If a glass of wine has become part of your evening routine, replacing it is not always as simple as pouring a glass of water.
Often, it is not just the alcohol you are looking for. It is the ritual. Opening something at the end of the day. Pouring it into a nice glass. Having something interesting with dinner. Sitting down and knowing the working day is over.
The good news is there are now plenty of alternatives to wine that still feel like a proper drink.
What makes a good alternative to wine?
The best wine replacement depends on what you actually enjoy about drinking wine.
If it is complexity and dryness, you might prefer hop water, sparkling tea or a botanical drink. If you are looking for something that closely recreates wine, dealcoholised wine is the obvious place to start.
If it is really about the 5pm ritual, you may find that having an adult drink you genuinely look forward to is more important than trying to reproduce wine exactly.
- How sweet is it?
- Does it work with food?
- Does it have enough flavour and complexity to sip slowly?
- Does it still feel like an occasion?
- Do you want something that tastes like wine, or something completely different?
1. Hop water
Hop water combines carbonated water with hops, the same plant responsible for much of the aroma and character of beer.
Despite the name, it does not need to taste like beer. Depending on the hops used, you can get citrus, tropical fruit, floral, herbal and more resinous flavours. Because hops naturally bring bitterness and aroma, hop water can have considerably more structure than ordinary sparkling water without needing sweetness.
That is one of the reasons it can work particularly well for wine drinkers looking for something dry rather than sugary.
HOPR is our take on the category. We steep hops with functional botanicals to make a crisp, dry and aromatic sparkling drink designed to stand on its own rather than imitate wine.
For wine drinkers, we suggest starting with a mixed pack rather than trying to guess which hop variety you will like.
2. Dealcoholised wine
If what you really want is wine without the alcohol, dealcoholised wine is the most obvious substitute.
It starts life much like conventional wine before the alcohol is removed. You will find sparkling, white, rosé and red versions.
The experience varies considerably between producers, so try a few. One thing wine drinkers often notice is sweetness. Alcohol contributes body, texture and balance to regular wine, so removing it can change how the finished drink tastes.
If you enjoy sweeter styles, that may not bother you at all. If you normally drink dry wine, look closely at the tasting notes and sugar content.
3. Sparkling tea
Sparkling tea is one of the more interesting options for people who enjoy wine with food.
Tea naturally contains tannins, aromatics and bitterness, which can give the finished drink some of the structure people associate with wine. Green and white teas can be delicate and floral, while black and oolong teas can produce considerably deeper flavours.
Serve it cold in a wine glass and it can work particularly well at the dinner table.
4. Botanical drinks
Botanical drinks use ingredients such as herbs, spices, citrus, flowers and roots to create complexity without relying on alcohol.
They are a broad category, so you will find everything from light, refreshing drinks to darker, more savoury options.
They are worth exploring if you are less interested in recreating wine and more interested in discovering something new. Look for drinks where bitterness, acidity and aroma are doing the work instead of large amounts of sugar.
5. Kombucha
Kombucha brings acidity and fermentation-derived flavour, which makes it more interesting to sip than an ordinary soft drink.
You will find everything from very dry kombuchas through to fruitier and sweeter styles. For a wine-like drinking occasion, lean towards the drier end of the spectrum.
6. Alcohol-free beer
You do not have to be a beer drinker to enjoy alcohol-free beer.
Modern alcohol-free beers range from very light lagers to pale ales, IPAs and darker styles. If what you are missing is bitterness rather than the flavour of grapes, an alcohol-free pale ale or IPA may actually satisfy you more than alcohol-free wine.
The difference between alcohol-free beer and hop water is that alcohol-free beer is generally brewed to resemble beer, while hop water uses hops without necessarily going through the traditional brewing and fermentation process.
7. Alcohol-free spirits with soda or tonic
Alcohol-free spirits can work well when you want the ceremony of making a drink.
Pour one over ice, add soda or tonic, garnish it properly and you have created something that feels much more deliberate than grabbing a soft drink from the fridge.
Botanical and bitter styles tend to work particularly well if you are trying to avoid overly sweet drinks.
8. Shrubs and drinking vinegars
A shrub is usually made using fruit, vinegar and sugar, then diluted with sparkling water.
The acidity gives shrubs a grown-up sharpness that can make them surprisingly satisfying as an alternative to wine. Because recipes vary considerably, sweetness varies too.
9. A well-made mocktail
Mocktails have come a long way from juice, lemonade and a piece of fruit.
The better ones use acidity, bitterness, herbs, tea, spice and texture to create the complexity you would expect from a proper cocktail.
If you are making one at home, you do not need ten ingredients. Citrus, sparkling water, herbs and a good alcohol-free base can go a long way.
10. Good sparkling water, served properly
Sometimes the simplest option works.
Choose a sparkling mineral water with plenty of carbonation, pour it into the glass you would normally use for wine and add citrus, cucumber, herbs or another garnish.
Will it taste like wine? No. But if part of your drinking habit comes from the physical ritual of opening, pouring and sipping something while you cook or eat, changing the ritual can still be useful.
What if you do not like sweet alcohol-free drinks?
This is one of the biggest complaints we hear from people trying to cut back on wine. A lot of alcohol-free options lean heavily on fruit and sweetness.
If that is not your thing, start with categories where bitterness, tannin, acidity or botanicals provide the flavour instead.
- Hop water
- Dry sparkling tea
- Dry kombucha
- Botanical drinks
- Some alcohol-free beers
- Less-sweet alcohol-free wines
HOPR was deliberately created on the dry, crisp and bitter side rather than as another sweet soft drink.
What should a wine drinker try first?
If you drink crisp white wine
Try something light, aromatic and refreshing. Hop water using citrus or floral hop varieties, sparkling tea and dry botanical drinks are good places to start.
If you drink richer white wine
Look for drinks with more body, aromatics and texture. Sparkling tea, fuller botanical drinks and more flavour-forward hop waters can work well.
If you drink red wine
You may miss tannin and structure more than sweetness. Tea-based drinks, botanical drinks and alcohol-free reds are likely to feel more substantial than sparkling water or juice-based alternatives.
If you drink sparkling wine
You have plenty of options. Alcohol-free sparkling wine is the closest direct substitute, but sparkling tea, kombucha and crisp hop water can all fill the same cold, carbonated drinking occasion.
You do not necessarily need to find a drink that tastes like wine
A good wine alternative does not have to be fake wine.
For many people, the goal is simply finding something sophisticated enough that they do not feel like they have downgraded from wine to water.
We see this with HOPR customers all the time. Some come to us after trying alcohol-free wine. Others normally drink beer. Others do not particularly like either. What they have in common is wanting something they genuinely look forward to opening at the end of the day.
Finding your alternative is really about figuring out what part of that experience matters to you.
Trying to cut back on alcohol?
You do not have to stop drinking entirely to introduce alcohol-free nights.
Australia's NHMRC guidelines state that, for healthy adults, drinking no more than 10 standard drinks per week and no more than four on any one day reduces the risk of alcohol-related harm. The less alcohol you drink, the lower your risk.
Replacing some of your usual drinks with alcohol-free alternatives can be one practical way to reduce how much alcohol you consume.
Want to try hop water?
If you have never tried HOPR, our Sampler Case is the easiest place to start.
It includes a range of our hop waters so you can work out whether you prefer something citrusy, tropical, floral or more hop-forward.
They are made in Australia and are designed to be crisp and refreshing rather than sweet.
Pour one cold into your favourite wine glass, add ice if that is your thing, and see where you land.
Ready to try it? Shop the Sampler Case.
Frequently asked questions
What can I drink at night instead of wine?
Popular alternatives include hop water, alcohol-free wine, sparkling tea, kombucha, botanical drinks, alcohol-free beer, alcohol-free spirits and sparkling mineral water. The best option depends on whether you are looking for wine-like flavour or simply a satisfying evening drinking ritual.
What is a good alternative to wine that is not sweet?
Hop water, dry sparkling tea, some kombuchas, botanical drinks and certain alcohol-free beers can all provide bitterness, acidity or complexity without relying heavily on sweetness.
Is hop water good for wine drinkers?
It can be. Hop water does not taste like wine, but its aromatics, carbonation and natural hop bitterness can make it appealing to people who want a dry, adult drink rather than a sweet soft drink.
Does alcohol-free wine taste exactly like wine?
Usually not. Removing alcohol can change a wine's body, aroma, sweetness and mouthfeel. Some people enjoy the similarity, while others prefer an alcohol alternative that is not trying to recreate wine.
What is the difference between hop water and alcohol-free beer?
Alcohol-free beer is generally produced to taste like beer and usually involves brewing. Hop water uses hops for aroma and flavour in a sparkling-water style drink. HOPR, for example, skips brewing and fermentation and steeps hops directly into water.