Wine with friends, a love story

Plus, five ready-to-drink mocktails for the summer

Last Thursday, as I clinked my wine glass with some guests around my candlelit table, it was like a dream come true. I could smell the aroma of an aged red wine coming from my glass, mixed with the fragrant tomato beef stew in a cast iron pot in front of us.

Any outside observer would assume this was just a regular dinner party, yet little would they know this was the most special of occasions - one marking a turning point for an entire industry.

The non-alcoholic wine category has had astronomical growth over the past three years, yet despite the hundreds of non-alcoholic wine options now available, one thing was still missing for me and that’s the intangible essence of aging.

There is something beautiful and mystical about an aged wine. If you’ve ever laid down a bottle for 10 years, you’ll know what I mean. When it’s 20 years, it’s even better. The aging softens the edges of the liquid, and deepens the secondary and tertiary notes, smoothing out the sting of the alcohol.

Zeronimo is a non-alcoholic wine brand I’ve written about often, and I’m now great friends with the winemakers in Austria. When they first shared the news they had managed to dealcoholize a 20-year old red wine, I was stunned. It didn’t even seem in the realm of possibility, but I knew that if anyone could do it, it would be the team at Zeronimo with their parent winery’s cellar of very high quality vintage wines.

When I finally had the chance to try Century Blend I was actually speechless. It was absolutely perfect. The dealcoholized wine still maintained the character and finesse of the original wine that had been lying down for 20 years, without ANY added sugars or flavours.

I knew this was going to be the wine I could finally use to win over my friends and acquaintances, so they will fall in love with non-alcoholic wine too.

To prove this point, I invited several friends to my home for an intimate dinner party, because food is love. I wanted to share a delicious gourmet meal with them and pair it with an impeccable red wine.

As a starter, I paired Zeronimo Sparkling Select with a kale Caesar salad, dressed in a homemade dressing with anchovy paste and fresh whole grain sourdough croutons.

This pairing was magical in a way I didn’t expect, as the garlic and umami flavour of the anchovy was absolute magic with the aromatics in the sparkling wine. It had main character energy, except it wasn’t the main character. That was still coming up.

For the star of the show, I chose a slow-cooked beef ragout as the best pairing for the Century Blend, which is 50% blaufrankish, 30% pinot noir and 20% merlot. This recipe involved browned beef chuck stewing in tomato sauce for several hours, filling the house with a delicious aroma counting down towards dinner. I knew the flavours in this classic homestyle dish would be an ideal pairing for the soft tannins in the aged wine but also a perfect dish to share and enjoy with friends.

I served the wine in delicate Burgundy glasses, which in and of itself is an experience. I always recommend using the correct glassware, but in this case, it was a perfect fit between wine and glass.

As my guests took their first sips, there was silence. My stomach was in knots. Will they adore Century Blend or dismiss it? What happened next was quite the moment.

“Wow.”

“That’s really good.”

“This is quite spectacular.”

“That’s uncanny.”

“If I hadn’t seen the bottle I would not have known this was non-alcoholic.”

“That is very impressive.”

I tried to capture the moment of shock - how did I do?

The silence was because they were stunned. Literally. What I saw flash through their eyes was first disbelief and then awe when they understood what they were drinking. A 20-year old non-alcoholic wine. It was smiles all around.

From a personal perspective, this was an extremely happy moment for me to experience, because it’s so rare. The ragout was a perfect pairing and we laughed and talked over our food and wine just like we would have with an alcoholic wine. It was a good reminder that life doesn’t stop when you chose not to drink, whether that’s just for an evening, or forever.

I think I won them over. What do you think?

If you want to add Century Blend to your next special dinner party, find it in the U.S. through Zeronimo Wines.

For Century Blend in Canada, find it online and in-store through Sobr Market.

The heat is on….

This week I contributed an article for a major newspaper on the top five ready-to-drink non-alcoholic options for summer.

**Purchasing options in the article are for Canadians, but U.S. readers can find most of these options in the U.S. or order via Upside Drinks.

Cheers and let’s make it non-alcoholic this week!

- Sarah