Last Updated on September 21, 2021
Intoxicating wine without alcohol.
Are you a wine drinker who is trying to cut down on alcohol? Perhaps you’ve tried non-alcoholic and low alcohol wines before and never quite felt comfortable. Oddbird aims to change all of that with a range of exclusive sparkling wines that are ‘liberated from alcohol’ and yet don’t taste like Appletiser or Shloer.
As a wine drinker, I’m impressed before I actually open a bottle. I’ve been sent three to try and each one is ‘right’. There’s a Spumante from the Prosecco region of Treviso in Veneto, Italy. It’s made with 100% Glera grapes (the sort that ARE used for Prosecco). It’s properly matured for up to 12 months then ‘liberated from alcohol’ (or so Oddbird tell us).
Then, there’s a Blanc de Blanc – (usually this label refers to one of my favourite types of Champagne). It’s made with 100% Chardonnay, just like its alcoholic cousins – and again matured for a year.
Finally, there’s a sparkling rosé with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes from the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France.
Opening the bottles up, you get that satisfying pop like any good bottle of fizz. They all have proper corks and wire cage stoppers. And, on the dinner table, you wouldn’t feel as if you were getting a ‘lesser’ glass. The bottles are classy and the label design quirky but traditional.
We opened the Oddbird Spumante for a pizza evening when one of our group didn’t want to drink. Needless to say, we all tried some – and not one person felt shortchanged. This would also make an excellent substitute for prosecco in a spritz that was lower in alcohol or even non-alcoholic (if you’d like to try a non-alcoholic ‘Aperol spritz’ try using it with Lyres Italian Orange. It retails for £8.99 – about the same as a good bottle of prosecco.
The Rosé sparkling wine was my personal favourite and one I think worked really well as an aperitif. I was very happy drinking this with a few olives on the side. It’s a little more expensive at £9.99
The Blanc de Blanc made a great pairing with food. I enjoyed mine with a dish of pan-fried brill fillet with capers and butter sauce. Another £9.99 price point makes this a great dinner party option for those guests who are driving. It does have notes of apple, but no more than a Chardonnay with alcohol – and it’s complex, dry and crisp with fresh lime notes too. I would be quite happy to drink this instead of wine with alcohol throughout a meal.
You can buy Oddbird Sparkling Wines online as follows
Oddbird Spumante RRP £8.99 – available now from 31DOVER & Alcohol Free Company, as well as Amazon. Rolling out this summer to Harvey Nichols, Wise Bartender and other fine retailers.
Oddbird Blanc de Blancs RRP £9.99 – available now from 31DOVER & Alcohol Free Company, as well as Amazon. Rolling out this summer to Harvey Nichols, Wise Bartender and other fine retailers.
Oddbird Sparkling Rosé Wine RRP £9.99 – Available now from 31DOVER & Alcohol Free Company, as well as Amazon. Rolling out this summer to Harvey Nichols, Wise Bartender and other fine retailers.
Leave a Reply