Sober-Curious in 2026? Visit These Distillery Trails and Vineyard Tours for Booze-Free Options
Sober-curious travellers are causing a shift towards booze-free options in distilleries and wineries.
The travel industry is catching up with a quiet shift in how Americans drink — or don’t. More travelers are booking distillery trail experiences and vineyard tours without planning to drink much, if any, alcohol. They want the scenery, the history, the food and the craft. They just don’t necessarily want the buzz.
That demand is reshaping how some of the country’s best-known wineries and distilleries welcome guests, with non-alcoholic flights, mocktail menus and tour experiences built around the process rather than the pour.
Why the sober-curious distillery trail is having a moment
Wine country and bourbon country have long been built around drinking, but operators are starting to notice that the audience walking through the door has changed. Tour companies and tasting rooms are responding with options that don’t require a glass of wine or a bourbon flight to feel like a full experience. The shift is being driven partly by younger travelers, partly by people taking breaks from alcohol and partly by groups that include both drinkers and non-drinkers.
Devin Joshua, founder of Napa Zero Proof Tours, told the Napa Valley Register, “I think it’s in Napa’s best interest to be more inclusive in all things. There’s a shift in the demographics coming to Napa — races, ages — and I think you can include non-alcoholic in that broadening of appeal.”
“There’s folks that are really curious about the non-alcoholic space,” Joshua added. “They still want to enjoy great food, great culture, great drinks, but they’re just taking a break or cutting back.”
Vineyards welcoming sober-curious visitors
A handful of wineries have moved beyond simply tolerating non-drinkers and built tasting experiences that work for them. Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga is one of the most actively sober-curious-friendly wineries in the country, with a line of alcohol-removed wines and grape juices. Tasting experiences start at $60 and are designed to be welcoming to every guest, whether they’re drinking alcohol or not. Visitors may opt for a fully non-alcoholic flight or blend the NA wines with traditional wines for a personalized experience.
A few other vineyards stand out for non-drinkers:
- Frog’s Leap Winery — Rutherford, California: Known for being welcoming and food-forward, Frog’s Leap offers a seasonal beverage alternative at tastings for nondrinkers. It also has a family-friendly tasting that’s great for bringing kids and dogs.
- Glenora Wine Cellars — Dundee, Finger Lakes, N.Y.: Glenora has a full restaurant called Veraisons on the property, with a focus on regional, seasonal cuisine sourced from local farms. The winery specifically notes its commitment to accommodating dietary restrictions and food allergies, and it offers an entire mocktail menu — unusual and welcome in wine country.
- Wagner Vineyards — Lodi, Seneca Lake, N.Y.: One of the oldest wineries on the east side of Seneca Lake, Wagner offers designations for tasters versus non-tasters on group reservations. Its house Blush Grape Juice and Old Fashioned Root Beer are made on site, alongside sodas, coffee and tea at its lunch cafe, Ginny Lee.
What the distillery trail looks like without the bourbon
Bourbon country is a harder sell for non-drinkers on paper — the entire product is the alcohol. But the distillery trail experience is built around process, history and place, and that translates surprisingly well to visitors who aren’t planning to drink. The grain mills, fermentation tanks, barrel rickhouses and bottling lines are genuinely compelling without ever touching a glass.
Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, KY., is one of America’s oldest continuously operating distilleries, with more than 200 years of history along the Kentucky River. The draw here is the experience itself: the tours cover grain selection, fermentation, distillation, aging and bottling, and they showcase the historic rickhouses, barrel warehouses and grounds. Buffalo Trace has tour options for all ages and offers Freddie’s Root Beer as a tasting option, along with Rebecca Ruth bourbon ball candies — which do contain a small amount of alcohol, but not enough to intoxicate. Tours and tastings are complimentary, and the distillery is open seven days a week.
Maker’s Mark Distillery in Loretto, KY., is set on a picturesque farm in the rolling Kentucky hills, and the visit is as much about the farming and architecture as it is about the end product. Beyond the standard tour and tasting options, Maker’s Mark has unique offerings like its Lakeside Yoga and Sound Bath experience, which includes a tour of the grounds — farm, forest and garden — followed by an hour-long yoga and sound bath, after which guests are given a zero-waste mocktail.
At Maker’s Mark’s farm-to-table restaurant, Star Hill Provisions, the kitchen takes its culinary work seriously and offers Fever Tree sodas, soft drinks, coffee and tea as non-alcoholic options. Star Hill Provisions also serves a Kentucky Bourbon Pie for dessert, giving non-drinkers a chance to taste the rich flavors of bourbon without becoming intoxicated, since the alcohol bakes off.
Tips for planning a sober-curious trail trip
A little planning goes a long way for non-drinkers on wine and bourbon trails, especially when traveling with a group that includes drinkers. Some trails have already built infrastructure around designated drivers and non-alcoholic options, which means non-drinkers don’t have to feel like an afterthought.
Along the Finger Lakes Wine Trails — Cayuga, Seneca and Keuka Lakes — events offer discounted designated driver tickets, where the non-drinker enjoys everything but the wine, with coffee and other non-alcoholic drinks available.
Along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, the real magic for sober-curious visitors is the process. The grain mills, fermentation tanks, barrel rickhouses and bottling lines tell the story on their own — no glass required.
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