Mionetto, a leading brand of Italian prosecco, has entered the non-alcoholic space with a new product: a zero-proof sparkling wine that mimics the flavor of the brand’s flagship Prestige Prosecco Brut. The bottle will be available across the United States in 2024, at an SRP of $15.
Enore Ceola, CEO of Freixenet Mionetto USA, noted that American consumers specifically were increasingly asking for a non-alcoholic prosecco from the brand. “[In 2023,] there is more awareness on alcohol-removed wines. They are widely accepted now,” Ceola says.
The demand for non-alcoholic prosecco echoes the rapid growth of the non-alcoholic category. According to Fortune Business Insights, the US non-alcoholic beverage market size (which includes soft drinks, coffee, tea, and smoothies alongside alcohol-removed products) was valued at $149.6 billion in 2022. The category is expected to grow from $161.3 billion in 2023 to $225.62 billion in 2030.
“We pride ourselves on listening to our consumers who have expressed interest in a low-alcohol and alcohol alternative sparkling wine from Mionetto,” says Ceola. “Based on consumer tastings throughout the market, we recognize that many American consumers lead an alcohol-free lifestyle. We wanted to offer a quality-driven sparkling wine for this exact reason.”
Just like Mionetto Prosecco Brut, the zero-alcohol bottling starts with a Glera-dominant blend of Indigenous grapes that undergo second fermentation in stainless steel tanks. To remove the alcohol, there’s one added step: the alcohol content is carefully removed from the finished wine to bring the proof down to less than 0.05% ABV. The finished bottles are wrapped in Mionetto’s signature orange labeling.
“It’s a very complex and expensive method,” says Ceola. “The first step is to select quality sparkling wine that then is put through a distilled-vacuum process to extract the alcohol while maintaining the main flavors and taste profile of the wine; which is fruity, fresh and featuring light flavor.” It’s bouncy and bright, with notes of peach, apple and cranberry and persistent bubbles.
Mionetto will be targeting both customers who drink and customers who abstain entirely with the release. In the United States, 82% of consumers who purchase non-alcoholic products also buy regular-proof wine, beer and spirits, according to Nielsen IQ.
This is the second non-alcoholic release from the wine giant. Mionetto Non-Alcoholic joins Freixenet Alcohol-Removed Sparkling White and Rosé: alcohol-removed versions of the white and pink Penedès sparkling wines launched in 2020. Henkell Freixenet (global subsidiary of Freixenet Mionetto USA) also owns Henkell, Freixenet, Champagne Alfred Gratien, Segura Viudas, Schloss Johannisberg, and Gloria Ferrer.