When Amanda Thomson launched Noughty Wines, a pioneering brand of dealcoholized wines, in 2019, she was, in essence, flying blind. 

There was no non–alcoholic wine category to speak of, little in the way of market research and certainly no blueprint on how to build the type of company that she envisioned. 

But Amanda, a former BBC journalist and broadcaster, did have a gut feeling. There were, she believed, millions of people like her who sought high-quality wines made without alcohol.

It turns out that she was right.

Six years after Noughty’s debut, non-alcoholic wine has emerged as a mainstream concept, and is commonly seen in drink menus at restaurants and bars as well as in grocery and liquor stores across the U.S.

In the following interview, Amanda talks about how she charted an unknown path for non-alcoholic wines, why creating “absolute trust” in the purity of Noughty wine is key to the brand’s resonance with consumers, and why she advises early-stage founders to think about what they want to achieve when crafting their business plans and strategies.

Show notes:

0:32: Interview: Amanda Thomson, Founder & CEO, Noughty Wines – Amanda explains why she never wanted to create a “replica” of traditional wine and talks about how her education and experience in fine wine is pertinent to the development of Noughty. She also talks about why relied on her vision and didn’t research at the historical market for non-alcoholic wine when launching Naughty, why “liquid trumps everything,” how she aligns brand obsession with iterative improvements and why she urges non-alcoholic beverage entrepreneurs to use high-quality ingredients and avoid additives as a way to enhance consumers’ perception of alcohol analogs. Amanda also talks about the impact of media acclaim and why she thinks about her legacy as she builds the brand.

Brands in this episode: Noughty Wines, San Pellegrino, Recess, Trip, BodyArmor, RxBar