This week's wine: wines for dry January

Last time we dove into alcohol-free/alcohol-removed wines-- how they're made and what to look for. If you missed that issue, click here to read it. 

Today, let's get into my top picks! I've spent the last two weeks sampling six different ones and want to share thoughts on each, including (and especially important!) which ones I would go back to. So, without further ado, here are my picks ranked in order from least favorite to favorite.

My non-alcoholic wine reviews:

#6: Fre red blend: this wine totally duped me. It smelled like red wine and even smelled seemingly tannic. But when I sipped-- it tasted like a completely disgusting mix of grape juice and apple juice with chemicals. I wasn't super surprised given that Fre is made by Sutter Home and wasn't expensive, and so I didn't do more than a sip before dumping it down the drain. 

#5: Fre Chardonnay: this wine was *slightly* better tasting than the red blend. It smelled like sweet grape juice but as it warmed up, began to give off chemical aromas. It tasted like overly sweet candy or even just apple juice with a jarringly short finish. Overall, not good. I got a few sips in, and then likewise to the red-- down the drain it went. 

#4: Ariel Cabernet Sauvignon: to me, it had aromas of cherry cough syrup... and it tasted like watered-down bad wine with a lot of cherry and red berry notes. I rated it higher than the Fre only because it did actually remind me of wine, but it wasn't necessarily good either. I only got a few sips in of this to try and pick out the flavors mostly. 

#3: Freixenet sparkling white wine: I had high hopes for this one! Freixnet makes Cava so I was hoping I might get a watered-down version of their Cava. The reality? It ended up tasting like bubbly sugar water. This was such a bummer but, c'est la vie. But between this though and the three that came before-- would rather have this. 

#2: Surely Sauvignon Blanc: now this alcohol-removed wine delivers from the first smell-- it smells like a Sauv Blanc, it's got the characteristic grassy, gooseberry smells and the flavors! While it definitely tastes like a very watered-down Sauvignon Blanc-- but, importantly, it tastes like a good watered-down Sauvignon Blanc-- so I happily sipped two glasses! I would definitely recommend this one and would love to try the other versions of this brand to see how they hold up. 

#1: Chateau del ISH rosé: far and above, this was my favorite alcohol-free wine I tried of the bunch. Is it because I have a bias towards sparkling wine? Maybe. But also I felt like this wine didn't make me compromise-- it didn't taste watered down, it just tasted like a nice, bubbly sparkling rosé wine. Unlike #3-6, no weird aftertaste, no weird smells, just everything I'd want in an alcohol-free wine. I am definitely going to try the other sparkler in their collection and see how it compares and would definitely order the rose again for any friends who were taking a break from alcohol and wanted an AF wine. 

To conclude...
Of all the six, I'd probably honestly only ever drink the top two again-- the others were not at all enjoyable for me. But-- I have to say, in general, I'm sticking with the AF beers these days! Unless I was having friends over to split a bottle, it's much easier to just grab an AF beer. But if you'd like to try my top picks and you are in DC, Foxtrot has both and here's a $10 off referral code. 

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your weekly w(h)ine picks

• My recent road trips made better by 🎧: two (new to me) podcasts-- In God We Lust and Operator
• My weeknights made better by 📺: Abbott Elementary (think Parks and Rec and the Office vibes-- so cute and gives me a good laugh each week)