As health concerns tank demand for booze nationwide, a handful of vintners and distillers are introducing ultra-low-alcohol wines and spirits — and New York liquor stores are signing up to test the goods.
In December, Brooklyn-based St. Agrestis introduced Phony 1 Proof Negroni — a ready-to-drink cocktail that’s just 0.5% alcohol, versus a Negroni mixed by your bartender that typically weighs in at 48 proof, or 24% alcohol with its mixture of gin, vermouth and Campari.
That’s after St. Agrestis launched its original, zero-alcohol Phony Negroni in 2022 – creating one of the best-selling non-alcoholic drinks in the country. The problem: Well over a dozen states nationwide don’t allow liquor stores to sell zero-alcohol drinks — and New York is among them.
New York is one of about15 states that don’t allow wine and liquor stores to sell non-alcoholic beer, wine or spirits, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.
“We got a lot of phone calls from retailers wanting the [Phony Negroni] and we thought the 1-proof version was a good solution for them to diversify their selection within the parameters of the law,” St. Agrestis co-founder Louis Catizone told The Post.
The Empire State is also one of just 10 states that don’t allow grocery stores to sell wine and liquor — a law that has been in place since Prohibition and which New York liquor stores have used to defend their turf vigorously.
Now, to get around the restrictions on selling non-alcoholic beverages, New York liquor stores are eyeing a loophole created in 2019 when the State Liquor Authority under Gov. Andrew Cuomo — at the time clarifying rules around selling desserts that contained booze — specifically defined alcoholic beverages as containing 0.5% alcohol by volume, or ABV.
“The 0.5% ABV was a longstanding practice that never really mattered because no one considered selling wine with so little alcohol,” New York liquor license attorney Max Bookman told The Post. “But now, it’s suddenly relevant.”
In the case of Phony 1 Proof Negroni, Catizone said the idea was to launch ahead of “Dry January,” the increasingly popular booze abstention ritual. Just 10 retailers, including Astor Wines & Spirits, Brooklyn Wine Exchange and Amaro Spirits & Wine, are participating in what Catizone called a pilot program.
“We don’t know how much demand there will be for a really low-alc product,” Catizone conceded, adding that it’s “too early to know how the 1 proof Negroni is doing.”
Indeed, this January was particularly brutal for New York liquor stores, said Stephen Fromhart, owner of Amaro Spirits & Wine in Brooklyn, which is among 10 wine stores offering Phony 1 Proof Negroni.
“We have had the slowest January ever and that’s following months of customers asking us for no-alcohol products,” Fromhart told The Post.
Business likely wasn’t helped by a US Surgeon General’s warning last month that linked alcohol consumption to an increased risk of cancer.
Michael Correra — owner of Towne Wines & Spirits of Brooklyn who is also executive director of the Metropolitan Package Store Association, a trade group representing liquor stores — added Phony 1 Proof Negroni to his shelves in recent weeks in hopes it will help turn around his business.
“Over the last five years my sales have gone down by 25% because people are drinking less,” Correra said.
Last summer, Correra began selling a prosecco with just 0.7% alcohol by Mionetto, the popular Italian sparkling wine maker. Mionetto ONE is believed to be the first 1 proof product by a major producer.
Towne Wines sold more than three cases of the Mionetta ONE in December and Correra just ordered another five cases.
The Italian company said Mionetta ONE was created specifically to address the laws around the New York market.
“We are exploring other states where wine stores cannot sell 0% alcohol products,” Enore Ceola, CEO of Mionetto North America told The Post. “In addition to those states, we sell it in Ontario as well, which has similar laws to New York.”
Alcohol sales have remained stagnant following a 2020 surge during the pandemic, totaling $112.9 billion in 2024, according to NIQ. Meanwhile, demand for non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits was up 27% in 2024, to $829.2 million, after a 32% leap a year earlier.
Now, some producers are wading into the ultra-low alcohol niche partly because drinks with a smidgen of alcohol can taste better. New York-based vintner, Rachel Martin, introduced a 3.5% Syrah – the first of its kind – under her Oceano wine label in November with New York wine stores in mind.
Martin considered a 1 proof Syrah but ultimately settled on 3.5% ABV to improve the taste of the product, which retails for $60, she said.
“This is uncharted territory and there are very few people in it,” she said.
Giesen of New Zealand, one of the largest low and zero-alcohol producers, is also considering a 1% proof wine, according to Duncan Shouler, the winemaker’s director of innovation.
“The idea behind a 1% wine is to come up with a product that has great flavor and aroma, that looks and feels very close to a regular wine, and that offers a great option to a wine drinker looking to reduce their alcohol intake,” Shouler told The Post.
Unlike a non-alcoholic wine, 1% proof wine also can be sold in liquor stores in states with restrictive laws, he notes.
“In states such as New York, a 1% ABV wine is an opportunity to succeed,” Shouler said.
Last year, New York state Sen. Michelle Hinchey introduced a pending bill to allow wine and liquor stores and their distributors to sell “non-alcoholic versions of alcoholic beverages.” The bill has been fiercely opposed by supermarkets and convenience stores.
“We have been embracing low alcohol as a compromise until the NY SLA [State Liquor Authority] lets us sell no alcohol products,” Fromhart said.
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