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Wine Enthusiast launches dedicated no/low alcohol Tasting Program to elevate growing beverage category. Industry Leader Expands Reviews with New 5-Star Rating System Built Specifically for Non-Alcoholic and Low-ABV Wines, Spirits, and Ready-to-Drink Beverages Nielsen reports that 92% of consumers who buy non-alcoholic products also buy alcohol, meaning this is largely the same consumer already looking to our scores for guidance." - Jacqueline Strum, President & Publisher of Wine Enthusiast Media NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, October 2, 2026 / EINPresswire.com / - Wine Enthusiast, a leading global authority on wine, spirits, and beverage culture, announced the launch of its new NoLow rating system and blind-tasting program today. Designed to evaluate no- and low-alcohol wines, spirits, and ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages, the program provides consumers with a reliable guide for discovery while establishing a formal feedback loop for an evolving category. As consumer preferences expand, there has been a surge in demand for high-quality non-alcoholic and low-ABV beverages. In the US alone, non-alcoholic retail sales crossed $1 billion by the end of 2025. Wine Enthusiast's new NoLow program reflects the brand's commitment to adapting alongside the beverage industry and supporting producers who are driving innovation in the space. All NoLow products will adhere to Wine Enthusiast's rigorous, independent blind-tasting protocol to ensure ratings integrity. Wine Enthusiast's traditional tasting program uses a 100-point scale that accounts for a product's ageability, alcohol balance, and other aspects associated with traditionally fermented alcoholic beverages. However, NoLow beverages are produced using distinct methods - such as dealcoholization or custom blending - and are crafted for immediate consumption. Therefore, they cannot be compared 1:1 with classically fermented or distilled beverages. To properly evaluate these products on their own merits, Wine Enthusiast is introducing a tailored 5-Star Rating System: | [1/2] Exceptional and original. | Well-crafted and highly recommended. | [1/2] Enjoyable and approachable. | Dependable choice for broad appeal. Reviews will consider factors including balance, flavor, aroma, texture, and overall drinking experience, with products evaluated within the context of their respective category. In addition to being reviewed, select products will also be included in new annual NoLow Top Lists that highlight stand-out beverages. "A five-star rating should mean something. We gathered input from the trade, our tasting team, and the program's reviewers to define quality across the NoLow category and develop the star rating system. The result is a rating consumers can understand, trust, and use," said Anna-Christina Cabrales, Tasting Director of Wine Enthusiast. Wine Enthusiast's NoLow Tasting Program is spearheaded by seasoned industry experts Abe Zarate, Kara Newman, and Cheron Cowan. Abe Zarate (NoLow Wine): Abe is Wine Director at New York City's Crane Club and has led wine programs at Corkbuzz, Intersect by Lexus, and Contento. In 2024, he was named one of Wine Enthusiast's Future 40 Tastemakers. Known as @sober_somm on Instagram, Abe is an advocate for conscious consumption and building a more inclusive wine industry. Kara Newman (NoLow Spirits): Kara is a writer-at-large and veteran spirits reviewer for Wine Enthusiast. An accomplished journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Food & Wine, she is also the author of seven popular cocktail books, including Shake.Stir.Sip. and Nightcap. Cheron Cowan (NoLow RTDs & Others): Cheron is an Advanced Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers and reviews American wines from the Midwest and the East Coast for Wine Enthusiast. She brings years of high-profile restaurant leadership experience (including Esca, Blue Hill NYC, and Gramercy Tavern) and international recognition as the inaugural winner of the Becky Wasserman Burgundy Scholarship. Samples can be submitted via the Wine Enthusiast Ratings Platform (WERP) for a fee of $95 per SKU, which guarantees a blind-tasted star rating and written review. Low-alcohol products between 0.5% and 10% ABV are eligible for the NoLow program when they are produced and marketed specifically as low-alcohol alternatives. Traditional alcoholic beverages that naturally fall within this ABV should continue to be evaluated through Wine Enthusiast's existing 100-point scale. For details on submission guidelines or to view upcoming ratings, visit www.wineenthusiast.com or contact [email protected]. About Wine Enthusiast Wine Enthusiast is a premier media and retail brand and authority on wine, spirits, and beverage lifestyle. Through independent reviews, industry insights, educational content, and wine lifestyle products, Wine Enthusiast empowers consumers and trade professionals worldwide to explore the evolving world of drinks. Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.

Maggie Frerejean-Taittinger Nominated for Wine Enthusiast's 2026 Innovator of the Year Award for French Bloom's leading role in the evolution of the non-alcoholic landscape. Sep 21, 2026, 15:10 ET PARIS, Sept. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - French Bloom founder Maggie Frerejean-Taittinger has been nominated for Innovator of the Year in Wine Enthusiast's 2026 Wine Star Awards. The annual Wine Star Awards honor individuals and companies making outstanding contributions to the wine, spirits and beverage industry, with this year marking the 27th anniversary of the award. With the creation of French Bloom, Maggie Frerejean-Taittinger has helped redefine what it means to raise a glass, championing greater inclusivity while propelling the non-alcoholic category, and premium sparkling wine in particular, into a new era. French Bloom is the result of cutting-edge innovation and significant investment in R&D, combined with centuries of savoir-faire and winemaking expertise. This distinctive approach has enabled French Bloom to shape a new perception of the non-alcoholic category and establish a history of firsts. Its strategic partnership with Moët Hennessy marked the group's first investment in the 0.0% alcohol segment, while French Bloom also became the first wine brand to own an estate dedicated to non-alcoholic wines. The maison has continued to set new benchmarks, becoming Formula 1(R)'s first official alcohol-free sparkling wine partner and the non-alcoholic wine served at Coachella. At the heart of French Bloom's innovation is its work as a wine Maison. From the outset, the team has focused on the quality of the wines before dealcoholization, developing its own approach to crafting organic base wines with the freshness, structure and natural acidity needed to retain complexity at 0.0%. In Limoux, French Bloom works with high-altitude vineyards and carefully selected parcels to build wines around tension, precision and a distinct sense of origin. That savoir-faire is increasingly expressed through the Maison's most ambitious cuvées. La Cuvée Vintage, first released with the 2022 vintage and followed by 2023, marked a new step in exploring how vintage, origin and élevage can be expressed in an alcohol-free wine. Crafted from organic Blanc de Blancs and aged in oak, each release reflects the character of its year rather than seeking absolute consistency from one vintage to the next. L'Extra Brut pushes that philosophy even further. With zero dosage and a deliberately minimal approach, the cuvée has been celebrated by the wine world for its precision, tension and purity. It is perhaps the clearest expression to date of French Bloom's work in Limoux: a wine shaped first in the vineyard and cellar, then carefully dealcoholized to preserve the structure and identity of its base wines. Together, La Cuvée Vintage and L'Extra Brut illustrate the direction French Bloom is taking the category: beyond simply removing alcohol, toward wines defined by winemaking, vintage and terroir. Today, French Bloom's sparkling wines are featured on the wine lists of hundreds of Michelin-starred restaurants in more than 70 countries, with a presence spanning some of the world's most prestigious cultural and hospitality destinations. Three time winner of the World's Best Alcohol-Free sparkling wine at the World's Best Sparkling Wine Awards. In October 2025, Air France introduced French Bloom's award-winning alcohol-free sparkling rosé to its ultra-premium La Première cabin, adding it to a portfolio of France's most celebrated wines served onboard. French Bloom is also featured in La Première lounges and the Delta One Lounge at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. More recently, French Bloom has expanded its U.S. luxury hospitality footprint through national on-premise listings across all current Soho House locations and several Auberge Collection properties. "To be nominated as Innovator of the Year is a tremendous honor, particularly because it recognizes how French Bloom has pushed the boundaries of what alcohol-free wine can be," says Maggie Frerejean-Taittinger, Founder of French Bloom. "We founded French Bloom on the belief that the essence of a great wine lies in its complexity, its depth, the emotions it arouses, and its central role in social life, with alcohol being secondary. The vision was never simply to create an alcohol-free alternative. We wanted to create something people would genuinely desire, whether they drink alcohol or not. The fact that French Bloom is now being recognized for its role in redefining the category is incredibly meaningful." Founded by Maggie Frerejean-Taittinger and Constance Jablonski, who teamed up with Maggie's husband, Champagne and Cognac maker, Rodolphe Frerejean-Taittinger, French Bloom brings together centuries of tradition and a distinctly modern vision: elevated sparkling wines that deliver freshness and vibrant acidity, crafted from organic wines produced with grapes grown in the high-altitude clay soils of the Coteaux Océanique in Limoux, then meticulously dealcoholized. The Innovator of the Year nomination underscores the maison's leading role in the evolution of the non-alcoholic landscape and the changing rituals of contemporary lifestyle. Driven by the innovative vision of two entrepreneurs, Maggie Frerejean-Taittinger and Constance Jablonski, Maison French Bloom was founded in 2019 and has since become a world leader in the category of prestige alcohol-free sparkling wines, doubling its growth each year. By joining forces with Rodolphe Frerejean-Taittinger, CEO of French Bloom, who has extensive experience in the production of Champagne and Cognac, the French Bloom team is driven by a pioneering spirit and is reinventing the art of celebrating. The Maison was founded on the belief that the essence of a great wine lies in its complexity, its depth and the emotions it arouses, with alcohol being secondary. French Bloom redefines the potential of alcohol-free sparkling wines with its innovative winemaking process using organic Chardonnay wines from Languedoc and combining traditional methods with innovation. With its collection (Le Blanc, Le Rosé, L'Extra Brut, and La Cuvée Vintage Blanc de Blancs) and driven by more moderate consumption and increasing "flexi-drinkers", French Bloom has expanded into more than 70 countries since 2021. Through its commitment to excellence, French Bloom has gained significant recognition, including the title of "World's Best Alcohol-Free Sparkling" at the World's Best Sparkling Wine Awards for three years. On October 1, 2024, French Bloom announced a strategic partnership with Moët Hennessy, world leader in luxury Wines and Spirits, which has acquired a minority stake in the Maison. In 2025, French Bloom became the first-ever Official Non-Alcoholic Sparkling Wine of Formula 1(R), a distinction it will proudly hold for the next decade. About Wine Enthusiast Wine Enthusiast Companies is the ultimate source of innovation and information around wine. Founded in 1979 by Adam and Sybil Strum, the family-owned company is composed of Wine Enthusiast Commerce and Wine Enthusiast Media. Wine Enthusiast Shop provides premium wine-lifestyle products, reaching millions of consumers globally via direct mail, an e-commerce site, and a business-to-business division. Wine Enthusiast magazine is an award-winning print publication and online resource that showcases wine news, food trends, and more than 25,000 ratings and reviews annually. Wine Enthusiast events include the annual premier Wine Star Awards gala. In 2024, the company launched a travel division, which includes the Tasting Room Directory and Cork+Compass Travel. Together, Wine Enthusiast Companies is the indisputable hub for everything wine. We bring wine to life. About Wine Enthusiast's Wine Star Awards Each year, Wine Enthusiast celebrates the most influential members of the wine, spirits, and beverage world at the annual Wine Star Awards. This year marks the 27th anniversary of honoring the individuals and companies that make outstanding contributions to the industry. There are 16 categories for the 2026 Wine Star Awards. Four of the categories will have a named winner. The other 12 categories include a list of nominees exemplifying dedication and innovation to the success and growth of the wine, spirits, and beverage sector. The nominees were nominated by members of the Wine Enthusiast media team, including the global sales, events, marketing and editorial divisions. The 2026 Wine Star Award winners will be honored at the 27th annual black-tie gala in January 2027. PRESS CONTACTS Colangelo & Partners Irene Graziotto, [email protected], 646 719 5303 SOURCE French Bloom