Dealcoholized Wine?

[LaraW]

I saw this product at the liquor store the other day, and noticed that several companies that I have heard of made it. It was labeled "dealcoholized" and came in varieties such as Merlot and Chardonnay.

Just wondering if anyone has tried these, and if they are OK or if they are gross. Do they taste like their alcoholic counterparts?

[sneezles]

I tried them when they first came out but wasn't too impressed with the taste. Maybe they have improved since then!

[memartha]

I sipped them when I was pregnant. They are pretty nasty, IMO. Martha

[purplefishy]

I know Graham Kerr (sp?) was a big fan of using dealcoholized wines in cooking instead of your typical grocery store cooking wines. He generally did not use alcohol in his cooking and he said that the dealc. wines were at least better than the cooking wines. I had never heard of anyone drinking them though.

[wallycat]

Blech :p

[Kay Henderson]

My mother-in-law has not been able to drink alcohol for some years now due to a medication she takes.

She does not care for non-alcoholic wine, but has found some non-alcoholic beers to be quite good. Probably her favorite is Kaliber, made by Guinness. I've tasted this also, and like it very much as well.

For cooking, I would think the non-alcoholic wines would be OK, since when you add wine to a dish being cooked, much of the alcohol boils off. (In my case, I use the little bottles of real wine for cooking, but if I preferred to avoid having alcohol in the house, I would use non-alcoholic wine.)

For an occasion for which I would normally have wine, I usually also serve Martinelli's sparkling cider, as I like to give guests a choice of alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages. Two other pluses: 1) teenagers and older children can be included in the festivities, and 2) it is helpful for a guest (or for me!) to have an alternative when they have had enough to drink.

[mrswaz]

I drank them when I was pregnant. They are a poor sub for drinking, but better than I expected. They do go rancid quickly though, so keep them in the fridge.

I think they're great for cooking though. I have used them there when having company over. I think the non-drinkers appreciate that.

[AnnaSue]

I've tried a couple of these since being pregnant, and I thought the brand Fre (or something like that) tasted nothing like wine at all. It just tasted like very sweet fruit juice to me. However, I thought that the Ariel brand was much better. It still isn't the same as real wine, but it was probably about as close as dealcoholized wine can get. I think that product has won some awards or something too if I remember right. My due date is tomorrow! So not long til I can have the real stuff again!

[Valerie226]

De-alc beer is decent but wine is fairly pathetic. at least the whites. I can't drink reds. My SIL drinks a brand of de-alc beer that comes in a green can. can't think of the brand.

[Molli526]

Lara,

I haven't heard much about them, just that there are a couple of brands available.