Most non-alcoholic wine tastes like pop with a wine label. A CEO and a food scientist from Vancouver set out to fix that, and built Glimmer, a premium dealcoholized sparkling wine now in top restaurants across Canada.

Phil Chang and Kenny Vannucci sit down with Jane Stoller (CEO) and Janet Helou (Chief Sales Officer & Wine Scientist) of Glimmer to unpack why non-alc wine has been so hard to get right. Janet explains why wine falls apart when the alcohol comes out, why heat-based distillation “cooks” it, and how reverse osmosis plus bubbles rebuilds the body and mouthfeel that still wines lose.

Then it’s all about go-to-market. Glimmer fits in wine aisles, restaurants, and grocery, which gives them freedom but makes channel strategy messy. They share how starting with fine-dining sommeliers turned wine directors into brand ambassadors (including a surprise 20-case liquor store order traced back to one pour at Blue Water Cafe), why they launched single-serve cans to eliminate by-the-glass waste, and how they’re expanding coast to coast through Sober Market and into the US.

We also talk about the shifting culture around drinking, why non-alc options raise restaurant guest checks, corporate gifting as an untapped channel, and why a good dealcoholized still red remains the holy grail.

In this episode:

• Why non-alcoholic wine has struggled, and the science of dealcoholization
• Dealcoholized wine vs. sparkling juice vs. wine alternatives
• Using on-premise and sommeliers as a trial and credibility engine
• Single-serve cans: cutting waste for restaurants and lowering the trial barrier
• Scaling across Canada and into the US while keeping a tight SKU lineup

Find Glimmer:
🌐 drinkglimmerwine.com (stockist list at drinkglimmerwine.com/stockists)
📸 @drinkglimmerwine