Julia Littauer is co-founder of Sovi, one of our favorite non-alcoholic wine brands. Based in Napa, CA (just across town from Dry Goods HQ!) she and her husband Alex source their grapes from a local family-owned vineyard, and their care for quality truly shows. Originally a sommelier for alcoholic wine, Julia has since turned her passion to the alcohol-free space.
What brought you to non-alcoholic drinking?
Working in the wine industry, wine is so much a part of my daily life. I realized that there were so many scenarios when I wanted to enjoy a glass of wine, but didn’t want to effects of alcohol, such as happy hours with co-workers, brunch with friends, or weeknight dinners.
Tell us a little bit about how you created Sovi and how you source your ingredients.
Alcohol-removed wine is made by starting with real wine, and then using vacuum distillation technology to remove the alcohol. Our approach to the process is starting with a base wine that when the alcohol is removed results in the best possible non-alcoholic wine, without adding a lot of sugars or flavors to compensate. This requires a lot of trial and error to figure out what base wines work best.
We partner directly with a multi-generational, family-owned winery in California to source our wines, working closely with their vineyard manager and winemaker to achieve the style we are looking for.
What's your current go-to non-alcoholic drink?
I love bitter cocktails like a Negroni, so my current go-to NA cocktail is the Abstinence Negroni that Dry Goods recommended.
What's on the horizon for Sovi in 2022?
We are releasing our Sparkling White this spring! It is Chenin Blanc from the same winery in Clarksburg, CA that we work for our other wines.
How do you feel being a woman influences your approach to your business?
Customers are the most important part of any business and at Sovi most of our customers are women, so being a woman allows me to better understand and connect with them, and therefore tailor our efforts accordingly.
Who is another woman in the non-alcoholic space you admire and why?
Martha Wright, Clear Power Coaching. Her enthusiasm about NA is infectious. It’s not every day that you meet someone with a background in wine that is as excited about all of the new NA options and the possibilities in the category. (You could say the same for Adrienne & Jake at Dry Goods 😊)
