Came upon this online. Supposedly these are not wines per se, but nonalcoholic beverages with various flavor compounds, to fill the role of wine in a meal, if that makes sense.
“Proxies are layered blends of juices, teas, spices, bitters, and more with all the complexity of great wine, and none of the alcohol.
Proxies don’t necessarily taste exactly like any specific wine, but are designed to look, feel, and drink like wine. They have acidity, texture, tannin, and spice and are crafted to pair with food and be enjoyed in wine glasses. Wine, but not.”
Looks like they come in around $25 a bottle. Anyone have any experience with these?
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I’ll probably be in the minority here, but, if one assumes the actual product is tasty enough and has a general resemblance to wine, then I think this is a good thing.
There are people who can’t drink, or shouldn’t drink, or have certain occasions when they don’t want to, and if something like this fits the bill, then that’s cool with me.
A few times when my wife was pregnant, I bought Navarro non-alc “wine” and it was a nice thing for her.
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Totally agree Chris and we did the exact same thing (Navarro Gewurtz ‘juice’ is delicious). Ive seen the ads for these and have been curious to try them but never pulled the trigger. Would be great to have on hand for peeps who don’t/ can’t drink.
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Our sales data shows nothing less than meteoric rise for the no- low-alc category. It’s only a good thing imo.
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If there were a legit alternative to (good!) wine and/or beer, I would drink so much of it, it would be embarrassing.
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Can you imagine?? Like…I’d literally drink it all day, ha!
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100% agree with you. I’m all for providing interesting and tasty non-alcoholic alternative to anyone that wants it.
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I think it’s a good thing as well. It is important to have the ability to serve something relatively comparable to guests that don’t drink or want to drink less. When two of my friends were pregnant at the same time during a Friendsgiving gathering, we were able to give them both sparkling Italian soda to make them feel more part of the festivities when everyone was toasting with champagne.
I would like to drink less alcohol in general, but don’t think I would get the same satisfaction out of this Proxies stuff, but willing to try it.
Feels like a lot people overdid it during COVID lockdowns with booze and are now going the other direction.
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This would probably be great as a mixer with premium vodka.
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In all seriousness, if this turns out to be a delicious beverage, I’ll be all over it. If it ever makes it across the ocean that is.
Homemade unsweetened iced tea (English breakfast) and home grown/squeezed lemonade; mix to taste.
I’ve heard good things about this:
That said, there are already a few threads discussing this:
Full disclosure: I develop and make non-alcoholic wines, so my opinion on these matters is both strong and biased! I have no business relationship with Proxies but I do have a business relationship with some of their competitors, and though I play in a slightly different space, you could at times consider me one of those competitors. That said, I’ve tasted the full Proxies line-up on two separate occasions and am happy to share my opinions:
Wine-likeness - as I think their marketing material does a pretty good job explaining, these are not intended to be wine-like, but rather to provide an interesting alternative adult-targeted beverage that could, in theory, replace wine in settings where wine would normally be consumed.
Style - The Proxies beverages are formulated to be very flavorful. Because they don’t have alcohol, and don’t have to try to be like wine, they turn up a number of other dials that increase their sensory intensity. The two main ones that stand out are saltiness and sourness.
Salt: Many of the Proxies have quite a lot of salt in, and to my palate a number of them are too overtly salty to be palatable. I also question their nutritional fact panels, which claim “0 mg sodium” per serving but list “sea salt” in the ingredient list…
Vinegar: Proxies use a wide range of fruit vinegars to provide both aromatic lift and palate texture. Think kombuchas and shrubs…but on steroids.
Sugar: Proxies use a number of fruit juices and concentrates to provide flavor and sweetness. Most of them sit somewhere in the 40 g/L range. To be fair, this is similar to many non-alcoholic wines on the market (e.g., Fre, Ariel, Oddbird, French Bloom, some of the Leitz wines), but the non-alcoholic wine market is generally moving in the lower-sugar direction and most of the really interesting products are now below 20 g/L.
Spices/Bitters: Proxies use quite a lot of very strongly flavored spice and bittering ingredients to provide both astringency and flavor. I rather like this approach, which to my palate gives them a more “adult” character, but I commonly find them too heavily flavored in a specific direction to be versatile food pairings.
I hope this provides an idea of what these products are like. I kind of wish someone had told me these things before I tasted them for the first time because I wouldn’t have been so taken aback by how un-winelike they were and how intense they tasted. They definitely have an audience and some people really like them. Personally they’re not my thing but I find them to at least be interesting and distinctively their own thing.
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Maybe if they demonstrate there is a market, others will develop more balanced and wine-similar styles.
Where’s your Berserker Day offer?!
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Good question - for that matter, where are any of the products I developed anywhere? All developed for clients under NDAs I’m afraid.
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Winner.
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I went thru the lineup a couple years ago. I wasn’t a fan. I believe I posted notes in one of the dry January threads.
You can’t think of it as wine. But, rather a beverage high in acidity, or sweetness that is intended to compliment food.
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I also gave it a shot. I thought they were disgusting, but that’s just me. Very vinegary and acid driven - didn’t get any enjoyment and couldn’t finish a glass.
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Sounds like sticking to fever tree soda or tonics is the way to go. Probably Cheaper as well.
Maybe you could use it as a mixer?
Some vodka or rum, maybe?