine are the most sensitive, so most easily lost. By adding these notes again, we could trigger the associations most people have with delicious floral wines, for instance, Viognier, or my favourite Laurent Perrier rosé champagne, which has a good amount of Pinot Noir and a lovely floral, fruity nose.”
The science is key. Laura Catena has been quoted as saying that there existed great-tasting dealcoholized beers but no drinkable dealcoholized wine, largely because the scientific dimension of winemaking is too often undervalued. So EdeM takes the Catena belief that ‘wine is made first in the vineyard’ and uses top ingredients combined with scientific research: high-quality Chardonnay vitis vinifera must and verjus (unfermented juice of unripened grapes), with natural botanicals make up the Blonde and Brunette. These are labelled sparkling botanical Chardonnays as wine, especially if sold in the EU, has regulations to be considered. “We can legally use the term Chardonnay as that’s the grape used – but we can’t use the word ‘wine’ because they are infused with botanicals – wormwood, cloves, angelica root, a native botanical in Argentina – to stimulate the sensation of alcohol in the palate. The zero-proof rosé is labelled dealcoholized wine, because it was made as wine and then dealcoholized,” Dante says. The two low-alcohol wines in the UCO range are made of Chardonnay grapes from the Uco Valley fermented to lower levels of alcohol, with a little verjus added to lower the alcohol further. The UCO Stones contains more residual sugar and tropical fruit notes, while the UCO Mineral is “a more classic style.”
Domaine EdeM launched in the US in 2025, and hit European markets in February 2026 and the response has been great, he says. “People commented on the quality level and mentioned how they could not tell the wines were non-alcoholic. Europeans have developed palates for wine so they enjoyed the Blonde and the Brunette with their botanical infusions.” Wine expert Madeline Puckette aka Wine Folly compared it to an Italian vermouth: “With depth, acidity, and some heat but not from alcohol. Definitely complex and delicious.” The wines clock in from 17 to 64 calories per 100 ml.
Unsurprisingly, given the attention Domaine EdeM has received from the Catenas, the wines have already received accolades aplenty. Soon after launch, it scooped up five awards at the Drinks Business Global Low and No Alcohol Wine Masters competition 2025 – two golds (Uco Stones and Blonde) and three silvers (Uco Mineral, Brunette and N.O Rosae). “We were also listed in Wine Spectator’s Top 12 best non-alcoholic wines 2026 and in Decanter for our Rosae,” says Dante, clearly chuffed.
As for post-launch feedback and test marketing, Dante reveals a fun, competitive blind tasting of different wines was held with a mixed group of young friends and acquaintances. The results leaned toward Rosae, especially the younger crowd. There were takers also for the Uco Stones with its hint of sweetness. And people who loved whisky, or even a Negroni, loved the Brunette.
Was the EdeM portfolio created for Gen Z? “I’m not sure how many Gen Z kids, being in their early 20s, are seeking out non-alcoholic products,” Dante says, “That is more a thirties kind of thing – millennials have had time to experiment and are ready to moderate their consumption. And many older drinkers don’t tolerate alcohol as much as they age, and are cutting back for health reasons, so NoLo wine is better suited for them – especially if it actually tastes like the wine they have earlier enjoyed.”
That brings me to Dante’s favourite term – zebra striping – the trending practice of alternating one alcoholic drink with a non-alcoholic one. Zebra striping is here to stay, and why not? Dante says, reminding me that his mother, Laura is a doctor by profession. “I think she has an additional set of responsibilities thanks to the Hippocratic oath she took. So, the decision to produce non-alcoholic wines ties in with that. We – the family – all really love wine, but we are also looking out for our consumers. NoLos can bring pleasure on the palate sans the alcohol.”
On a Saturday night, what would Dante pick as his preferred drink of choice? Dante laughs. “Honestly, probably a cocktail or a beer – it might seem strange given my background but remember, Catena wines and Domaine EdeM is my work – and I guess my palate has been spoilt. I know a lot more about wine then the average 24-year-old. So, when I’m out on Saturday night, I’ll pick a non-work option. Maybe even a rum-and-coke.”
Ruma Singh is a Bengaluru-based wine and travel writer.