Review: Eins Zwei Zero’s Chardonnay
Believe it or not, I didn’t like chardonnay all that much when I was drinking. It was my college roommate Brittany’s go-to wine, so I’ve still had my fair share of it. Granted, when we were drinking that in college, it was probably not the best example (AKA it was reaaaaaal cheap).
With that in mind, when I first ventured into nonalcoholic wines, I stayed away from chardonnay (why would I possibly want chardonnay without alcohol in it, if I didn’t even like the real stuff?). I only got into it for my previously mentioned roommate, Brittany, who was curious about nonalcoholic chardonnay after I mentioned the dramatic difference in calories in nonalcoholic versus regular wine. I didn’t want to recommend anything to her that I hadn’t tried and approved myself (especially, considering how skeptical wine drinkers are of NA wine anyway), so I started buying some.
In a very unexpected turn of events, I enjoyed many of the chardonnays I tried! I started to notice that the NA chardonnays usually tasted the most like real wine. I think partially because chardonnay as a whole is rarely very fruit forward or sweet. In fact, the most common adjective thrown around is usually “buttery.” Fast forward a few months and now I find myself gravitating more toward chardonnay over other nonalcoholic white wines.
So the first positive for me about this wine was that it’s a chardonnay, which brings me to the second positive - it’s German. Allow me to explain.
Recently, the New York Times published an article about nonalcoholic wines, specifically those made in Germany (titled “For the Best Nonalcoholic Wines, Look to Germany”). To give you a quick, cliff notes version of the article, basically Germany has been creating nonalcoholic wines for over 100 years. The first patent for dealcoholized wine was even registered in Germany by Dr. Carl Jung (of Carl Jung wines). The article also goes into more detail about the dealcoholization process, if you’re into that sort of thing. Since Germany and specifically Carl Jung winery is so experienced in this process, many other wineries are using them to produce their nonalcoholic wine. So the even shorter version is if you see a nonalcoholic wine from Germany - buy it!
Anyway, my boyfriend reads a lot of articles, so he had already seen this one. When we saw this bottle at the store (the German name is a pretty dead giveaway), he was actually the one who grabbed it! Mind you, this was after we had already reached my two new bottle limit, so it’s a pretty big deal.
The third positive for us was the packaging. The bottle design is simple, yet sophisticated, which I think makes it look much more like a regular bottle of wine. I also like that the name incorporates the German language. It translates to one (eins) two (zwei) zero, which accentuates the fact that it has zero alcohol. Very clever!
Now that you have the background, you can understand my (and my boyfriend’s) excitement to try this beautiful, nonalcoholic chardonnay from Germany. First off, Eins Swei Zero nailed the smell! It really does smell like real chardonnay. The color seems fairly accurate, maybe a tiny bit lighter than actual chardonnay? I think some are a bit darker in color and more yellowey (not that I’m an expert).
Finally, it’s time to take the first sip - it’s crisp and clean. It’s not as light as some of the other NA wines I’ve tried, which is honestly a good sign, since some of them are so light that you hardly get a wine flavor at all. I do get hints of citrus, but they are very subtle and not sweet. The taste lingers in your mouth after you take a sip, but it’s pleasant. I remember experiencing this with real chardonnay, specifically in college with the cheap stuff, where it was like I couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth (keep in mind, this was when I didn’t like chardonnay).
Overall, I really like this wine, like I’m impressed. I have already recommended it to Brittany (the chardonnay queen) with my stamp of approval. Hopefully, one day I can bring her in to taste test this and some other nonalcoholic chardonnays, so we’ll have an expert opinion (and I’m sure a very amusing blog post)!
If you like chardonnay or you’re just tired of NA wines being too sweet, look for this one! I will definitely be buying more and trying any other wines I find from Eins Zwei Zero.
Ratings: 9/10 (Liv), 8.75/10 (Matthew - Boyfriend)
Price: $23.99
Store: Speciality Store (Carmine’s Gourmet Market)