Consider it diet wine Alcohol - free wine is one way to help keep calories under control . By Janet Cromley , Los Angeles Times Staff Writer November 26 , 2007 Take too much fun from the fun bank at Thanksgiving ? With more holiday revelry coming up , we have three little words : alcohol - free wine . The notion of tinkering with perfectly good vino makes true wine lovers blanch , but alcohol - free wine has some advantages over its boozy cousin , including far fewer calories : about 15 to 25 calories for a 4 - ounce glass , compared with about 90 for a glass of Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon . The wines have a fraction of the calories of regular wine . ( Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times ) Alcohol - free wine also should confer some of the health benefits one gets from moderate regular - wine consumption , says Fergus Clydesdale , head of the department of food science at the University of Massachusetts , Amherst . The same antioxidants found in regular wine also exist in alcohol - free wine . " If the same grapes were used , " Clydesdale says , " the wine would have the same kind of phenolics . " These polyphenols -- which fall under the broad umbrella of antioxidants -- include the almighty resveratrol , a compound in red wine that ' s been receiving recent media attention . Typically , alcohol - free wine is made by extracting the alcohol through a filtering or vacuum process , while leaving the other components intact . By law , the wines must be less than one - half of 1 % alcohol . Although some of the health benefits of wine have been tied to the alcohol itself , in the aggregate , removing the alcohol is a plus , says Joy DuBost , a food scientist and nutrition expert for the Institute of Food Technologists , a society of food science professionals . " While it does appear that alcohol in moderation decreases the effects of cardiovascular disease , " she says , " it can also increase your calorie intake ; triglycerides , which is another blood lipid ; your blood pressure ; and possibly your cancer risk . You have to look at the total picture . " And the public is buying it . Ariel Vineyards sold 1 . 2 million bottles of alcohol - free wine last year , according to Craig Rosser , sales marketing director for Ariel and export director for J . Lohr Vineyards & Wines , Ariel ' s parent company . Even small - fry Carl Jung wine , which is made in Germany and available only online in the U . S . , sold 20 , 000 bottles in the U . S . last year , says Ray Hermiston , the company ' s Internet sales manager . Alcohol - free - wine drinkers include pregnant women , designated drivers and people who need to abstain for medical reasons or simply don ' t like alcohol . Ariel Vineyards caters to this last group . " Our core customer is someone who hasn ' t developed a taste for wine , and they like their beverages sweet , " Rosser says . Ariel has the distinction of producing the only dealcoholized wine to win a gold medal at a formal competition against regular wines . Sure , it was in 1986 at the Los Angeles County Fair , but , still , the wine must have been the Secretariat of the bunch . Which brings us to the issue of flavor and drinkability . Someone with a long history of wine drinking who tries these products won ' t exactly be seeing stars , says Clark Smith , co - owner and chief enologist for Vinovation Inc . , a Sebastopol , Calif . - based " fix - it shop " that adjusts alcohol and other components in wine for winemakers . " It ' s hard enough to find a really great , rich , soulful Cabernet or Chardonnay with the alcohol , " he says , " and it ' s almost an impossible challenge to deliver a really great Cabernet or Chardonnay without alcohol . Alcohol is important to the roundness and richness and sweetness of wine . " Alcohol - free wines can , however , better replicate the taste of white Zinfandels and sparkling wine , Smith says . " They can fairly and inexpensively make a white Zinfandel that might taste even better than an alcoholic Zinfandel , " he says . When selecting nonalcoholic wine , " you ' re better off looking for sugar , bubbles and fruitiness . " Manufacturers recommend serving the wine at the same temperature as traditional wine : chilled for whites , room or cellar temperature for reds . But how do these wines taste ? The Health staff and Times wine writer Corie Brown weighed in on four brands . After swirling , sniffing and spitting , the testers concluded that the primary thing these wines lack is what is known as " mouth - feel " -- a certain thickness and the rich sensation of flavors bursting in the mouth . " Alcohol knits a wine together and gives it weight , " Brown says . Without it , the wine tastes thin and watery . The wines are fairly inexpensive , with prices ranging from $ 4 . 95 for Sutter Home ' s Fre wines to $ 7 . 49 for Ariel . Here ' s what the tasters ( all regular drinkers of alcoholic wine ) had to say : 2005 Cabernet SauvignonA group favorite among the reds . A little stronger than the others , with an actual fruit aroma -- something sadly lacking in many of the others . " You could almost fantasize that this is real wine , " said one taster . Carl JungMerlotOne taster felt this came closest to a real wine flavor , compared with the other reds . Others found it a bit vinegary . " They ' re trying , " said one taster , without enthusiasm . This , in fact , was the consensus on many of the wines . Fre ( Sutter Home ) 2005 Premium RedSweeter than the rest , with a plum finish . Still , somewhat thin and lacking in flavor . General thumbs down . St . Regis Reserve ( Inglenook ) Cabernet SauvignonReasonably dry , more watery than the other reds , with a fresh fruit aroma . Closest in flavor to pure , unsweetened grape juice . WHITESAriel Vineyards ( J . Lohr ) 2006 ChardonnayFruit aroma , and slightly oaky taste . Inoffensive , sweet . Note : All of the tasters found the alcohol - free whites to have better flavor and drinkability than the reds , theorizing that the wines appear to benefit from the effects of refrigeration . Fre ( Sutter Home ) 2006 ChardonnayThe group ' s favorite among the whites . " While not tasting like a fine wine , you can vaguely get a flavor of a very light white wine , " said one taster . " Certainly not like a Chardonnay , but perhaps similar to a Chenin Blanc . " St . Regis Reserve ( Inglenook ) ChardonnayAlmost like flavored water , with a little bite . Thinnest of the whites . one taster offered that it tasted " like nothing . " Another was put off by the aroma . Thumbs down by the group . Carl JungVin BlancThis one , which had a very mild wine flavor and very slight bite , got mixed reviews from the tasters . one preferred it above the others ; another found the aroma objectionable . The other tasters found the wine to be solidly average among the offerings and otherwise inoffensive . 공유 하 기 글 요소