Review: Zeno Dealcoholized Sparkling Rose

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Reviewing this U.K. brand of dealcoholized sparkling rose that has become a consumer favourite

A very rare moment of surprise and pleasure happened to me on New Years Eve. I was invited to a get-together by the parents of a my son’s friend. I could only stop by for an hour because of other obligations, so I showed up empty handed without bringing the usual non-alcoholic drinks for myself.

When my host opened the door and we had exchanged a happy new years greeting, he was excited to share that they had a bottle of non-alcoholic wine to offer me. I’m always grateful when a host goes out of their way to practice inclusive hospitality but never expect anything more than something from the grocery store (thus, why I usually bring my own options). However, this time I was truly taken by surprise when I saw they had a bottle of Zeno Sparkling Rosé sitting on the table.

It turns out another woman from the neighbourhood is cutting back on alcohol and decided to bring it along. We had a great conversation about non-alcoholic wine and I had a chance to try this sparkling rosé for the first time. What made it an even more delicious situation was drinking non-alcoholic wine at a party with others. It wasn’t just me sitting at home sampling a glass in front of my computer. Definitely a really nice way to ring in the new year!

Background on Zeno Wines

Zeno was founded in December 2022 by wine-trade veterans David Hodgson and Will Willis, after three years of intensive research and development aimed at creating premium non-alcoholic wine. Zeno is based in the U.K. but their grapes come from a single-estate, organic vineyard in Castile-La Mancha, Spain. Winemaking and dealcoholization are carried out in partnership with Spanish winery partners. As a side bar, David and Will are hilarious cheeky guys that keep popping up doing silly things on the Zeno TikTok account.

The Zeno Sparkling Rosé is from a blend of 97% macabeo and 3% garnacha - both popular varietals in Spain. Garnacha is a dark and juicy garnet-coloured wine, and used widely to add some juicy character in wine blends. Macabeo is a white grape grown in the northeastern region of Spain and primarily used as a blending grape in cava. I think macabeo has too high of an acidity level to dealcoholize well, but perhaps the garnacha will balance it out!

Aroma

Rich and fragrant is how I would describe this - stewed plums and toffee on the nose but also a bit grapey.

Taste

Lovely fresh notes of peach and nectarine, and a hint of red currant. It’s also on the sweeter side, and not as dry as I expected. The woman who I was sharing this bottle with said she thought it tasted just like real wine and I had to take her word for it. It’s been a long time since I had a traditional sparkling rosé, but I could understand her sentiment. It did have enough ‘wine’ flavour to satisfy someone looking for a dupe.

Mouthfeel/Experience

The bubbles were a bit too artificial, but don’t hold that against it. It’s just not as elegant as Bolle or Zeronimo. But it has a great texture and the mousse is slightly creamy so it feels like a little-bit-better-than-average sparkling wine. It’s also priced reasonably at $24 so it won’t break the bank.

What to pair with Zeno Sparkling Rosé

I thought this would be a great bottle to pair with Valentine’s Day desserts like cheesecake or profiteroles (cream puffs). It’s light and crisp enough for a dessert, but the grenache gives it a little bit of body to make the pairing interesting.

Overall

Not a bad sparkling wine for their freshman effort. I think it’s a great, well-priced sparkling rosé to buy for Valentine’s Day that you won’t be disappointed in. The leader in this category is definitely Bolle Sparkling Rose or Oddbird Sparkling Rosé but the Zeno will be a pretty good runner-up if you can’t get your hands on that one.

Where to Buy Zeno Sparkling Rose

In the U.S., you can find Zeno through Boisson HERE. 15% OFF WITH CODE SOMEGOODCLEANFUN (side-wide for first purchase only)

In Canada, Zeno is sold through SommZero.

Score: 93 points