Boozy breakfasts aren’t normally a wise idea on a weekday, but when the tasting menu involves half a dozen zero-alcohol drinks, you can slosh back the bubbly and arrive in the office well-fed and clear-headed.
Giesen Wines – makers of the Ara Select Blocks Zero Rosé we loved earlier this year – have created a whole range of 0% wines, including a sparkling one. Unveiled for the first time at the elegant Reign at the QVB café, sommelier Louella Mathews paired each wine with a degustation breakfast.
My late father, a wine merchant and connoisseur, used to grumble at the overly elaborate wine descriptions by celebrity oenophile Jilly Goolden. Personally, I love them. So here are mine:
- Giesen 0% Riesling: a winding, honeysuckle stroll through an arbor hung with passionfruit and sweet white grapes
- Giesen 0% Sauvignon Blanc: walking along a cool, pebbly stream under shady trees, sunlight dappling through with a kick of lime zing
- Giesen 0% Pinot Gris: the complexity of a cryptic crossword as you crush a dusky sweet white mulberry against the roof of your mouth
- Giesen 0% Rosé: an early summer picnic in the rose garden, with the sweet scent of fresh-picked raspberries
- Giesen 0% Merlot: enjoying a slice of rich Christmas pudding as a pine-log crackles on the fire, smoky and redolent
- Giesen 0% Sparkling: a glittering dance in a zesty citrus ballgown, diamonds flashing in the sunlight
If you’ve yet to dip your toes in the world of zero-wine, give Giesen a go. As one diner suggested, alternating glasses of regular wine with zero wine could give you the best of both worlds with a far less painful morning-after.
Giesen 0% wines are made with spinning cone technology to reduce the alcohol to below 0.5% (this is less than many fruit juices naturally contain). They’re available in Australia from a wide range of stockists, including major chains and supermarkets such as BWS, Dan Murphys and Woolworths.
