All it takes is for LVMH to take an interest in a new category – in this case, the fledgling sparkling non-alcoholic wine segment, by acquiring a 31% stake in the French Bloom brand – to suggest that this segment is about to explode. But the match is not yet won, for two reasons. Firstly, alcohol-free wine will have won its spurs when it beats the world’s greatest wines blind. In a way, this would be a new “Judgement of Paris”, in reference to a tasting that took place in Paris in 1976, which at the time put American red wines ahead of the great Bordeaux wines, and US white wines ahead of the great Burgundy Chardonnays. This resounding announcement was responsible for the emergence of these new-world wines in the very hushed world of the great old-world wines. But since this point is of interest only to fans of great wines, which is to say very few people in the world, I think it’s more interesting to talk about the second reason.
From my point of view, the second reason is much more problematic, and will give this new category of “alcohol-free wine” a hard time, making me think that its success is not all that certain. In fact, alcohol-free wine itself is of no interest. It shouldn’t even be called wine in the first place. In fact, Americans speak of “booze” or “Drinks”, not “Wine”, when they refer to the alcohol-free sparkling wine produced by the French Bloom brand. It therefore falls under the common name of non-alcoholic beverage. And here, the competition is going to get tougher over the next few years. In my opinion, as ‘Health is Wealth’ for the new generations around the world, I believe that this alcohol-free wine will quickly come up against the market of alcohol-free drinks whose health benefits will be highlighted. In a way, it’s the advent of the non-alcoholic beverage as a dietary supplement beneficial to your health and beauty that could put a natural end to this category of non-alcoholic wine.
Between you and me, would you prefer to drink a non-alcoholic wine or a non-alcoholic beverage with proven benefits for your health, beauty and well-being? Will the “beneficial” herbal tea of the Carthusian monks from Chartreuse, served chilled on the terrace of trendiest bars, finally be the non-alcoholic beverage that dethrones all these non-alcoholic drinks? I am wondering. My only certainty is that investment will be key to the success of those brands which can only become established with the help of celebrity-backed advertising that brings scale, reach and validation. Because celebrities will continue to influence trends, building on established brands and creating new ones, making a previously ‘boring’ choice seem cool, normalizing it within mainstream culture. And that’s cool, isn’t it?
