Ron Gastrobar's alcohol-free wine list, minus the wine
The Ron Gastrobar alcohol-free wine list runs on tea and fermented drinks. Sommelier Jacob van Benthem explains why that beats dealcoholised wine.
Ask sommelier Jacob van Benthem what he pours for himself from the Ron Gastrobar alcohol-free wine list and you get four names. Odd Bird Blanc de Blancs. Saicho Jasmin Sparkling. Cultcha with apple and ginger. Then, hedged with “technically speaking, as wine”, Me.js Ohne Kater Pinot Gris.
Three of those four are not wine. That is not a complaint about the list. It is the most interesting thing about it.
How the list reached Ron Blaauw
The origin story comes from Dé Alcoholvrije Slijterij, the shop that supplies the bottles. Ron Blaauw visited what was then NIX & NIX in Amsterdam a few times, came away convinced, and decided an alcohol-free list only belonged in his restaurant if it was genuinely good. Jacob van Benthem and Wim Boekema, co-founder of World of Nix, tasted their way through the options together. The list went live in 2023.
Jacob on the result: “Guests are always surprised that we carry such a wide range.”
Range is where most restaurants give up. Taking alcohol-free seriously means tasting every bottle yourself and living with a fridge that turns over slowly, while one bottle of bitter aperitif and a jug of sparkling water costs nobody any effort. Ron Gastrobar took the expensive route.
Taste along
What actually goes in the glass
Saicho Jasmine is sparkling tea: cold-brewed jasmine, fermented, bottled with carbonation. The second reel puts it next to green beans with mango hummus and a white miso dressing. That plate gives dealcoholised chardonnay real trouble, because sweetness plus umami plus dressing acidity asks for tannin and bitterness. Tea has both. Sparkling tea challenges wine on exactly that ground.
Odd Bird Blanc de Blancs is a dealcoholised sparkling wine, Cultcha is a fermented apple and ginger drink, and Me.js Ohne Kater Pinot Gris is the only one in the group that starts as a wine grape and presents itself as wine. I have not tasted the four side by side, so these are Jacob’s preferences rather than my verdict.
Two things that make the story stronger
The first is the word first. The reel says Ron Gastrobar built the first alcohol-free wine list in the Netherlands in 2023. Restaurant firsts are almost impossible to prove, and this one does not need proving. In 2023 I hardly ever saw a Dutch restaurant list carrying more than two alcohol-free alternatives, and a standing selection of its own was rare. Being early is the story, and it holds up without the superlative.
The second is the phrase wine list. The best drinks here are teas and fermented infusions. Dealcoholised wine appears too, with a footnote from the sommelier himself. Anyone arriving in the hope that alcohol-free wine has finally caught up gets a better answer than expected: the wine has not moved, the list has.
Why that order makes sense
The pattern matches what I keep pouring at home. Bubbles and fermented drinks survive next to food, while still dealcoholised wine tends to collapse the moment a plate arrives. Alcohol carries weight, viscosity and part of the aromatic lift. Strip it out and something else has to take that job. Carbonation can. Tannin from tea can. Residual sugar on its own cannot.
A list built on that principle is not a compromise. It is the honest way to pour alcohol-free without pretending there is wine in the glass.
How to order from it
Do not ask for “something non-alcoholic”. Ask for a drink to go with a specific dish, and say whether you want sweet, bitter or sharp. With umami plates built on miso, mushroom or soy, sparkling tea is the first thing I would try. For an aperitif, the fermented route with ginger or citrus beats a dealcoholised sparkler, because you want freshness there rather than a wine impression.
And alternate. One glass of wine with the main course and something alcohol-free either side is the zebra approach that leaves you still tasting properly by the end of the evening.
Frequently asked questions
Is alcohol-free wine the same as any non-alcoholic drink on the list?
No. Alcohol-free wine is made from grapes and then dealcoholised to a maximum of 0.5% ABV. Sparkling tea, kombucha and fermented infusions never touch a vine. Restaurant lists routinely file them all under one heading.
Can sparkling tea really hold its own beside a dish?
Yes, and especially beside dishes that give wine trouble. Tea brings tannin and bitterness, the two things dealcoholised wine usually lacks. With miso, soy dressings and grilled vegetables it works better than a sweetish alcohol-free white.
Why do still alcohol-free wines disappoint more often than sparkling ones?
Because nothing is left to provide structure. In a sparkling wine, carbonation replaces some of the tension alcohol leaves behind. In a still wine it does not, so you get thin juice with a little residual sugar. More on that in the lexicon entry on alcohol-free wine.
Sources
- Primary source: Reel by Dé Alcoholvrije Slijterij on the Ron Gastrobar list, posted 30 July 2026
- Additional: Reel on Saicho Jasmine at Ron Gastrobar, posted 30 July 2026
- Additional: written comments from Jacob van Benthem, sommelier at Ron Gastrobar, August 2026
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