As dry November and the Christmas season approach, it’s a good time to look at alcohol-free wines and other drinks.
There are two categories of alcohol-free wines. One is made from real wine that has been de-alcoholised, while the other is made using various ingredients designed to make it taste like wine. Neither really works most of the time, but a host of entrepreneurs are working hard to convince us that it does, and some of them are good. Below, I include four of my favourites.
Hollow Leg is a collaboration between wine importer Ronan Farrell, Galician winemaker Pablo Martinez and restaurateur Jamie O’Toole. Their alcohol-free white wine and sparkling wine are made using the fresh juice and skins of Galician albariño grapes. There is a red too. The sparkling has always been good, but I think the white has improved greatly.
Copenhagen Sparkling Tea was first produced in a Michelin-starred Copenhagen restaurant by sommelier Jacob Kocemba in 2010. Looking for a wine to pair with a dessert, he made a drink by mixing various teas. It was popular with customers, so he set up a company to produce a food-friendly sparkling drink. It is now available in more than 50 countries. It is an elegant alternative to Champagne, Prosecco and other sparkling drinks.
Jukes are the alcohol-free drinks produced by UK wine writer Matthew Jukes. However, his doesn’t contain any wine – just cider vinegar. Jukes came across a 17th-century recipe called Haymaker’s Punch that involved macerating fruit in cider vinegar as a preservative.
Fierce Mild is made by childhood friends and brothers-in-law Fergal Carroll and Cathal Byrne. Both have a strong entrepreneurial streak. It is the best alcohol-free beer I have tasted, consumed year-round in the Wilson household.
Hollow Leg Alcohol Free Albariño
0%, €10
Lively fresh lime zest, green apples and pears with a lingering dry finish. This would be great with crab or most white fish.
O’Briens; Dunnes Stores; Lotts, Dublin 2; Redmonds, Dublin 6; Higgins, Dublin 14; Blackrock Cellar, Co Dublin; Grapevine, Dalkey, Co Dublin; Searsons, Monkstown; Ely, Maynooth, Co Kildare; Nolan’s, Clontarf, Dublin 3; MacCurtain, Cork; Celtic Whiskey, Dublin 2; Lennox Grocer, Dublin 8; Fallon & Byrne, Dublin 2
Jukes 1, The Sparkling White
0%, €5.90 for a 250ml can
Fresh and zesty with lemon, herbs and a tart, dry finish. This would make a nice aperitif, or drink alongside chicken and fish dishes.
Avoca
Fierce Mild Non-Alcoholic Extra Pale Ale
>0.5%, €2.80-2.95 for a 330ml bottle
Fresh zippy hops with crisp acidity and a long dry finish.
Independents; Tesco; Dunnes Stores, Avoca and Fallon & Byrne
Independents Sparkling Tea, Copenhagen Sparkling Tea Company
0%, €23
Fragrant, with aromas of lemon zest and green apples. Fresh and vibrant with flavours of green tea and citrus. It seems dry but has 40g/l residual sugar. Drink on its own, with seafood, or with afternoon tea.
Redmond’s, Dublin 6; Whelehan Wines, Loughlinstown, Co Dublin; Wineonline.ie; Donnybrook Fair
