ARIEL Non Alcoholic Merlot

January 4th, 2011

Alcohol Free Review

Ariel has to be one of the best known names when it comes to Non Alcoholic Wine. I was delighted to have a bottle of Ariel Non Alcoholic Merlot to taste on Christmas day. A tough day to write a review in some ways, because it is a day where you are looking forward to only the best, but a good day to test in other ways because you get the opinion of all of your guests.

It is a well presented wine, the packaging does not shout ‘Alcohol Free’ at you. It is one of the few wines we have tested which has a cork closure. Call me old fashioned, but I kind of like the experience of opening a bottle with a corkscrew.

The wine has a wonderfully deep colour, just as you would expect with a standard Merlot really. Interestingly some of my guests were surprised that it looked just like an ordinary wine having not tried non alcoholic wine before.

The taste was beautifully complex and a great accompaniment to a heavy dinner. I sampled it chilled and at room temperature and it worked much better at room temperature.

At only 24 calories per 100ml it is also a great choice for those looking to trim off that extra Christmas weight gain.

ARIEL Non Alcoholic Merlot can be found at the J Lohr Shop

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3 Responses to “ARIEL Non Alcoholic Merlot”

Kari says:
January 20, 2011 at 9:49 am
How many manufactures produce non alcoholic wines in smaller bottles?
Alcohol Free Review says:
February 18, 2011 at 6:05 pm
Hi Kari,
I am not sure. It is a good question and would be a great way for people to try different wines.
Any producers want to comment?
Gregory says:
June 17, 2011 at 4:09 am
Wow, I couldn’t agree less. I’m new to alcohol free wines, and have only tried a half dozen, so far. But if then the Ariel was the very worse. Several of us tried it, then dumped the remainder
down the drain. It wasn’t just a little too sweet, and thin like most N/A wines, there was an unpleasant overall taste that was dreadful. I’m not a wine snob, but I really feel that there are better choices. To be fair, the Ariel product that I tasted was the Cabernet, not the Merlot. Perhaps someday, I’ll try another variety, possibly the whites.