Review: Bolle Chardonnay Reserve - Dealcoholized Burgundy Wine

I’ve written about Bolle quite a bit over the past year, with some great products and some mediocre offerings, but I was really unexpectedly impressed with their latest Chardonnay Reserve. If you’ve followed me for awhile you know I used to love my chardonnays, particularly cool-climate chardonnays, so I’m pretty picky about my reviews for this style.

I had so many questions about this one, so I hopped on a video call with founder and winemaker Roberto Vanin who shared a bit of his origin story with me.

“I tried to do Dry January in 2021 and it was just terrible. I couldn’t find something I wanted to drink,” said Vanin, who is an organic chemist and had worked in product development for decades. “I wanted to make a non-alcoholic wine that I wanted to drink. That was my problem to solve, so I decided to use what I know, chemistry, to create what is now Bolle wines.”

Over the past few years, the Bolle line has expanded from sparkling wine to still wine, using Vanin’s proprietary formula of secondary fermentation with low-alcohol yeast. They are the only non-alcoholic wine brand to do this and it’s truly revolutionary.

When it comes to the Bolle Chardonnay Reserve, Vanin and co-founder Gary Read went right to the heart of white wine in Burgundy, France (Mâcon specifically) with very specific demands.

“I personally selected the French hillside where the grapes come from, and then we ask for the juice from the first press to minimize natural yeast formation,” explained Vanin. “All of this makes a big difference when it comes to re-developing the terroir and flavour that is lost during dealcoholization.”

According to Read, there was a lot of resistance from the French vineyard who were insisting ‘Non non, c'est trop tôt!’, but in the end Vanin got what he needed.

The result is a non-alcoholic wine that I think drinks just like a fine Burgundy without the alcohol. Here are my tasting notes:

Aroma

The aroma is so soft with fresh aromatics of yeasty bread and crisp green apple.

Taste

My first reaction was ‘thank god this doesn’t taste like buttered popcorn’ as so many chardonnays in the non-alcoholic space are trying to emulate those big buttery coastal chardonnays. Because the Bolle Chardonnay Reserve was produced from French grapes in Burgundy which has a cooler climate than California, there is only a slight hint of buttered popcorn - almost too faint to notice. What is more noticeable is the typical juicy green apple balanced with a pop of acidity, a whisper of some nuttiness and a nice vein of minerality on the finish.

Mouthfeel & Experience

The Bolle Chardonnay Reserve has a medium-minus body with a really smooth, almost silky texture. It feels light and polished without heading into thin or watery territory, which can be one of the biggest challenges with dealcoholized chardonnay - they’re often either too heavy and thick or too thin and lacking weight.

There’s also enough structure through the mid-palate to keep it from falling apart halfway through the sip. The texture is restrained and balanced, giving it more of that cool-climate Chardonnay feel which I’m a big fan of.

Food Pairings

This non-alcoholic white would be excellent with simply prepared white fish with lemon, herbs or a light butter sauce. Roast chicken would also be a natural match, as would scallops, crab cakes or shrimp. Its acidity should also work nicely with softer cheeses such as Brie, Camembert or chèvre, so definitely pair this with a cheese plate next time you’re entertaining!

Overall

This is a very convincing cool-climate Chardonnay and easily one of the stronger still wines I’ve tried from Bolle. Sometimes a non-alcoholic wine can feel overly engineered, but that’s the exact thing about Bolle’s wines - they feel naturally developed as if the alcohol just dissipated on its own.

What impressed me most is that it doesn’t seem to be trying hard to be a good chardonnay. There’s no exaggerated oak, vanilla or butteriness designed to compensate for the missing alcohol.

It isn’t quite as elegant as the Oceano Chardonnay, which remains one of my benchmarks in this category, but it comes pretty darn close. If I could change anything, I’d dial back some of the juiciness and give it a little more lift and tension through the finish. But those are relatively minor criticisms of what is otherwise a pretty fantastic non-alcoholic white wine.

For anyone who misses more restrained, cool-climate Chardonnay rather than the big buttery California style, this one is absolutely worth seeking out!

Available at bolledrinks.com ($40USD)