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Rachel | The NoLo Table

@thenolotable

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Founder, The NoLo Table 🍷Traveller exploring the world of alcohol-free wine. Tasting, learning, educating & championing great wine. Alcohol optional.

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Come on North Yorkshire pubs — embrace the alcohol free! 🍷❤️

I live in a part of North Yorkshire that is ridiculously well served for lovely pubs and restaurants. Fabulous food, great wine lists, beautiful rooms and stunning locations — places I go back to again and again.

But since I stopped drinking alcohol, I’ve started assessing their hospitality by an additional category…. Do they cater for non-drinkers in a way that goes beyond zero beer or tonic water?

Because some of our brilliant local destinations ARE doing it.

The @thestarinnatharome has alcohol-free sparkling, white and red — and even offers them by the glass. @pignutandthehare at Scawton is another fabulous eatery where I can enjoy a range of thoughtfully curated alcohol-free options that isn’t just Guinness or Coke. The Staplyton Arms, Wass also serves alcohol free wine.

It really doesn’t require adding an enormous new section to the wine list.

One really good alcohol-free white. A decent sparkling. Maybe a rosé or red. Most importantly, something that has actually been tasted and chosen because it works with food.

I’ve heard from a couple of the places I go to regularly; ‘no demand, can’t justify it’. But I don’t think it’s a demand problem, it’s a missed marketing opportunity.

Put a board up advertising your AF wine options and I bet teetotalers, pregnant ladies, designated drivers and those with a big day tomorrow would happily give them a try. They just assume soft drinks are their only options and don’t want to kick up an AF fuss at the bar by asking you what else you stock.

I’m not expecting pubs to replace items on their wine lists. I just want those of us who aren’t drinking alcohol to be included in them.

There are some seriously good alcohol-free wines out there now. I’m happy to make recommendations and even put my favourite locals in touch direct with producers and brilliant alcohol free distributors.

So, if you’re a Yorkshire pub or restaurant already doing AF wine brilliantly, tell me — I want to know about you.

#thenolotable #yorkshirehospitality #alcoholfree taken in Ampleforth, North Yorkshire by @thenolotable

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an hour ago

In NoLo News…

More choice on the wine shelf? Yes, please.

BOLLE’s sparkling Blanc de Blancs and still Chardonnay are heading into more than 400 M&S stores—a welcome opportunity to try premium alcohol-free wine alongside the weekly shop. Bolle is a nice tipple, although I haven’t yet tried the Chardonnay. So, if you pick up a bottle, please let me know what you think.

Over in Germany, a new production centre will help wineries develop alcohol-free wines without having to invest in all the specialist equipment themselves. It may be less glamorous news, but this could be where some of our favourite future bottles start life.

And this week, producers, retailers and hospitality buyers are gathering in London for Club Soda’s No, Low & Mid-Strength Summit. On the agenda: changing drinking habits and getting better choices onto shelves and menus.

More places to buy it, more producers making it, more people talking about the sector and opportunities. Hopefully, of course, it will result in more wines worth bringing to the table. 🥂

#thenolotable #alcoholfreewine #sobercurious by @thenolotable

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a day ago

Welcome to one of my favourite months. Fresh weather, cosy cooking, wardrobe changeover and… my birthday!

I land back in England today and I’m looking forward to tasting, testing and visiting lots of British hospitality venues to find out who is offering great NoLo offers… and who isn’t, and why.

Thanks to everyone who joined me over the Summer… I hope October is a great month for us all, Rachel x

#theNolotable #alcoholfreewine #octobervibes #winewithoutalcohol by @thenolotable

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6 days ago

My good friend and fellow @thenolotable adventurer @reobrep just sent me a piece in The Times about the changing face of wine — and interesting, blue raspberry wine was the headline.

Because apparently nothing says “wine is changing” quite like something electric blue that’s gone viral on TikTok.

But I wonder if that’s the easy story.

There is SO much genuinely interesting innovation happening in wine right now. Lower alcohol. Better alcohol-free wines. New techniques. New formats. Producers putting serious time, money and expertise into making drinks for a generation whose relationship with alcohol is changing.

And yet… blue raspberry click bait.

It feels like the sensational, lowest-common-denominator example designed to send The Times readership into pearl-clutching apoplexy.

Maybe blue raspberry wine is part of the story. It’s selling, some people clearly want it, and good luck to them.

But I’m much more interested in the rest of the real story.

Because from where I’m sitting, wine isn’t becoming ridiculous.

It’s becoming more interesting.

And alcohol-free wine is a very big part of that. What do you think?

#NoLoTable #AlcoholFreeWine #NoLo #changingdrinkinghabits by @thenolotable

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8 days ago

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9 days ago

NOLO NEWS 🍷 | IS THE FUTURE OF AF WINE SMALLER?

This caught my attention.

I started reading about an Italian producer launching its alcohol-free wines in 187ml bottles in the US — essentially a single glass — and wondered whether this might be the beginning of a trend.

Turns out, it already is.

Here in the UK, Kylie 0% and Freixenet 0.0% come in 200ml bottles. Noughty has a 200ml sparkling white. ZENO offers sparkling white and rosé in 250ml cans. Eisberg and Nozeco have smaller formats too.

And new specialist AF distributor Freed From is taking the idea further, with 100ml and 250ml formats aimed at discovery; hotels, hospitality and events.

And I think smaller could make a LOT of sense for alcohol-free wine.

One of the biggest challenges with this category is still trial.

You see an AF wine you’ve never tasted. It’s £15, £20, sometimes considerably more. Is it going to be delicious? Or are you going to drink one glass and tip the rest away?

Would we be more inclined to experiment if we could buy a beautiful little bottle or a can containing a glass or two?

And perhaps the bigger opportunity is hospitality.

Restaurants often say there isn’t enough demand for AF wine to justify opening a bottle. Smaller serves change that equation.

Hotels and minibars. Trains and airlines. Events and theatres. Restaurants selling by the glass. Even the table where just one person isn’t drinking.

Open. Pour. Done.

If smaller formats mean we’re more willing to try new wines — and more restaurants are willing to stock them — I’d call that a very good thing.

Would you be more adventurous with AF wine if you could buy it by the glass-sized bottle?

#NoLoNews #AlcoholFreeWine #NoLo #WineTrends #alcoholfree by @thenolotable

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14 days ago

REVIEW — DIVIN SAUVIGNON BLANC 0.0%, FRANCE 🇫🇷

Back to DIVIN — the Loire producer whose sparkling Rosé Blush I reviewed previously. Today, it’s their still Sauvignon Blanc.

And if, like me, you’re a Sauvignon Blanc drinker, this is a good one.

The aroma is clearly SB. Fresh and fruity, and immediately recognisable as the grape variety from which it hails - always a very good start with alcohol-free wine.

On the palate, it’s a little more restrained than some of the NETT wines and the sharper, more acidic Rieslings I’ve tried recently. But I rather like that.

It’s fresh and fruity, with good acidity. As a NoLo drinker, I don’t find it sweet, but trying it for the first time, you might, by comparison. AF wine just is slightly sweeter I think, to a greater or lesser degree. There’s a really nice, clean aftertaste to this though.

Definitely one to serve very cold. Properly chilled, this is a very nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

I’m drinking it with prosciutto-wrapped fresh figs, salumi e formaggi, and lemon chicken crostini, as part of a little thank-you aperitivo for our Italian neighbours. We’re preparing to leave the lake and head back to Yorkshire next week. 🇮🇹❤️

It’s a reminder of how food-friendly a good AF wine can be. The freshness and acidity works well with the salty prosciutto and cheese, the fruit with the figs, and the lemon brings out that Sauvignon freshness even more.

Cold wine, lovely food on the table, friends around — there’s nothing missing - just because the alcohol is.

DIVIN is a Loire producer with vineyards in Touraine, specialising in dealcoholised wines. Their range includes Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Noir, rosé and sparkling wines.

And the good news for UK drinkers: this one is easy to find. It’s stocked by M&S, including various outlets online, so no hunting down obscure European websites required.

Fresh. Fruity. Properly Sauvignon Blanc. Very food-friendly.

Wine like: 8.5/10

Would I buy it again? Yes, regularly.
And being able to pop into M&S for another bottle certainly helps. 🍷

Happy Sunday, Table friends. X

#AlcoholFreeWine #AlcoholFree #TheNoLoTable #aperitivotime🍹 taken in Lago d'Orta by @thenolotable

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16 days ago

There’s a bar/restaurant in Orta that has become one of my favourite places. pan&vino

The food is great. The setting is lovely. The people are wonderful.

But there’s another reason I’m so fond of it.

They serve two alcohol-free wines. And honestly, that small choice has made me feel incredibly loyal to them.

Because when you’re not drinking alcohol, there’s something really lovely about going somewhere and knowing you’ve been thought about. That you don’t have to ask apologetically what they have. That your choices aren’t water, Coke or something sweet in a fancy glass.

You can simply order a glass of wine.

It feels inclusive. Thoughtful. Welcoming.

And I wish more restaurants and bars in the UK understood what an opportunity that is.

You don’t need a huge alcohol-free list. You don’t need an entire separate menu.

One good white. One good sparkling or rosé. One red. Served properly, in a wine glass, with the same care as everything else.

It’s such a small thing for a venue.

But for the person sitting at the table who isn’t drinking? It can be the very thing that makes them want to come back. Again and again.

Hospitality, after all, is about making everyone at the table feel welcome. 🤍

#TheNoloTable #alcoholfreewine taken in Orta San Giulio by @thenolotable

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17 days ago

REVIEW — FERAL N°1, ITALY 🇮🇹

This is not alcohol-free wine.

In fact, it’s not trying to be wine at all — and I think that’s rather the point.

I discovered @feral_drinks - N°1 at @ladarbia on Lake Orta, where it appeared as part of their alcohol-free pairing menu.

Everything about the presentation says wine. A beautiful 750ml bottle, poured at the table into a wine glass, accompanying some seriously good food.

But then you taste it.

Feral is made in the Italian Dolomites from fermented white beet, hops and Szechuan pepper. Rather than making a wine and removing the alcohol, they use fermentation and botanicals to create something completely different.

And you can really taste those ingredients.

There’s sweetness, but also an interesting peppery, slightly spicy edge. It’s still rather than sparkling and, to me, sits somewhere between a sophisticated cocktail and a still spritz — except, of course, there’s no alcohol.

Very nice indeed.

I drank it alongside veal and an absolutely spectacular turbot with nettle sauce, and this is where Feral really started to make sense.

Instead of asking, “Does this taste enough like wine?”, perhaps the question is:

‘Does this give me an interesting, grown-up drink that works with food and deserves its place in a wine glass?’

For me, yes.

And Feral is already finding its way onto some impressive UK restaurant lists. I found it listed at JÖRO in Sheffield, while London listings include Manteca and Whiteley’s Kitchen at Six Senses London. Passione Vino also lists Feral for retail, although N°1 was sold out when I checked.

Feral seems to be finding a natural home in restaurants and pairing menus - places where the objective isn’t necessarily to replicate wine, but to put something genuinely interesting in the glass.

You can buy it directly from Feral in the UK too, at around £16 a bottle. So if you’re curious and spot it on a menu, it’s definitely worth a try.

There’s room at the NoLo Table for something entirely new too.

Thanks @ladarbia for a superb meal and experience with friends. We’ll see you again soon 🙏

#TheNoLoTable #alcoholfree #sobercuriouslifestyle taken in Orta San Giulio by @thenolotable

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18 days ago

REVIEW — DANIEL MATTERN NO LIMIT RIESLING RÉSERVE, GERMANY 🇩🇪

Another recommendation from Riccardo @enotecapassionezero in La Spezia — and this one is definitely for the Riesling lovers.

Daniel Mattern is a winemaker in Mettenheim, in Germany’s Rheinhessen region. He founded his winery in 2011 and makes conventional wines alongside his alcohol-free No Limit range.

And there’s some serious validation behind this bottle. Falstaff awarded the No Limit Riesling Réserve 91 points in 2026, finding ripe lemon, yellow apricot, orange and apple, with noticeable sweetness held together by tight acidity.

Interestingly, it has 45g/l of residual sugar — quite a lot on paper — but that acidity makes a real difference to how it drinks.

So, what did I think?

First, the colour. Lovely, zesty yellow in the glass.

The aroma is very light, but then you taste it and — this sounds slightly ridiculous — it tastes yellow too.

Lemon, definitely. Apricot. Perhaps some peach or yellow apple. There’s good acidity alongside quite marked sweetness, and a really pleasant lingering aftertaste.

Most importantly, it tastes like Riesling.

That might sound an obvious thing to say about a Riesling, but in alcohol-free wine it really isn’t. Dealcoholisation can strip away some of the characteristics that tell you what you’re drinking. Here, the grape still comes through loud and clear.

Is it food friendly?
Very. I drank it with chicken, sautéed potatoes and salad, and thought it worked really well. The combination of sweetness, fruit and acidity makes this a particularly good AF wine for the table.

Wine-like? 8/10.
If you already like Riesling, I think this is absolutely one to try.

Take it for dinner at friends’?
Yes. I’d happily buy it again — particularly to take to a Riesling-loving friend and see what they made of it.

The only problem? Getting hold of it in UK.

I bought mine at @enotecapassionezero. The standard No Limit Riesling can be found online in Europe, but I still can’t find either that or this Réserve readily stocked by a UK retailer. I’ll keep looking and report back.

Import opportunity @weingut_daniel_mattern

#thenolotable #alcoholfreewine #winetravels by @thenolotable

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20 days ago

Review: NETT Reverse Sauvignon Blanc 🇩🇪

Have I found an alcohol-free wine that genuinely tastes like its alcoholic counterpart? I think I might have.

This is Reverse Sauvignon Blanc from Weingut Bergdolt-Reif & Nett, a fifth-generation family winery in Germany’s Pfalz. They’re winemakers who also make alcohol-free wine - and increasingly I’m wondering whether that difference makes the difference.

The first thing that struck me? It smells like Sauvignon Blanc!

That familiar aromatic nose is immediately there. Then grapefruit, green apple, lychee, lovely fresh fruit and, crucially, proper acidity.

It isn’t bone dry, but nor does it have that obvious sweetness that can give an AF wine away. The acidity balances it beautifully and that unmistakable Sauvignon Blanc character lingers on the finish.

Of all the AF wines I’ve tasted so far, this is possibly the closest I’ve found to tasting like the alcoholic wine it’s replacing.

There may be a reason. Nett makes conventional fermented wine first, then removes the alcohol using low-temperature vacuum distillation. Aromas lost during the process are captured and returned to the wine, helping preserve its varietal character.

And apparently I’m not alone in being impressed. Falstaff has scored it 90+/91 points, noting tropical fruit, yellow gooseberry, lively acidity, restrained sweetness and good length.

I’m not going to pretend removing alcohol makes no difference to wine. But this gets remarkably close.

Wine-like: 9/10
Buy again: For sure. Now I need to find more UK stockists.
Food-friendly: Most definitely - anything I’d normally pair with Sauvignon Blanc.
Value for money: £12
Where to buy: I’ve found it at @vinello_wine
I’m also tagging the producer to find out whether they’ll ship directly to the UK. @nettwines_nonalcoholic

If you’re a Sauvignon Blanc drinker looking for an AF alternative, put this one on your list. I’m going to be tasting all of Nett’s other varieties, watch this space.

The gap between wine and alcohol-free wine is getting smaller. Hurrah!

#TheNoLoTable #alcoholfreewine #travellingwinelady #sauvignonblanc by @thenolotable

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22 days ago

Social Sunday has rolled around again.

I promised that each Sunday I’d share a little more about the woman at the head of The NoLo Table — so this week, books.

Last night I was thinking about how much I love nosing through other people’s bookshelves. They’re such a lovely window into someone’s life - their passions, interests, obsessions, escapes and, sometimes, who they were at a particular moment in time.

Most of my books are at home in Yorkshire - I travel with my Kindle these days - but it got me thinking about the books that have never really left me.

Not necessarily literary giants. Not a worthy list of classics. Just some of the books that made me cry, made me want to be a writer, made me fall in love with places and people, taught me something, or simply kept me turning pages long after I should have gone to sleep.

They’ve all made up part of my story.

So here are a few of mine. How many have you read? And which books have never left you? I’d love to hear.

Have a happy Sunday at your Table, Rachel x

#TheNoLoTable #alcoholfreewine #reading #community by @thenolotable

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23 days ago