The non-alcoholic wine featured on Canlis' James Beard-awarded wine list
If you heard that an award-winning wine program added a single non-alcoholic wine to their bar, would you give it a try? You know I would! Canlis is one of the country's most respected restaurants, taking fine dining to a whole new level through decades of excellence. Located in Seattle, WA, it's been nominated for 15 James Beard Awards, and won three of them. This includes a James Beard Award for their wine program. So when I heard they added a non-alcoholic, still wine to their list, I had to track it down.
Leitz "Eins Zwei Zero" Non-Alcoholic Riesling
I was able to grab a bottle of this wine from The Zero Proof, an excellent online non-alcoholic beverage shop. I love their curated products this bottle was $17.99 and shipped to me quickly. (You can use code Soberishmom for 10% off any purchase, opinions are my own).
Leitz Winery is an award-winning winery out of Germany, a country that has been producing non-alcoholic wines for a good 70 years and really paved the way in non-alcoholic wine production. As non-alcoholic wines become increasingly popular for those who enjoy the taste and experience of wine without the alcohol, innovations in production and dealcoholization have improved the quality of these wines even further.
Riesling does have a bad rap as a "sweet" wine because some carry residual sugar in them. But if you know a thing or two about wine, you know that quality German Rieslings are often very dry with a hint of minerality. In Leitz's case, they've been able to maintain these great qualities of a Riesling in their dealcoholization process to create a wine that is crisp and quite delicious.
Tasting Notes
The nose presents notes of white grape and peach, a slight citrus peel aroma. The flavor is lovely with ripe stone fruit and a citrus zing. I was a little worried it would be overly sweet, as many Rieslings tend to carry a little residual sugar and non-alcoholic wines have a reputation as tasting too juice-like, so that combo could be disastrous. However, it's well-balanced without being overly sweet, and has a crisp finish like a great Riesling.
Does it Taste like "Real" Wine?
When approaching non-alcoholic wines I've found it's important to temper your expectations. I had really high (too high) hopes that this would carry the same complexity as alcoholic wine, and was a bit let-down. So remember that they should stand in a category of their own, and try not to compare them to your favorite bottle of aged wine. That ain't happening. But I will happily drink this all summer long, and it is one of the better non-alcoholic still wines I've tried to date.
Nutritional Facts
One thing I love about non-alcoholic wines is that the well-done ones are very low calorie and sugar. For only 20 calories and less than 5g of carbs per glass you can sip this guilt-free wine all summer long.
Happy clean drinking this spring and summer. Leave me a comment with some of your favorite non-alcoholic products, I'd love to hear from you. Cheers!
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