Our Story
- Our Founder
- Our Brand
- Our Process + History
- Our Ingredients + Nutritional Facts
Our Founder
I came up with the idea for 5to9 while sitting in a tree on a permaculture farm in Costa Rica on the heels of writing a year long column about wellness and what makes for great health and happiness.
I was inspired to begin studying Herbalism - the ancient tradition and knowledge of how plants, herbs and botanicals heal. I was simultaneously drinking less alcohol, and although my social life remained robust, my adult beverage options while out and about or even on Friday nights on my couch were limited to non-existent; There were no sophisticated in taste, functional and low alcohol wine alternatives and so I set out to build 5to9.
It is my pleasure to create for you my Herbal Wines, cheers and be well!
-Nana Meriwether, Founder of 5to9
Our Brand
5to9 is a wellness company focusing on alcohol alternatives. Wines made for the weeknight, when health and productivity are especially top of mind, our first releases are Herbal Wine including Elderberry Wine and Rose Petal Wine - low-alcohol wines infused with herbs and botanicals.
Later collections will include wines made with botanicals, plants and adaptogens including Reishi Mushrooms, Lemon Balm, Schisandra Berries, Stinging Nettles, Damiana and more herbs inspired by the age-old traditions and knowledge of Herbalism.
We are woman founded.
(formerly, Navina)
Our Process
We uniquely combine Herbalism with Winemaking by creating wine from plants and botanicals known to Herbalists to be healthful, functional and adaptogenic; Herbs including Elderberry, Hibiscus, Rose Petals, Rose Hips, Marigold Flowers and hopefully soon to come Lemon Balm, Stinging Nettle, Ginseng, Reishi, and so on to make our Herbal and Flower Wine.
To ensure quality, our wines are lab tested throughout our process by ETS Laboratories and Cornell University.
The History of Herbal Wine
Herbal Wine is an age old traditional that even the Greeks, Romans and ancient Egyptians practiced. The making of herbal ferments were usually done by the woman at the head of the household. We have put a spin on the folk method that simply fermented herbs however - we uniquely infuse traditional wine grape varietals with herbs and botanicals known to Herbalists as healthful, functional and adaptogenic to create our collection of Herbal Wines.
Our Ingredients
Our Herbal Wines:
•Organic herbs (antioxidant rich, adaptogens, medicinal mushrooms etc)
•Premium wine made by our over 20 years in the business winemaker in Napa
•Carefully sourced vegan, gluten free wine
•Minimal sulfites (Sulfites have been used in winemaking since ancient Rome, they are a naturally occurring and powerful antioxidant. A fuller explanation of why we use sulfites is below).
•Non-GMO yeast
•No artificial flavors
Numbers You Should Know
•Low in Alcohol (8-9%abv)
Wine For The Weeknight: If you feel like drinking less, you’re pretty much only limited to: hard kombucha, beer or hard seltzer. We are introducing wine a new archetype in the selection of adult drink options. Our Herbal and Flower Wines have about haf the wine of commercial wines that are sometimes even upwards of 16%abv.
•Low in Sugar (only 1-2g)
Our Herbal Wines are fermented to dry and not sweet - that means any glucose or fructose is fermented away by the end of our process for you to enjoy our extremely low, even considered sugar free wines. We add no additional sugar.
•Low in Calories (84-90 calories)
Per 5oz serving
•Low in Sulfites (we add about 35ppm)
Sulfites are a naturally occurring powerful antioxidant. See our note on sulfites below, an amount minimal, in line with natural wine amounts and well below the federal government limit of 350ppm.
A Note on Sulfites
The use of sulfites in wine has been around since as far back as ancient Rome. Sulfites are a naturally occurring, powerful antioxidant inherently found in many foods including grapes themselves - in fact it is said, that “more sulfites can be found in a salad bar than in a bottle of wine”. Almost every bottle of wine in the world can “contain sulfites” as they are a naturally occurring and a byproduct of fermentation.
Winemakers use sulfites in order to prevent the potential growth of bacteria that will spoil the wine into vinegar.
Most people can safely consume sulfites with minimal risk of adverse side effects. In fact, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that only 1% of the population is sensitive to sulfites.
Sulfites are often blamed for the side effects that can come about from consuming wine - but given that 1% of the population are sensitive, side effects of imbibing are more likely to do with overindulgence or a reaction to histamines, tannins, sugar in wine, high alcohol percentage, or that one is dehydrated. It is best to check with your doctor.
Nevertheless, we add an amount minimal, in line with some natural wine amounts and well below the federal government limit of 350ppm.