Top 8 zero-alcohol substitutes for champagne or prosecco this festive season
How do we manage a sparkling festive season without spilling the peas, forgetting to put the turkey in the oven or developing an early hangover? Could alcohol-free fizz be the treat to toast Christmas and the new year?
Alcohol-free sparkling wine is not made in Champagne. Bubbles are not generated by the lengthy fermentation of the sugar in grapes with yeast, but by adding carbon dioxide just like fizzy water or other soft drinks. It’s best not to compare it to real Champagne, Prosecco or Cava.
We checked out two low-alcohol sparklers with 5% alcohol (compared to 12% in Champagne). Viajero Moscato Mediterraneo €3.99 from Lidl has a screwcap and plenty of fruit flavours and interest. From the DOC region of Moscato d’Asti in Italy, Montaribaldi Righe has a regular wine cork, but plenty of persistent bubbles and sweet flavours. One to accompany the Christmas pudding or trifle.€18.99 from The Wine Buff nationwide.
Marks & Spencer Clementine & Cranberry Bucks Fizz €8.80 has 4% alcohol, with a base of white wine with 20% clementine juice, grape must, sugar and concentrated cranberry juice. Its Let it Sloe Fizz €7.30 has added forest fruits and sloe gin and still only 4% alcohol.
We also tasted alcohol-free gin from Gordons. Just launched, this is a real find with generous juniper flavours. The blind tasters were happy. €19 widely available.
Made from Muscat grapes which are usually sweet, the label says it is semi seco (aka demi-sec) which means half dry. However, we found it drier than all the other Top 8. Nothing added to the de-alcoholised wine but carbon dioxide. We liked the elegant, yet full flavours. From Spain, the favourite of all tasters. At Bradleys, JJ O’Driscoll and outlets in Cork.
9
This alcohol-free sparkler from France uses Chardonnay, one of the typical Champagne grapes. Flavour infusions are added instead of spending maturing time with yeast and oak as they would in Champagne. These deliver a definite peachiness with a hint of vanilla on the nose. Carbon dioxide gasifies the mix as in others. Tasters agreed it was like a Bellini cocktail and they liked it. We bought at O’Briens, Douglas, Cork.
With biscuit flavours, like some Champagnes, this had sharp apple and lemon aromas, echoed in the flavour. Tasters liked the tingly, frothiness of the bubbles. There’s some sweetness, some acidity, but not much length so the flavour faded quickly. From Germany, we bought at O’Donovans Off Licence, Cork. Available in some supermarkets.
7
Made in Spain from less typical (for sparkling) Sauvignon Blanc de-alcoholised wine, this has just 0.5% alcohol by volume (abv). There is added glycerine (for weight in the texture). With fine, persistent bubbles and more flavour than many samples, tasters thought it very good value. We bought in SuperValu.
7.75
Made in Germany from 70% de-alcoholised wine, grape must (fruit juice containing skins and seeds) and unspecified flavouring, there were mint and elderflower scents and tastes. Liked by half the tasters. Not enough fizz for the others. But good value for festive fun. We bought in Aldi.
6
From Australia, this alcohol-free sparkling de-alcoholised wine, with added grape juice concentrate and thickener, had more still wine flavours and light acidity than other samples, and some lingering length. Pretty good, long-lasting bubbles. Not a favourite of any taster, but acceptable as a fizzy drink to some of them. We bought in Tesco.
6.5
Not much flavour here, though one tester liked it more that the rest of the team. Carbonated water, non-alcoholic fermented grape juice concentrate 10%, green tea infusion 0.5% didn’t light up the others’ tastebuds. It provides festive bubbles at a festive price, so it made it to our Top 8. We bought in Aldi.
5.5
This bottle disappointed testers who had hoped for more flavour and longer-lasting bubbles for the price. However, the single-serve can of fuller flavoured sparkling rosé (€2.95) appealed to tasters, and the bubbles lasted better. A good idea for drivers, pregnant women who can celebrate with a sparkle without opening a full bottle. Available in JJ O’Driscoll, Ballintemple, Cork, Ardkeen Waterford and other outlets – see Mackenway.com.
5.5
