Kolonne Null

From a Berlin idea to the benchmark for non-alcoholic wine

Philipp Rößle and Moritz Zyrewitz already knew each other from their student days when they founded Kolonne Null in Berlin in 2018. The impetus was simple yet consequential: both appreciated good wine but missed a worthy non-alcoholic companion for meals – something that is neither grape juice nor an industrial product. With a small Austrian winery, the first wine was created in the summer of 2018, initially offered at Berlin weekly markets and in wine shops. The response was strong enough to quickly gain a VDP winemaker as the next partner. What began as a handful of bottles has since developed into the most well-known address for dealcoholized wine in the German-speaking region.

Berlin laboratory, Rheinhessen vineyards: how Kolonne Null works

Kolonne Null owns no vineyards of its own and turns this into a strength: the team – now based in Berlin-Neukölln – focuses entirely on selection, cuvée work, and dealcoholization. The partner wineries, including award-winning family businesses from Rheinhessen, the Nahe, and the Mosel, supply mature vintage wines whose development is coordinated together even before the harvest. In their in-house Berlin laboratory, beverage technologists select the wines that make it into the collection. The alcohol is then removed via vacuum distillation: under reduced pressure, it evaporates at around 30 °C, which minimizes thermal stress on aromas and structure. Kolonne Null passes on the released alcohol – high-quality, varietal raw alcohol – as a byproduct to partner companies, where it serves as a starting product for other spirits. The entire collection is free of dyes and artificial additives.

The collaboration with the winemakers now extends well beyond the pressing: style, choice of grape variety, and cuvée structure are developed together so that the origin and signature of the respective estate remain recognizable in the dealcoholized bottle. According to their own standards, a fair and long-term partnership with producers, logistics, and distribution is not an afterthought, but part of the business model.

Riesling, Rosé, Rouge: what holds the range together

The core principle behind all Kolonne Null wines is the same: first real wine, then gentle dealcoholization. Anyone opening a Cuvée Blanc No. 01 sparkling, a Rheinhessen Riesling dry, or a Cuvée Rouge should taste the growing region, grape variety, and winemaker's signature – not homogenized category goods. The range extends from still white wines and a Riesling Reserve to rosé in still and sparkling, and two Rouge variants. Collaborations with renowned houses like Domäne Schloss Johannisberg also show that the standard is now negotiated on par with classic top wines. The wines contain a maximum of 0.3% vol. alcohol, are vegan and low-calorie – this results from the process, not from a diet promise. Drinking temperature: 8–14 °C depending on the style, analogous to alcoholic counterparts of the same grape variety.