Want to take a break from booze? From low-alcohol Tempranillo to 0% aperitifs, our expert has the best on offer.
I don’t do ‘dry’ months. I have ‘damp’ years. A bit like Lancashire.
I know some of you will be wondering about giving alcohol a miss for January, but the better resolution is to turn all your next 12 months ‘damp’.
The easiest way to do this is to have a delicious repertoire that includes low and no-alcohol favourites alongside your ‘full-fat’ choices. This means you can have your regular, ocean-going, copper-bottomed 14% Aussie Shiraz one day, and De Bortoli The Very Cautious One Shiraz 0.0% (£5.95) the next. It’s smooth, and generous and fruity like the real thing, but leaves you with a clear head the following morning.
Or Viña Albali Cabernet Tempranillo 0.5% 2021/22 (£4.99). There’s a good dollop of black fruit, and a nice texture too. It’s not exactly the same as a full-bore Cabernet Tempranillo – without the alcohol it can’t be – but it’s pretty close. And you make up for the buzz with a rather virtuous feeling.
In general, wine is the hardest thing to get right among low and no-alcohol drinks. But they are getting better all the time as techniques for gently removing alcohol improve year on year. And we’re also understanding how to grow the most suitable grapes.
Vermouths and aperitifs are much easier. Try Wavelength Ruby Aperitif (£19.99), a herbal and spicy drink that you mix with tonic or soda and your favourite citrus fruit.
I also love the honeyed, floral aromas and complex character of Botivo (£26.75).
Although these drinks are more expensive than wines, they’re essentially a ‘grown-up’ cordial. Mix them with sparkling water, lemonade, tonic, or soda (you should experiment) and they’ll keep you entertained for days.
You can celebrate your new damp lifestyle too. Thomson & Scott has been winning fans for its ‘noughty’ range of wines for years now. Especially with its Noughty Non-Alcoholic Sparkling Chardonnay (£9.95). It’s organic, and vegan and sits somewhere between cava and prosecco in style. To be honest, most people drinking it won’t even notice it’s entirely alcohol-free.
As alcohol-free drinks don’t attract duty, you’ll often find they’re good value as well, like M&S Sauvignon Blanc 0.05%, which is a great drink no matter how you look at it at just £4. It’s in the more tropical, Kiwi style of Sauvignon (and slightly off-dry) and a super wine for spicy dishes.
Or Zeno Alcohol-Liberated White, a crisp £9.99 white from Waitrose with white peach and floral fruit. A lovely mid-week white.
But remember. A bit like puppies, low and no alcohol isn’t just for January. When you go damp it’s all year round.
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