LOW-NO, YES OR NO?

IAre we giving alcohol-free bevvies a bad rep, unnecessarily? Jo Cribb put that idea to the test, with interesting results. remember grating carrots and zucchini into spaghetti bolognaise to trick my kids into eating vegetables wondering what I did wrong to engender their dislike of things other than chips. Healthy options often get a bad rap. They find it hard to compete with the deep fried.

I have been pondering if low and no alcohol wines fall into this category. While it’s great to see an increasing array of healthier wine options, are we predisposed to dislike them, like those veges?

Taking the matter into my own hands, I offered 10 friends at a recent barbecue three wines covered in my tramping socks as a nonscientific blind-tasting experiment. Aged 18 to 70, with a wide range of wine drinking habits, and an even gender mix, my research subjects were a diverse bunch.

They were asked to rate each wine out of 10 and provide free-form comments. Little did they know they were blind tasting two low alcohol and one zero alcohol rosés.

The results were consistent. The zero-alcohol wine came off worst scoring 4.95 out of 10 but then the low alcohols didn’t fare much better at 5.25 and 5.4.

The common theme was that the wines lacked the expected flavours and were, well, insipid. Comments included “tasted watered down”, “this one is dreaming it’s wine” and “it’s like the sad ghost of a rosé”. Some comments included expletives.

Please, please winemakers can you sort this out? Can we please have tasty wine options without the alcohol, that don’t feel like a punishment to drink?

Kim Crawford, Illuminate Lower Alcohol Piquette Rosé, $16 if not on special

This one scored the highest. Four participants even gave it 8/10. The tasting notes say that it delivers bright aromas of watermelon and fresh berry fruit.

But my tasters couldn’t depict specific flavours, instead thought it was ‘sweet’ ‘drinkable’ and a reasonable summer wine. At 8% alcohol, it’s not quite guilt-free.

Selaks Origins Lighter New Zealand Piquette Rosé, $17

The ‘29% less calories’ and 8% alcohol didn’t completely impress my tasters. Most gave it 5 or 6 out of 10. They liked its strawberries and cream aromas and thought it “not unpleasant”. It didn’t dazzle but also didn’t engender hate.

Giesen, Alcohol free Rosé, $17

I had high hopes for this, my tasters unaware that it was zero alcohol, unable to be prejudiced. But alas. They thought it “had a funny aftertaste” and would not “drink it again” and other unprintable thoughts.

// Jo Cribb owns a small vineyard in Martinborough and is a keen student of wine (yes, that does involve sitting exams and writing essays). She is on a mission to hunt out the best wines at the best prices and has no time for wine snobbery. Follow her adventures in wine @winesauvy