Agreed. The ideal solution would be some kind of home-based gizmo that reduces ABV. There’s actually one on Kickstarter right now, but not going to put a link to it as I have my reservations.
Nothing seems impossible anymore. That means not possible. I don’t think there’s anything about wine that is impossible.
I admire your optimism, but on the subject of the thread, legit great wine after removal of the alcohol seems highly unlikely, to me.
I hope I’m wrong, that would be quite a breakthrough.
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Yeah, I feel like it’s about the amount of chance expressed in that meme. 
Lyre’s n/a Amaretto is terrific! My wife used it to make a citrus-forward Amaretto Sour. It was as if an Old Fashioned and a Sidecar had a kid. Very good, and not too sweet.
For sparklers, I recently had a non-alcoholic Cava from Codorniu. It was good, albeit a touch too apple-y, and in the $20 range. I would rebuy.
My two cents on non-alcoholic beers:
- Guinness Zero is good
- Brooklyn Brewery “Special Effects” Pilsner is excellent
- Bravus Brewing’s Blood Orange IPA is pretty good
- Estrella Galicia Zero is… not good
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That is a good question. I think they were attempting to make good wines for the price, but none were trying to make Ch. Latour.
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You can serve it with your meat free meat and other ultra-processed dishes. 
Basically then there are a number of interlocking factors in current wine culture and “infrastructure” (e.g the genetics of planted vines) that tilt things toward higher alcohol than the past. It would be nice to see some systematic rethinking to tilt wine back toward lower alcohol in somewhat the same way that “natural wine” winemakers rethought their processes
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it’s been invented. an ice cube.
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My wife’s mom lives with us, and she is great company, but is prone to over-indulge. She’s 94 and doesn’t require alcohol, per se, but when it’s there, she can sometimes forget to apply the brakes, so to speak.
We have always tried to make sure she has appropriate pours, etc…but if she can pop into whatever area we have the wines open, she will surreptitiously create an endless pour for herself. (We never even thought of that until she got sick one night and told us what she’d been doing.)
So, we buy non-alcohol wines of different types and then mix whatever wine we are pouring with a healthy dollop of the faux wine to make Nanny’s ‘servings’ larger. This way, she gets a different experience from each wine, and she doesn’t sneak pours…win win! (Plus, now we know to watch out.)
The extended family is aware of this and help when she is at their homes, as well.
We’ve been very happy with this arrangement, and I will taste the mixtures to ensure nothing untoward happens with the flavors. I usually just match grapes and it works well.
I do feel like I am cheating a bit, but no Nanny-fall-down, so I assuage my guilt with thoughts of her safety. It really enhances her evening seeing generous pours and she feels more part of the crowd. (I don’t mean this to sound controlling ot condescending, it’s just something we kind of evolved into.)
We don’t have a favorite substitute, maybe Fre because they have a big line up and it’s at the grocery store.
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appreciate the anecdote. reminds me of a friend’s grandfather. he was around 85 at the time.
my friend (his grandson) and another friend went down to FL to visit grandfather and his wife in their del boca vista [phase 2] like condo. the grandfather likes to drink like a fish and he’s all of 120 pounds soaking wet.
grandmother made us a turkey dinner, thanksgiving style in june in florida.
it’s like 3 oclock, so obviously dinner time. grandfather is on his 3rd martini and im keeping up with him.
3/4 through the meal it appears he’s actually eaten some food. one of us commented on this to grandmother.
she laughs and says yea he’s full of shit, watch this.
she had served yams (baked skin on) with the meal. so she takes his plate and rotates it. putting on display the fact that he hollowed out the yam in order to stash the turkey meat and such inside.
my friends and i almost cracked ribs laughing.
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Definitely the best red one we have tried, but it’s still very sweet and feels more like berry lemonade. Have yet to find something that resembles red wine as much as their Riesling does white wine.
Have you tried the Giesen Red Blend?
It’s the best Bordeaux/Cab wannabe I’ve found.
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We have not! Will seek it out.
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It’s definitely the boldest, least sweet red that I’ve found. It’s my go to “fixer” for non-Pinot reds.
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Did a little taste test last night between the Giesen and Dr. Loosen dealcoholized Rieslings. Didn’t even realize that my results match with what the nutrition label (and contents) reveal.
Both bottles have surprisingly good acidity. More so than you might think. The Giesen is a bit fruitier and fuller, and the Dr. Lo is dryer (obviously) with a cleaner finish. When I checked the labels this morning, I noticed the Giesen has 6 grams of added sugar in the form of grape juice. Interesting. You can definitely tell. Overall I thought they were both pretty decent, the Dr. Lo bordering on pretty good (especially considering it has near zero alcohol).
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