Review: Edenvale Non Alcoholic Shiraz begs for a second glass

In the non-alcoholic wine category, Australia is coming out on top with innovation, quality and volume of products shipping out internationally. A new brand that has come to Canada from Australia recently is Edenvale wines. We recently reviewed their Pinot Gris and were pleasantly surprised, but when asked to review their Shiraz we were sceptical since it’s a hard style to crack.

But first, a note about Shiraz and specifically Australia and what to expect from a non alcoholic wine in this style. Shiraz and Syrah, as you might also know it, are one and the same varietal. Syrah originated in the south of France, and is now the world’s seventh most widely grown grape. Its features are big bold fruit flavors with spiciness like cloves and pepper. New world wine regions such as Australia were the first to coin the name “Shiraz” and it’s now the most widely planted wine grape in the country. It’s an excellent grape for dealcoholization as its bold flavour and spicy backbone can withstand the removal of alcohol well.

When you pour this into a glass, you’ll immediately see and smell the resemblance to the beloved Australian shiraz you might be used to. It pours a deep plum ruby colour and on the nose there’s a nice jammy aroma which is a dead-ringer for a proper Australian shiraz varietal. Some very faint notes of overcooked raisin, but that does not detract from the overall aroma.

Everyone always wants to know how the non alcoholic wine tastes, but to appreciate non alcoholic wine, it’s important to really experience it from all angles and that includes other olfactory senses outside of taste.

Worth calling out first is the mouthfeel. The Edenvale is very smooth as we noted not once, but twice in our notes, which is quite enjoyable in a non alcoholic red wine. It also has a medium-to-light weight to it. Most wine drinkers don’t think about body, but that’s why they notice it missing in lesser non alcoholic wines on the thin side. This wine actually drinks a little bit more like a pinot noir than a shiraz but that’s almost normal in the category due to the difficulty in producing full-bodied options.

And how does it taste? On the palette, the wine is plummy with some exciting spice notes that are rare in non alcoholic reds, a hallmark of the shiraz varietal. It was nice to see this translate through to the finished product.

There are some detectable ‘grape juice’ notes which may be more or less pronounced for each person depending on temperature and their own palette. This is most likely due to shiraz being a very juicy and fruit-forward varietal. A note that we chilled our bottle slightly before reviewing it, and advise that all non-alcoholic reds be slightly cool when serving.

The indicator this is a drinkable non-alcoholic red wine is the simple fact we wanted to have a second glass, a rare occurrence when tasting this style. We think this is a great well-priced, mid-value weekday wine, a nice bottle to have on hand when cooking dinner or helping kids with homework. Its juicy, fruit-forward style will be a perfect match for pizza, pasta or burgers.

Available from Sansorium (west coast of Canada) or Dry Variety with flat rate shipping or you can schedule a pickup in-person for anyone in the London, Ontario area. Both are $24.50.