Guide
Non-alcoholic wine is not one thing
Dealcoholized, built, hybrid, and naturally low-alcohol wines are different objects. 0.0% is not the same claim as <0.5%.
“Non-alcoholic wine” is a shelf label. It is not a production story.
Some of those bottles started as wine and had the ethanol taken out. Some were constructed from tea, fruit, verjus, or botanicals to occupy the wine occasion. Some mix the two. A few finish at or below 0.5% ABV without a separate removal step.
The Dry Standard classifies that factory-floor difference and leaves the dining occasion for the glass. This is the start-here note.
How it became non-alcoholic
| Type | What happened | Typical start |
|---|---|---|
| Dealcoholized | Alcohol was removed from a finished, or at least high-proof, alcoholic liquid | Fermented grapes |
| Built / proxy wine | Constructed for the wine occasion without beginning as conventional wine | Tea, fruit, verjus, botanicals |
| Hybrid | Dealcoholized material plus other defining non-alcoholic ingredients | Wine plus constructed components |
| Naturally low alcohol | Traditional process that finishes ≤0.5% without a removal step | Arrested fermentation, specialized yeasts |
| Unclassified | We cannot place the factory floor from citable sources | Marketing zero |
Production type answers how the drink became non-alcoholic.
Construction answers what kind of alternative it is — built wine, sparkling tea, botanical wine alternative. It is a subtype of Alternative, not a sixth production type. Tea is one possible base. It is not the category.
See What is a built wine? and Dealcoholized is not the same as non-alcoholic.
0.0% is not <0.5%
Those are different claims.
- 0.0% is a stated residual, or a rounding of a residual the producer treats as zero.
- <0.5% is a ceiling. The bottle may sit anywhere under the legal NA line.
- Undeclared means we have no citable number.
We do not collapse 0.33% into <0.5%, or <0.5% into 0.0%.
Removal is a named machine, or it is undeclared
When a producer names the equipment, we print it: vacuum distillation, spinning cone column, reverse osmosis, membrane or cold filtration, osmotic distillation, or another documented process.
When they confirm removal and stay silent on the machine, the public line is Technique undeclared. That is not a method. Alternatives that were never alcoholic use not applicable.
How to use the cellar
If you want traditional wine with the alcohol removed, start with dealcoholized wines or the Finder question for that experience.
If you want a constructed bottle with its own flavor profile, that is Alternative — and, when we have a sourced construction, Alternative · Built wine.
If you want the strongest documentation, sort Finder by Strongest evidence.
The number on a tasted bottle is a quality score. Facts may be researched. Scores are tasted.