I recently discovered the world of non alcoholic wines and  have been having fun trying them out. They contain a third of the calories from real wine as I gave up wine for 3 weeks to shed a few pounds. I find that drinking makes me hungrier and I end up consuming more calories. Alcohol free wine could also appeal to pregnant women (think baby shower mocktails) and people who need to abstain for medical reasons like a woman I know who is sickly allergic to alcohol.

Alcohol-free wine is made by extracting the alcohol through a filtering or vacuum process, while leaving the other components intact. The real question is how to do alcohol free wine stand up to their counterparts? I've tried a few flavors so far and it’s all about having the right mindset and not expecting it to be exactly the same.

Fre Wine is made by Sutter Home Wine which I purchased at my local Harris Teeter and Target (which strangely had their registers set up to ask for ID). I've only been able to find these four flavors:

Brut sparkling - I was pleasantly shocked, it does not taste like sparkling cider, it really tastes like champagne. It has an apple flavor with a dry finish. It tastes good on its own but I also mixed it with an apricot I chopped in my food processor. I think grapefruit juice or peaches would also be a nice accompaniment.

White Zinfandel - This was my favorite with it's pretty pink color and berry taste. It tastes just like a sweet zinfandel without the alcohol kick. I think adding some soda water and strawberries to it would help give it that kick.

Chardonnay - It has the same buttery oak smell, but it tastes like crisp green apple.

Red Blend - This regrettably tasted like a mix of grape juice and balsamic vinegar.


In conclusion while alcoholic free wines may not stand up to their counterparts with their red wines, but they come pretty close with their white Zinfandel and sparking wine.

For some of my other mocktail recipes check out this post and this post.