NWLB × Dr. Loosen — Producer Report 2025–2026
No Wine Left Behind
Producer Report · October 2025 – April 2026
Dr. Loosen

Six months. Four events. Three labels. Here's what New York City had to say — blind.

4 Events
3 Labels
116 Blind Tasting Responses
NYC All Events
The Partnership
A snapshot of Dr. Loosen
across the NWLB circuit

Over the past six months, wines from Ernst Loosen's portfolio have appeared at four NWLB events across New York City — poured blind to audiences that had no idea what they were drinking.

This report captures how three distinct labels — Weingut Villa Wolf, Loosen Bros, and J. Christopher Wines — landed with real NYC consumers across a mix of public tastings, industry events, and private experiences. No softballs. No leading questions. Just honest reactions from people who didn't know the name on the bottle.

What follows is a wine-first look at those results: what the data says, what it means, and what it tells you about how your portfolio is landing in one of the world's most competitive wine markets.

Events at a glance
Oct 2025
The Event Planner Expo 2025
Industry Event · Multi-venue, 3 days · New York, NY
NV Dr. Lo Non-Alcoholic Riesling
Oct 2025
A Supernatural Blind Wine Tasting
Public Event · The Walker Loft · New York, NY
2021 J. Christopher 'Volcanique' Pinot Noir
Dec 2025
NWLB Tournament of Champions
Public Event · Dear Mama · New York, NY
NV Villa Wolf Sparkling Pinot Noir Rosé
Apr 2026
Fight Club @ Central Synagogue
Private Event · Central Synagogue · New York, NY
NV Dr. Lo Non-Alcoholic Riesling
Our Method
Why this data is different
Drinky

Anyone can run a tasting. What NWLB produces is something harder to fake: honest consumer reactions from people who didn't know what they were drinking.

01
No label, no bias
When the brand name is hidden, what you hear is pure product. Players can't perform enthusiasm or politeness — they just react. That gives you feedback that's actually useful for positioning, pricing, and messaging.
02
Real consumers, real stakes
NWLB players are curious, engaged NYC drinkers — not industry insiders with an agenda. Their price guesses, flavor calls, and purchase signals reflect what the market actually thinks, not what it thinks it should think.
03
Game mechanics = honest answers
Our game format captures reactions in the moment, before rationalization kicks in. Players guess varietal, region, and price under game conditions — which means the data reflects instinct, not reflection. That's where buying behavior lives.
04
Context that converts
Every data point is paired with the audience context: who was in the room, what format the event was, and what role the wine played in the flight. So the insights aren't just interesting — they're actionable for market strategy, sales, and storytelling.
Wine 01 of 03 · Weingut Villa Wolf
NV Villa Wolf Sparkling
Pinot Noir Rosé

Weingut Villa Wolf · NWLB Tournament of Champions · Dear Mama, NYC · December 2025

The Villa Wolf opened the evening — a deliberate first impression before 30 players turned their attention to four blind wines. By the end of the night, after tasting, scoring, and debating the full flight, 20% of the room still named it their favorite. Although it was poured as the welcome wine, it held its own against everything that came after.

Weingut Villa Wolf · Germany
Pfalz, Germany · Pinot Noir · Sparkling Rosé
Retail $19
The J.L. Wolf estate dates to 1756 — Ernst Loosen revived it after decades of neglect, bringing the same obsessive quality standard he built at Dr. Loosen. Made via Charmat method from sustainably farmed Pinot Noir in the Pfalz — often called the Tuscany of Germany — one of the country's warmest and driest wine regions. Grapes grow on well-drained weathered sandstone between the Haardt mountains and Alsace, where full ripeness is virtually guaranteed every vintage. Minimal cellar intervention — just perfectly ripe fruit, doing its thing.
20%
Voted it their favorite of the night
Pricing Intelligence
Priced $25 or Higher
26%
of the room
Priced Correctly at $19
50%
of the room
Over a quarter of the room priced this wine above its retail — without knowing what they were drinking. That's a case for premium placement.
What country did players think this wine was from?
10% Germany
France 43%
Italy 40%
Germany ✓ 10%
Spain 7%
Occasion Pick
1 in 4 players picked it as the wine they'd bring to a celebratory occasion
Favorite sparkling style in the room
14 Traditional method (Champagne + Cava)
6 Red sparkling (Lambrusco)
5 Tank method (Prosecco)
5 Ancient method (Pet Nat)
Would you swap your usual sparkling for this?
43%
Said maybe
In a Champagne-leaning room, that's a market opening.
The Read Nearly half the room said they'd consider swapping their usual sparkling for it, in a crowd that mostly reaches for Champagne. Villa Wolf reads as a step up from what it costs, which opens doors: premium shelf placement, event pours, gifting occasions. It's the kind of wine that lets people impress without announcing the price.
Wine 02 of 03 · Loosen Bros
NV Dr. Lo Non-Alcoholic
Riesling

Loosen Bros · The Event Planner Expo 2025 · Multi-venue, NYC · October 2025 · Fight Club @ Central Synagogue · April 2026

We put four non-alcoholic wines in front of 55 event industry professionals, blind. Dr. Lo — a dealcoholized Mosel Riesling from Ernst and Thomas Loosen — had the highest "no way" rate in the flight: 58% of the room had no idea it wasn't alcoholic. That's the wine doing its job. The same group told us N/A demand at their events is growing — 69% of them said so.

Loosen Bros · Germany
Mosel, Germany · Riesling · Non-Alcoholic
Retail $22.99
Loosen Bros. is the project of Ernst Loosen and his brother Thomas — applying the same Mosel philosophy as the flagship Dr. Loosen estate to an accessible price point. Dr. Lo extends that into the N/A category: fully fermented in the traditional way, then gently de-alcoholized via vacuum distillation at low temperature to preserve the delicate aromatics, acidity, and slate-driven character of Mosel Riesling. Because Mosel Riesling is already naturally low in alcohol, there's relatively little to remove — less processing, better retention of character. Naturally vegan, gluten-free, and sustainably grown. The alcohol comes out; the terroir stays in.
Would you have guessed this was a non-alcoholic wine?
58%
No way!
27%
Not sure
15%
Detected
In a flight of four N/A wines, Dr. Lo was the most convincing.
20% voted it their favorite wine of the night.
Pricing Intelligence
Underestimated the Price
4 in 5
players
This wine is priced above perception. The product quality is there — what closes the gap is the story: where it comes from, how the alcohol is removed, and what it took to preserve the character of a Mosel Riesling without it.
Flavor notes identified by players
Green Apple ×39 Lemon ×17 Pear ×9 Grapefruit ×8 Passionfruit ×8
Pink = in actual profile · Grey = player-perceived
What varietal did players think this was?
55% Riesling
Riesling ✓ 55%
Albariño 45%
Sweetest Wine in Flight
49% named Dr. Lo the sweetest wine of the four.
A sign of approachability — no other wine came close.
The Read More than half the room had no idea it wasn't alcoholic — and the ones who did guess closest to its actual character picked Riesling, the right grape. Dr. Lo reads as approachable and crowd-pleasing, winning the sweetest wine vote by a wide margin. The product is doing its job. At $22.99, the pricing gap is the remaining challenge — but when the story travels with the wine, that gap closes.
NV Dr. Lo Non-Alcoholic Riesling · Event Planner Expo 2025
What the room said

Nearly the entire room said they'd put a non-alcoholic option on their next event menu.

The event planners in this room aren't just early adopters of N/A wine — they're actively looking for reasons to serve it. Accommodating guests who don't drink while keeping the wine experience intact was the dominant driver. But 16 people said something more valuable — they'd serve it simply because it's good.

69% said N/A demand at their events has grown.

The category has momentum. Dr. Lo is well-positioned to move with it.

What they wanted to know

How is the alcohol removed? Is it pregnancy-safe? Is it halal or kosher?

These are the questions this room asked — and they're not objections. They're the questions of someone who wants to say yes but needs the information to get there. A product education roadmap, hiding in plain sight.

Wine 03 of 03 · J. Christopher Wines
2021 J. Christopher 'Volcanique'
Pinot Noir

J. Christopher Wines · A Supernatural Blind Wine Tasting · The Walker Loft, NYC · October 2025

Six wines were poured at A Supernatural Blind Wine Tasting in October 2025, including a $76 biodynamic Pomerol from Chateau Gombaude Guillot. When 28 players were asked which red made the strongest impression, 43% named the Volcanique. It made the strongest impression of any red in the room — which, for a wine this distinctive, might be exactly the point.

J. Christopher Wines · Willamette Valley, Oregon
Dundee Hills AVA, Oregon · 100% Pinot Noir · Oak-Aged
Retail $40 · 2nd most expensive in a 6-wine flight
Owned by Ernst Loosen — J. Christopher applies Old World patience to Oregon's northern Willamette Valley. Fruit is sourced from multiple sub-appellations grown on volcanic Jory soil, farmed sustainably. The 2021 vintage was shaped by a heat dome summer followed by a classic cool Oregon harvest — clean, healthy fruit with time for flavor development. 100% destemmed, native yeast fermentation, 18 months in French oak barriques (25% new), unfiltered. As Erni puts it: "fine balance of fruit, acidity and texture, while expressing their individual origins."
43%
Named it the most striking red in the flight
In a flight anchored by a $76 Bordeaux, the Volcanique earned its place on taste alone.
Pricing Intelligence
No Clear Price Signal
18%
recognized as priciest
At $40 against a $76 Pomerol, price attention went elsewhere — but it still made the strongest impression of any red in the room.
Where did players think this wine was from?
54% Oregon, USA
Oregon, USA ✓ 54%
Crete, Greece 25%
Pomerol, France 21%
Flavor notes identified by players
Blackberry ×12 Cherry ×12 Leather ×6 Plum ×6 Tobacco ×4 Lavender ×3 Forest Floor ×2
Pink = in actual profile · Grey = player-perceived
What varietal did players think this was?
39% Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir ✓ 39%
Merlot 36%
Kotsifali + Mandilari 25%
Maturation vessel
46% Oak ✓
32% Oak + Stainless
21% Amphora + Concrete
The Read The Volcanique made the strongest impression of any red in the flight — in a room that included a $76 Bordeaux. More than half the room correctly placed it in Oregon, the strongest regional identification in this report. Its volcanic character makes for a uniquely positioned wine, destined for a consumer who wants to learn more. That kind of wine tends to create advocates, not just customers. And advocates are worth more.

No Wine Left Behind is a data-driven tasting platform — and a damn good time. We host blind tasting events built around storytelling, discovery, and genuine reaction, which means the consumer insights we deliver to the wine trade are the real deal: unfiltered opinions from real drinkers, captured in the moment through our digital blind-tasting game.

Our events are rooted in one of the country's most influential wine markets, and the evidence-based narratives we produce support brand growth, trade pitches, and strategic marketing in ways that polished focus groups simply can't. We give the industry what it's been missing — honest, human data on how modern drinkers actually perceive and choose wine. No jargon. No pressure. No wine left behind.

Reach us at info@knowwineleftbehind.com or follow along at @_no_wine_left_behind_.

No Wine Left Behind · NWLB × Dr. Loosen Producer Report · October 2025 – April 2026 · New York City · knowwineleftbehind.com