Review: Missing Thorn Non-Alcoholic White

When I used to drink regular wine, some of my favourite go-to finds were from Spain and Portugal and one of those was a varietal called Albariño. Albariño is for summer. It’s often intensely fruity, very fragrant and flavours of lemon, grapefruit, apricot, pear and peach. Maybe even jasmine. It has a nice salinity, thanks to it’s proximity to the ocean. Sometimes it will take on a mineral savouriness which I used to pair with oysters and seafood.

I was surprised to hear that the Missing Thorn white, from Napa winemaker Aaron Potts, was an Albariño as I didn’t think it was typically grown in the United States. I’ve now discovered that there are niche vineyards in California and Oregon dabbling in this varietal. The stakes were high (and those of you who have been around for awhile know that I didn’t like the red from Missing Thorn at all).

Missing Thorn is produced in San Luis Obispo, California and the White is made from 100% Albariño grapes in stainless steel tanks, and using low-temperature vacuum distillation to remove the alcohol.

To be honest, I’m really really conflicted on this one and it could be that it’s just my personal preference that is making the call on this. My husband says on a grape juice scale it’s 6 or 7 out of 10 (where 1 is pure grape juice).

Aroma

I didn’t really love the aroma at first because it was hard for me to coax anything out of the glass. But after some aggressive swirling, I got to the heart of the wine and some lovely lemon, clay and dried hay notes.

Taste

I loved the brightness and the nice salinity in this off-dry non-alcoholic white. Although they’ve added too much grape must to the raw dealcoholized product (which makes it slightly sweeter than I expected), it still has some of the characteristics of Albariño like the salinity and minerality. Really juicy peach and apricot notes jump out at me. It doesn’t taste mind-blowing but there is some complexity in the backbone which only appears after you’ve had a few sips.

Mouthfeel/Experience

Acceptable length for a juicy white. Medium minus body and although it’s not thin, it’s obvious the added grape juice is what is contributing to the weight and I think it’s a bit too much. Adding extra sugar back into dealcoholized wine isn’t always the answer and much less high-profile brands are innovating and finding solutions for this.

Serving and what to pair it with

My suggestion is first to let this wine warm up just a little after pulling it from the fridge. It’s flavours are really enhanced when it’s a touch warmer and I liked it better than when it was fridge cold. This is definitely a wine for oysters, because of the salinity, and it would be an alright accompaniment for white fish without a sauce and dry-rubbed pork tenderloin.

Overall

The risk with this non-alcoholic white is that someone unfamiliar with non-alcoholic wines will taste this and not appreciate the struggle to coax characteristics out of a Spanish varietal. It’s got some great characteristics but as mentioned, the added grape must seems to mask the personality a little too much. For a freshman effort, it’s ok. I think Aaron Potts and team have the bones of a great drink and I hope they are working on refining it for the next vintage.

Score: 91 points

How I rank wines (based on IWSC standards):

95 to 100 - An excellent drink with a great personality. An example that stands out among its peers

90 to 94 - An accomplished drink with considerable personality, character and complexity. A classic example of its style or variety.

85 to 89 - A perfectly well-made drink which provides an enjoyable drinking experience.

80 to 84 - An acceptable but simple drink, lacking distinction.