Paris wine show reflects surging demand for zero- and low-alcohol drinks

PARIS (AP) — As a French teetotaler, Justine Bobin knows how challenging it can be to not drink in a country where wine, beer and other boozy beverages still lubricate many social interactions, even if France is less hooked on alcohol than it used to be.

“People are convinced that you can’t have fun if you don’t drink alcohol in France,” she says.

Which is one of the reasons that Bobin trekked up to Paris this week, to check out the growing array of zero- and low-alcohol drinks — predominantly red, white, rosé and sparkling wines from around Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Those products rubbed shoulders with established producers and distillers of all things alcoholic at a major international trade show for the wine and spirits industries.

With slogans championing “no alcohol, no regrets, no consequences" and encouraging consumers to "drink different,” producers of so-called no/low beverages are aiming to profit from changing tastes and habits, in particular those of young adults more mindful of alcohol's harms.

In the United States, fewer Americans are reporting that they drink alcohol. In other major international markets, a growing no/low industry is chipping away at booze's hegemony.

France's government is offering to pay wine-makers who agree to rip up their vineyards, to reduce the output of vintages no longer in demand. Dutch drinks giant Heineken this week said it will cut up to 6,000 jobs from its global workforce by 2028, after its beer sales fell last year. But the firm's portfolio of no/low drinks saw double-digit growth in 18 of its markets.

Bobin, who is Muslim, said zero-alcohol drinks can help teetotalers and drinkers of alcohol spend time together. She tasted a variety of non-alcoholic adult beverages at the Wine Paris show, looking for some to sell at her delicatessen shop in France’s wine-making Burgundy region.

“It allows us to share a moment with people even without drinking alcohol. So they can drink if they want, but we can still share a drink, toast with them," she said. "It offers an alternative for everyone and brings people together. It’s more of a product for inclusion, I think, for people who don’t drink alcohol, and that’s great.”

Alcohol consumption in France has plummeted in the last half-century, with many adults dropping the habit of wine with most meals and young people, in particular, generally drinking less and differently than their parents.

Katja Bernegger, who produces alcohol-free wines in Austria, said no/low drinking isn't a passing fad.

“People are more mindful of their body,” she said. “If you drink today, you probably have a headache tomorrow, and they don’t want it because you need to function, you have kids, you have a job.”

Bernegger and her partner, a winemaker, started venturing into no-alcohol wines when she was pregnant. She stopped drinking but missed the flavors of wine.

“You are standing there with your orange juice or Coke. You are out of it. You have to explain why you don’t drink,” she said.

“So you are simply having just half of the fun in life. And that’s the reason why we need some sophisticated non-alcoholic options.”

AP journalist Catherine Gaschka in Paris contributed to this report.

Ludovic Fuhrmann, Director of Sales at Terre de Vignerons, poses for a photo at the Wine Paris 2026 fair, at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Visitors taste non-alcoholic wine at the Wine Paris 2026 fair, at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Producers of non-alcoholic wines present their products at the Wine Paris 2026 fair, at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Non-alcoholic wines are presented at the Wine Paris 2026 fair, at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Katja Bernegger, Founder of Zeronimo, poses for a photo at the Wine Paris 2026 fair, at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's former interior minister was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison for abetting then-President Yoon Suk Yeol's brief declaration of martial law in 2024.

The verdict for Lee Sang-min came a week before a different judge at the same Seoul court rules on whether Yoon’s actions amounted to rebellion, a crime for which prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Lee, who led the ministry of interior and safety, was convicted for helping carry out the declaration and passing along Yoon’s orders to the country’s police and fire chiefs to cut water and electricity to news organizations that were critical of his policies. The instructions weren’t carried out since martial law was lifted quickly after lawmakers broke through a military and police blockade at the National Assembly and unanimously voted to lift it.

Lee denied receiving or issuing instructions to cut off utilities to the news organizations, disputing testimony from other officials, including former National Fire Agency Commissioner General Heo Seok-gon, who said Lee conveyed such orders by phone. Lee also denied conspiring about or planning the martial law declaration.

Judge Ryu Kyung-jin said testimony from other officials, security camera footage and other evidence clearly showed Lee attempted to carry out Yoon’s orders and that it was indisputable Lee played an important role in enforcing martial law.

The judge, however, acquitted Lee of lesser charges of abusing his power, citing a lack of evidence.

Lee smiled quietly after the verdict. His legal team didn't immediately say whether he would appeal. Prosecutors had sought a 15-year sentence.

Lee is the second member of Yoon’s Cabinet convicted in connection with martial law. Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo received a sentence of 23 years in prison but has appealed.

The conservative Yoon has defended martial law as a necessary act of governance against the liberals, whom he described as “anti-state” forces obstructing his agenda with their legislative majority.

He was later removed from office and has been under arrest since July while facing multiple criminal trials, with the rebellion charge carrying the most severe punishment.

A TV screen shows footage of South Korean former Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

FILE - South Korean former Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min, center, arrives at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)