WHAT? Dealcoholized Sparkling German Riesling?

WINE TALK
1

Saw this at the local grocery store. :flushed: Is this a thing?

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No, instead a big trend in Germany.

Another generationā€¦ā€¦

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how does it taste?

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Itā€™s a thing. My wife tried a bunch of them while pregnant, this one seemed common as an option here in SF: Leitz Eins Zwei Zero Sparkling Reisling | Non-Alcoholic ā€“ Boisson

None of them are great in my experience, but if you set aside preconceptions they are fine enough, especially with food.

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Yup these are increasingly common. The Leitz one has been around for a number of years, and if you can get a fresh bottle itā€™s pretty good, and getting better each year. Sugar is a touch high for my preference. There are others in Germany but not in the US market. Lots of sparkling NA stuff here too though from other varieties.

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Do you have the internets?

N/A wine has been a thing for a while now. Still a ways behind N/A beer but getting better, thankfully.

The Leitz is the only N/A Riesling (readily available) that doesnā€™t have any added sugar via grape juice, must, or whatever.

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Donā€™t understand the sarcasm here. Iā€™m well acquainted with the non-alcoholic market, having previously worked for two years in the formulation and production of non-alcoholic wines. You may have tasted something I produced.

The Leitz sparkling Riesling has about 40 g/L of sugar. Some of this may come from the original alcoholic wine that was dealcoholized; the rest comes from adding grape concentrate - this is listed on the ingredient list as ā€œrectified concentrated grape mustā€ or similar. If you see a bottle of dealcoholized wine with no must or concentrate listed on the ingredients, then any sugar adjustments were done before dealcoholization, which means they donā€™t need to be listed on the ingredients.

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Sorry, my initial sarcasm was for the OP.

Thanks for the other info regarding the Leitz! I am planning to try the Schmitges N/A next:

Schmitges Winery (schmitges-weine.de)

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I had the Leitz recently. Not terrible, but agree completely that itā€™s still outpaced by NA beer, which Iā€™m now drinking regularly on dry days. My sense is that things with bitter elements hold up better to dealcoholization, but Iā€™m still just learning my way around this terrain.