An Affront to Bacchus

A totally unbiased look at non-alcoholic wine

There has been a lot of talk recently about non-alcoholic wine and a general shift among consumers towards no- or low-alcohol alternatives. Since it has been quite a few years now since the last time my curiosity led me to try a non-alcoholic wine, I figured the time was ripe to conduct a small taste test of the options readily available in local supermarkets, and to take a look at the technology used to remove the ethanol in the first place.

While my expectations were low (justifiably so), I thought it would be interesting to get one of each of the major styles consumers gravitate towards: a sparkling, a rosé, a white, and a red. As it turned out, my local Tesco did not stock any still rosé, so I opted for what appeared to be a sparkling version. We'll get to the specifics of these bottles later on, along with an informal ranking, but without spoiling the surprise, I'm pleased to say that the winner only set me back £3.50. So, if you're in the UK and would like to recreate this tastin…