How Wellness Is Impacting The Drinks Business
Surprisingly, there are ways to drink that are gentler on your body—and plenty of ways to stay social without catching a buzz at all. From botanical spirits to beautifully crafted alcohol-free wines, today’s innovators are making it easier to celebrate without sacrificing how you feel the next day.
The thing is, many of today’s drinkers want to give the same scrutiny to their drink as they do to their food, medicine, and even water. And although they love the social aspect of drinking, sometimes they may want it without the extra punch. Modern consumers — many shaped by the anti-ultra-processed food movement — increasingly want to know exactly what is in their glass. Wellness-led consumers have pushed the industry to rethink ingredients, transparency, and the meaning of “better” drinking.
Wellness Aficionados Want Clean-Label Wines
What makes the shift a positive one is that it is often less about perfection or abstinence, and more about balance, knowledge, and choices.
Kind of Wild’s lineup — from Grüner Veltliner to skin-fermented Grenache Black to Brut Nature Sparkling — offers variety while aligning with those expectations.
By farming organically and biodynamically, they nurture healthy soils and ecosystems, avoiding synthetic chemicals that can harm both the earth and your body. Wild fermentation with native yeasts allows each wine to develop its own unique, vibrant character, without the need for additives or sulfites. It’s about making wine that’s pure, full of life, and better for both you and the planet.
Woody Harrelson’s Wellness Spirits Company – Holistic Spirits Co.
Holistic Spirits Co. is an example of how this mindset is entering the spirits world. Co-founded by wellness entrepreneur Amy Holmwood and actor and environmentalist Woody Harrelson, the brand takes the position that what goes into your glass should be as thoughtful as what goes on your plate.
They do this by infusing their spirits with functional plant ingredients. Their patent-pending formula is scientifically proven to reduce alcohol’s toxicity, creating a healthier choice for consumers.
Their formulations draw on four botanicals: elderberries, muscadine grapes, artichoke leaves, and green tea.
Elderberries, long associated with immune resilience, are rich in flavonoids and vitamin C. Muscadine grapes contain naturally high levels of resveratrol and ellagic acid and their thick skin also brings an unmistakably bold, polyphenol-forward character to spirits.
Artichoke leaves have been used for centuries in digestion-focused herbalism. Rich in cynarin, they echo the logic behind classic European apéritifs: bitterness awakens digestion, helps the body process fats, and signals the shift from day to night. Green tea leaves, with their catechins and L-theanine, represent calm focus — the kind of balanced energy many modern consumers seek.
The resulting spirit, Harmony Holistic Gin, is rose-hued and infused with this botanical blend, layered over traditional gin botanicals like orris root, hyssop, coriander seed, citrus peels, angelica, and juniper. It contains no artificial flavors, additives, colorings, or GMOs — and that absence is part of the appeal. Consumers don’t just care what’s added. They care what’s not added.
“We saw a gap in the market for spirits that are easier on the body and developed our unique formula over four years. Our Origen Vodka and Harmony Gin are backed by scientific research, making us a pioneer in wellness-focused alcoholic beverages.”
One of Woody’s favorite holiday cocktails:
1.5 oz Origen Vodka
1 oz watermelon juice
0.5 oz lime juice
0.25 oz agave
Method: Shake ingredients over ice, fine strain Garnish: Watermelon radish slice or citrus Glassware: Martini
Health shifts have created fertile ground for a new category: sophisticated, dealcoholized beverages made with the same craftsmanship as wine.
A compelling example comes from Argentina’s Catena Family, which developed the EdeM zero-proof line through its Catena Institute of Wine. Family matriarch Elena Maza asked her daughters, Laura and Adrianna Catena, to create high-quality alcohol-free alternatives. This request didn’t come from trend watching. It came from the knowledge that there are circumstances when alcohol isn’t appropriate: pregnancy, medication, athletic performance, or simply preferring not to drink every night.
The wines themselves — N.0 ROSÆ, a dealcoholized sparkling rosé infused with rose petals, and BRUNETTE, a sparkling alcohol-free Chardonnay — are made with precision and respect for flavor architecture, not as diluted versions of wine but as their own category.
They want the experience, the pairing options, the evening unwinding without alcohol. The category’s rapid expansion shows that the future of drinking culture is more diverse than ever.
Take Duju, a Made-In-France sparkler—organic, low-calorie (18 cal per serving!), and 25% less sugar than most other no alcohol wines.
“The focus on quality is deeply personal,” said Founder Erika Dawkins. “I went alcohol-free due to a pregnancy related liver issue. Imagine being in wine country with a partner who’s a winemaker, constantly in the ‘water thirst trap’ at parties and work events.”
Erika’s winemaker husband, Ross Dawkins, got to work — traveling from Sonoma to Bordeaux to craft the no alcohol sparkler. “We focused heavily on building texture and crisp acidity (two things usually lacking in NA wine) to deliver a truly sophisticated sip.”
Crafted from organic Sauvignon Blanc grapes—with no artificial flavors or added aromas—fermented at low temperatures to retain the primary fruit flavors and refreshing acidity before using vacuum distillation to keep the brioche, green apple, and Meyer lemon shining through.
Natural wines, regeneratively farmed. That’s the mindset of AVIVO. AVIVO wines are made from Sangiovese and Vermentino grapes, climate-native varietals that thrive in California’s warm, Mediterranean climate. AVIVO Winemaker Dan Fitzgerald explained why he chose these particular varieties.
Beyond Vermentino and Sangiovese, Fitzgerald’s take on healthy adult beverages is those made with as few ingredients as possible, made as conscientiously as possible, with no harmful additives.
In the winery, he lets nature take its course. His take: “What better, simpler method exists? As far as purity goes, EVERYTHING comes from the vineyard, there are no outside influences that go into the wine.”
From botanical spirits to zero-proof wines and clean-label organics, the new drinking landscape isn’t rejecting alcohol — it’s refining it. The goal isn’t only to make alcohol “good for you.” It’s also to make it make sense within a lifestyle that values intention.
If wellness is where the industry is heading, it’s a direction shaped not through trend-creating marketing, but by responses to the evolving priorities of the people doing the pouring.