About Oddbird

Moa Gürbüzer spent more than two decades as a family therapist and social worker in Sweden. She sat with families broken by alcohol-related harm. She watched the same cycle repeat. And she noticed something that her profession rarely discussed: the problem wasn't only inside the individual. It lived in the culture, the social structures, the unspoken pressure to drink.

She left therapy and founded Oddbird in 2013 with a straightforward idea — choosing wine with or without alcohol should feel as ordinary as ordering coffee with or without milk. Not a statement. Not a sacrifice. Just a choice.

What she built is not a juice brand in a wine bottle. Oddbird makes wine the traditional way, from grapes grown in Europe's established wine regions. The wines are aged for up to 12 months. Only then is the alcohol removed, using vacuum distillation — a process that protects the structure, aroma, and character that took a full growing season to develop.

The research behind each bottle happens at Oddbird's center in Alsace, where oenologists, university researchers, and sensory experts work together across vintages. No e-substances. No artificial colors. No synthetic aromas. Bottled in glass, tracked from grape to bottle under HACCP and ISO standards.

The result is a range of reds, whites, rosés, and sparkling wines that critics have called fruit-forward, juicy, and genuinely wine-like. A Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre-Carignan blend that surprised wine writers. A sparkling that holds its own at a dinner table.

Oddbird is now available across Europe and, since August 2024, in the United States. The brand is still run from Sweden. The mission hasn't changed.

The Story

Oddbird was founded in Sweden in 2013 by Moa Gürbüzer — a Master of Social Science, social worker, and family therapist with over 20 years of clinical experience. Her work with families affected by alcohol gave her a ground-level view of how drinking culture operates, and how little responsibility the industry itself was asked to take.

She started Oddbird to shift that dynamic — not by moralizing, but by making the alcohol-free option genuinely worth choosing. The brand launched with a small range and has grown steadily since, expanding into the US market in August 2024. Over a decade in, it remains one of the few producers that crafts and ages its own wines before dealcoholization, rather than buying finished wine from third parties.

The People Behind the Wines

Moa Gürbüzer is the founder and driving force behind Oddbird. She is not a winemaker by training — she is a Master of Social Science who spent more than 20 years as a family therapist before pivoting entirely into wine.

That background shapes how Oddbird operates. Moa built a research center in Alsace and assembled a team of oenologists, university researchers, and sensory specialists. The work is collaborative and iterative — each vintage adds to a growing body of knowledge about how to protect a wine's structure and expression through the dealcoholization process.

She has been based in Sweden throughout, expanding the brand's reach across Europe and into the United States while keeping the focus on the wine itself rather than the lifestyle around it.

Terroir & Origin

Oddbird sources grapes from established wine regions across Europe. The Alsace region plays a central role — it is where the brand's research center is located and where much of the development work happens season by season.

For its red blends, Oddbird draws on southern French varieties: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Carignan — grapes with deep roots in warm, dry climates and soils that push concentration and structure. These are not neutral base wines. They are chosen for their regional character and the complexity that comes from well-established growing conditions.

The brand does not source from a single estate. Instead, it selects grapes from vineyards with the soil profiles and climate conditions suited to producing wine with enough depth to survive the dealcoholization process intact.

How the Dealcoholized Wines Are Made

Oddbird makes wine the conventional way first. Grapes are fermented and the wine is aged — for up to 12 months depending on the style. The alcohol is removed only after the wine has developed its full character.

The method used is vacuum distillation. By lowering the pressure inside the vessel, alcohol evaporates at a much lower temperature than it would under normal conditions. This protects the aromatic compounds and structural elements that would otherwise be damaged by heat.

The process is developed and refined at Oddbird's research center in Alsace, in collaboration with oenologists and university researchers. Each vintage informs the next. The finished wines contain no added e-substances, no artificial colors, and no synthetic aromas. Quality control follows HACCP and ISO standards, with full traceability from grape to bottle.

Food Pairing

The Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre-Carignan red works well alongside grilled lamb, a mushroom ragù, or aged hard cheese. The structure holds up to fat and umami without needing alcohol to carry it.

Oddbird's white and sparkling options pair naturally with seafood, soft goat cheese, or a simple green salad with vinaigrette. The sparkling is a straightforward choice for an aperitif or alongside sushi.

Because the wines contain no added sugar, they don't clash with savory food the way some alcohol-free options do. Treat them as you would any dry European table wine.

Press & Recognition

Oddbird's wines have been reviewed and recommended by wine writers and food publications across the US and Europe. Critics have singled out the red blend — Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Carignan — as one of the most convincing alcohol-free reds available. John Clarke noted its fresh, rounded, fruit-forward character. Oset Babür-Winter called it a wine that challenges assumptions about what a booze-free red can be. Rachel King highlighted Oddbird's production process as a differentiator from producers who simply de-alcoholize bought-in wine.

When to Drink Oddbird

Oddbird is for people who like wine and want to drink less alcohol — or none — without switching to something that tastes like diluted grape juice.

It fits a weeknight dinner when you want something in a glass that matches the food without the next-morning effect. It works at a dinner party where not everyone is drinking, without making the alcohol-free option feel like an afterthought. It belongs on a restaurant table the same way a bottle of still water does — present, considered, not remarkable for being there.

The people who reach for Oddbird tend to know wine. They have opinions about Grenache. They notice when something tastes flat or over-sweetened. They are not looking for a health product. They are looking for a bottle worth opening.