Review: Missing Thorn Non-Alcoholic Red Blend
/Missing Thorn Red Blend is one of five new styles of non-alcoholic wine from this California non-alcoholic wine brand. The newly released vintage is their sophomore effort, a building on top of the popularity of their first release in 2024. Read on for detailed tasting notes and the inside scoop on how the blend was created.
Missing Thorn is a co-crafted non-alcoholic wine brand by winemaker Aaron Pott and Napa Valley vintner Stephanie Honig. Aaron Pott is a world-renowned master winemaker known for his premium Napa Valley wines, while Stephanie Honig brings decades of industry expertise and innovation to their collaboration.
The first red wine from Missing Thorn was a malbec, and full confession that I’ve always disliked malbec so I wasn’t a fan. This second effort at a red wine is a super interesting blend of primarily teroldego (59%), which is an Italian varietal, and cabernet sauvignon (26%) with minor amounts of cabernet franc, malbec and petit verdot blended in.
I got the chance to chat briefly with Stephanie Honig herself about their winemaking process and how they landed on this blend.
“Aaron tested various lots of wine and from a sensory perspective decided what he thought would dealcoholize well,” she explained to me. “Along with taste, we’re looking for the right grapes with strong aromatics, and not super high in acidity because that doesn’t dealcoholize well. Also with a full body.”
All of the raw wine they start with comes from various wine regions around California, including the teroldego which I can imagine is probably juicier and fruitier than the ones from the terroirs of Northern Italy.
Aaron and Stephanie work together to create the blend of varietals they’ll eventually dealcoholize. Once the alcohol has been removed using a spinning cone, they decide what natural flavours and juices need to be added back in to help craft the wine into a palatable liquid.
This careful approach to winemaking resonated with me, firstly because as Honig herself said, they’re testing and learning with each new vintage, seeing what works and building on it. For the Missing Thorn team, it’s not just about choosing a bulk wine and then delacoholizing it, but really thinking about what the finished product should be and what the potential is in each varietal.
So let’s dive in and find out how it tastes!
Aroma
On the nose it’s got a really nice juicy aroma, full of black fruit and a little bit of dustiness. I like that the aroma wasn’t overwhelming because as track records go, a non-alcoholic wine with a great aroma is often underwhelming in taste.
Taste
On the palate, it’s a big surprise. There’s a very slight hint of tannins balanced out with a really fresh juiciness. Notes of tart cranberry and red fruit are a perfect counterpart to each other. There’s a nice balance of fruit and dryness with a hint of smoke or tobacco and spice. It has a really enjoyable flavor that’s quite unusual for a non-alcoholic red and it made me go back for a second and third glass. I think this is because the blend is so unusual - teroldego is really unique to begin with but then blended with cab sauv, malbec and petite verdot makes this really cool.
Mouthfeel & Experience
The texture is silky-smooth, and I loved that there were some grippy tannins I could feel on my teeth. I love that this one doesn’t fall apart in the middle which is always the thing to look out for when alcohol is removed. Many many dealcoholized reds don’t hold up in the mid-palate and end up feeling flat. I wanted maybe 5% more body, but you can’t have everything and there’s enough weight to be sufficient from start to finish.
What to pair with Missing Thorn Red Blend
Because of the notes of cranberry and pomegranate, this wine will be absolutely perfect for the holidays. It’s definitely a food wine but not with heavy red meats (in my opinion!) - this is a great option for dry roasted white meats so I actually paired it this evening with roasted pork tenderloin and it was a great pairing. It will also be great with a Christmas turkey and because of the tart cranberries on the palate, obviously a perfect pairing with all those savoury side dishes.
TIP: Drink this one slightly chilled and aerate it for 5-10 minutes. It does make a big difference! It’s still fine if you don’t, but when it opens up this n/a wine is even better!
Overall
I think they did a fantastic job on this, and when I compare what people complain about with other, similar wines this kind of bridges the divide between too juicy/too much like grape juice and too thin/sour/dry. It’s a perfect balance between taste, texture and experience. A fantastic effort at a soft juicy red blend - I loved it from first sip to last!
Score: 95 points
Where to buy Missing Thorn
You can find the new vintage on the Missing Thorn website here. The first vintage Malbec is available via The Zero Proof here if you want to try both of them.
🇨🇦 Note for Canadian readers - the Missing Thorn red available in Canada right now is the original malbec, not the Red Blend in this article. TBD on when the new wines will be available north of 60.
Have a great weekend everyone!
-Sarah Kate
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.
