Consumption if wine had no alcohol

How would your wine consumption change of wine had no alcohol?

More of a thought experiment, which we were discussing over dinner recently:

If wine had no alcohol in it, but otherwise tasted/smelled the same in all respects, would you still drink the amount you do?

Assume also no added or decreased nutritional benefits, such as fewer calories or less of the stuff we use to justify consumption for health reasons.

(And, as should be obvious, this isn’t about alcohol-free wines.)

Increase. I believe.

I rarely reach for wine when it’s the alcohol I’m after, instead preferring beer or a liquor-based drink.

What would be the point? If there is no alcohol, there is no wine. It is the reason for wine. I don’t drink wine to get drunk but I do enjoy the social and physical buzz. I wouldn’t bother otherwise.

Sounds like there is a business opportunity for non-fizzy, non-alcoholic fruit juice mixed with pencil shavings, garden hose, dirt and leather. And 5 percent of the time, it’s gone bad.

What’s the point?
If you cannot get your kicks from fermented grapes, why bother? There’s plenty of soda and lassis to consume.

I think this is a fine thought experiment, and this isn’t the first time I’ve considered this question. I don’t really care about getting buzzed and would generally prefer not to have any of the intoxicating side effects of alcohol.

But still a fair question - could wine be as (potentially) special without the alcohol? Why or why not? There are premium foods that are not intoxicating (Kobe beef, fresh lobster, caviar, truffles, hand crafted chocolate). This is hard! The only thing I can think of is a kind of social inertia - we are used to luxury drinks containing alcohol. Other reasons?

I’d definitely save a ton of Uber/Lyft bills. If it tasted exactly the same, it wouldn’t matter to me if it had alcohol or not.

Wait: does the cost remain the same? Do the calories decrease commiserate with the reduction in alcohol?

I suspect my consumption would drastically decrease towards but not quite arriving at zero, as neither the cost nor (especially) the calories would be justified.

This.

I think I would be poor, assuming it cost the same. I’d prob drink it non-stop.

I guess if it tasted exactly the same. There would still be sensory thrills to be had. But I would have to move up to quality spectrum, and I would generally drink it less often.

A difficult question.

I suspect the same, on the grounds that ability to drink more in a session would start off being attractive but would quickly lose interest. Sometimes the effect is pleasing, having a relaxing evening with friends and letting the slow effect of the alcohol help that relaxation, with it shaping the relaxation as the evening wears on. I would miss elements of that. I daresay if there was no alcohol, we’d be sharing bottles at work with colleagues who shared an interest, perhaps going so far as to have a regular tasting club in the canteen.

I’d absolutely drink it more often as I’m mostly into wine for the sensory aspect. When I want to drink and party I almost never reach for wine, it’s usually cheap beer or cocktails in that case. 9 times out of 10 if I decide not to drink wine at home it’s because I either don’t want to be fuzzy that night or I don’t want to feel less than 100% the next day. If it was alcohol-free I’d drink it probably every night.

I drink for taste. If a tavern doesn’t have craft beer, I’ll drink Iced tea. I would definitely drink more wine if it had no alcohol. I ride a motorcycle (35-40K miles/yr) so I have to be extremely careful about alcohol consumption. I would love to be able to consume a whole bottle of wine at a pot luck gourmet picnic.

I’d drink about the same amount, unless it drove the calories down significantly. Then I’d drink substantially more.

My initial reaction was yes, lots more, but on reflection, it occurs to me that the alcohol is an important part of the wine experience because it works to limit consumption and make the drinking of wine special: you can only drink (or remember) so much; you have to consider the post drinking window - to not use heavy machinery, to have a nice doze etc. Such an imposition of ‘scarcity’ makes the time spent enjoying wine more valuable.

There is a reason why World Cups are four yearly, why people don’t have Christmas every day…

I basically drink water, beer, tea and coffee. If wine had no alcohol, I might never drink water again.

In an ideal world, I’d have both … wines that came with a buzz and an NA version that still had the succulent and savory qualities I like in wine.

I could choose either variety depending on my needs at a certain moment.

I would drink a ton of those NA-style Becks beers, for example, if they actually tasted good.

I’ve been drinking more German Rieslings this year that have lower alcohol content. I definitely notice the lack of buzz and I like it. Doesn’t mean I drink more lower alcohol wine though; the high octane stuff remains delicious as well.

I put down a big fat zero…I needs me my alcohol!..how else am I going to put up with Alfert and Corey?

On the serious note
…if it tasted and smelled the same i could see a slight increase…only slight because I have to watch my sexy figure