Proxies

Winemaker Devin Campbell, who trained in oenology and spent years producing wine in France, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, leads the blending programme. Rather than starting with wine and removing alcohol, Proxies works from a library of hundreds of housemade ingredients including bitters, tinctures, vinegars, and infusions, layering them until each blend achieves the acidity, body, and structural character expected of wine at the dinner table. This approach is fundamentally different from how most AF wine producers work: Proxies never starts with wine in the first place.

The precision of the blending reflects that ambition. When a blend requires lemon character, the team uses combinations of juice, oleo-saccharum (a citrus oil extract made by macerating citrus peel in sugar to draw out its aromatic oils), bitters, and dried fruit rather than simple lemon juice, building a more layered result. Beverage developer Yash Raghuvanshi works alongside Campbell on new blends, giving the programme a culinary development depth unusual in the zero-proof sector.

The range covers white, red, rosé, and sparkling styles alongside canned cocktail and cider formats, all designed with food pairing in mind. That positioning has attracted notable culinary collaborators: Miguel de Leon (Michelin Sommelier of the Year 2021), chef Dominique Crenn, sommelier André Hueston Mack (whose experience spans The French Laundry and Per Se), and Sean Brock, described by Time magazine as the most conspicuously gifted American chef of his generation.

By 2024, Proxies had sold over 500,000 bottles, a meaningful commercial signal in a category where most food-pairing AF options still struggle beyond specialist retail. The brand originated under Acid League and has grown into a standalone operation since launch. Distribution runs through specialist international retailers and the brand's own site. Proxies occupies a distinct position at the fine-dining end of the sober-curious market: closer to a culinary ingredient than a soft drink substitute, at pricing that reflects the depth of the blending programme.