Kolonne Null Spritz: an alcohol-free spritz tested

A spritz runs on two things: bitterness and tension. Both are the first casualties when you pull the alcohol out. That is the problem an alcohol-free spritz has to solve, and Kolonne Null has taken a run at it with Studio Italiano.

The Berlin lab has form here. Their Riesling with Schloss Johannisberg kept its acidity where most dealcoholized whites go slack. This bottle sits in a different corner of the range though. It is not a wine imitation but a ready-mixed aperitivo at €7.90, which means a different yardstick applies.

What goes into an alcohol-free spritz

The base is a Spumante of Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco and Glera, grown on dolomite rock in northern Italy, then stripped of its alcohol. Plant extracts from a family business on the edge of Milan go in afterwards, with bitter orange and bergamot doing the flavour work.

Glera in the base is a deliberate choice. It is the Prosecco grape, and that airy, faintly floral lift is exactly what a spritz needs underneath the bitters. Potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate keep the bottle stable, which is the trade every 0.0% product makes: alcohol is itself a preservative, and something has to replace it.

Producer

Kolonne Null, Berlin

Drink

Spritz Studio Italiano, alcohol-free aperitivo

Base

Dealcoholized Spumante, northern Italy, dolomite rock

Grapes

Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, Glera

Flavour

Plant extracts, bitter orange and bergamot

Alcohol

0.0%

Sugar

7.4 g per 100 ml (74 g/l)

Calories

36 kcal per 100 ml

Other

Vegan, gluten-free, histamine-tested

Price

€7.90 per bottle (€10.53 per litre)

Tasting note

Tasting Note

Tasting note

Appearance

Aperitivo orange, exactly the colour a spritz promises. Clear, with a fine bead.

Nose

Intriguing straight away. Grapefruit up front, a note of blueberry, and something herbal and floral underneath. It pulls you into the glass.

Palate

Floral and herbal, with a welcome bitter edge. Plenty of orange and orange peel, with lemon and lime keeping it fresh. The citrus returns through the nose once you have swallowed.

Finish

The bitterness and the citrus peel hold. That is where a spritz earns its keep, and here it does.

Quality

Cleverly made. For an alcohol-free aperitivo it holds up better than you would expect. Drink less, choose better, this fits. If you can find it, buy it.

Two honest reservations

Start with the sugar. 7.4 grams per 100 ml works out at 74 grams per litre, close to double the Riesling from the same house. For an aperitivo that is defensible, because bitterness without sweetness turns medicinal. That said, the “low-calorie” flag on the label deserves context: a 200 ml serve over ice carries almost 15 grams of sugar, more than most people expect from the bottle they picked as the lighter option.

Then the colour. That aperitivo orange does not come from the bitter orange. It comes from quinoline yellow and allura red, two colourings the EU requires to carry a warning that they may adversely affect activity and attention in children. Kolonne Null markets itself on making no compromises. Here is one. At €10.53 a litre, the colour should be coming from the same place as the flavour.

How to serve it

In practice: cold, 6 to 8 degrees, a large glass, plenty of ice, a slice of orange. Not a wine glass. This bottle does not ask to be judged as wine, which is a relief after a run of alcohol-free bottles that insist on exactly that.

The moment this works is the first round on a terrace where everyone else is drinking and you want to still be sharp at four in the afternoon. If you want more wine DNA and less sugar, buy the Riesling instead. But that is not a spritz, and this is. That is the whole trade.

Taste along

Kolonne Null sent me the Spritz and I tasted it on camera. Watch the full tasting:

Sources

• Primary source: Kolonne Null, Spritz Studio Italiano product page, accessed July 2026

Bottle received as a press sample from Kolonne Null. No payment, the verdict stays mine.