Review: An AF Chardonnay That Scores 10/10 With Our Sommelier

PHOTO CREDIT: SOME GOOD CLEAN FUN, 2022.

The Sémillon grape is native to France, and at one point in time was the most planted vine in the world. It’s a semi-sweet grape that has notes of citrus and apple or pear, sometimes some herbal notes as well. A wine made with Semillon has a slight waxiness about it, which makes it stand up well to many types of dishes. It also blends well with other white varietals.

In Australia, Semillon is a major varietal in the Hunter Valley, also home to McGuigan Winery which makes a luscious 0% Semillon Chardonnay blend under their Delight label.

McGuigan uses spinning-cone technology to craft their line-up of non alcoholic wines. This technology gently separates aroma, alcohol and grape from a finished wine, and then blends the aroma strips and grape elements back together to create the required texture and taste. They’ve been developing their Delight brand for close to five years, with their first bottles hitting Marks & Spencer in the UK in 2018.

With their new Delight Semillon Chardonnay, McGuigan has done the impossible and made an incredible non alcoholic white wine that deserves a 10/10.

On the nose, there is a beautiful aroma of fresh lemon, a hint of oak, some waxiness and the typical notes of a Chardonnay blend. It smells delicious and does not have any hint of the chemical smell that cheap non alcoholic wine carries.

The first taste will knock your socks off. This non alcoholic wine has so much going for it, that it’s hard to know where to start.

The mouthfeel and texture is divine. It has the richness that is expected from a buttery Chardonnay and the slight waxines from Semillon. It drinks like a dream on your tongue, which will not be starved for flavour.

PHOTO CREDIT: SOME GOOD CLEAN FUN, 2022.

The balance of flavours can only be described as indulgent. If you were missing the buttery, oakiness of Chardonnay, you will celebrate this wine. It has all that and more, balanced with a tart lemony freshness and great acidity. At the second glass, there is a hint of Concord grapes but not the cheap wine kind, the kind of Concord grape that is fresh off the vine and you eat by the handful in August.

The structure is softer than a full ABV wine, in fact it might even be slightly flabby, but that does not take away from the quality of the finished product. It’s complex enough to offset that. It drinks almost like a soft California Chardonnay.

The tartness combined with the buttery flavour, will go well with food that is slightly salty like ham or anchovy pizza, as well as things like herbed roasted fish and vegetables. This is also an easy wine to just drink by the glass and enjoy a few episodes of Bridgerton with some popcorn.

Overall, this is an excellent non alcoholic wine that will surprise and delight you. Keep it chilled and keep it stocked and next time wine o’clock rolls around, you will pour this again and again into your glass!

If you’re in Quebec, you can find it in-person at the SAQ, or elsewhere UpsideDrinks.com is the only marketplace that carries it but they do ship across Canada.