Almost sugar-free: A review of low-sugar Yours non-alcoholic California red blend

This non-alcoholic wine brand is divisive and has a legion of both fans and haters. People either love it or they think it’s unpalatable. It’s a good reflection of how taste can be so personal. The same goes for Canadian brand Drink Ones+, which is also unpalatable to a lot of people including me, but they uncannily have built a deep customer fan base. Both of these wines are close to 0g of sugar. There seems to be a common thread, as consumers are adjusting their taste buds to both <0.5% alcohol and zero or low sugar levels.

The cute story of how the Yours wine brand started actually has nothing to do with wine, but features beer instead. It all started when husband and wife founders Kelly and Marina Bertog were in Spain at a soccer match and discovered the only cerveza available at the stadium was alcohol-free beer. It was an eye opening experience for them to drink non-alcoholic beer, and still enjoy the soccer match as they would have with traditional beer. This led to the entrepreneurial vision of creating the world’s best non-alcoholic wine back home in the U.S. The Yours brand was born shortly afterwards with the Red Blend as their first release. They’ve since released a Cab Sauv as well as two small batch summer varietals.

Keeping the early innovators in mind, and the fact that non-alcoholic red wine is a hard nut to crack, I wasn’t sure what to expect with the Red Blend. I’m sure that the original formulation has been refined and perfected since 2021. As mentioned, it’s also got only 1 gram of sugar which from experience can make a wine unpalatable, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one.

One thing to note is that it doesn’t list the varietals used in the blend. It would have been nice to see the breakdown on the label, but most people don’t really care unless they are oenophiles. After testing several glasses of this, a wild guess has it at zinfandel or cabernet franc mixed with syrah.

Aroma

It’s got a lovely nose. Dark cherry but fruity with a subtle hit of eucalyptus and peppercorn. No aroma of wet paper or rubber that sometimes lingers after dealcoholization.

Taste

This is a very juicy non-alcoholic wine, with only a little bit of complexity and no tannins. There are notes of blackberry, black cherry and a hint of peppercorns and spice. It’s slightly homogenous, and doesn’t have much length, but overall the taste was refreshing and every glass seemed to get better and better as my palette adjusted from expectation to enjoyment. I think it would be better slightly chilled.

Mouthfeel

For a very fruit-forward non-alcoholic red, it’s not heavy but rather quite light which compensates for the lack of complexity. There are no tannins, so this is definitely akin to a very young GSM wine (although not the same varietals). It’s not a surprise for a low-sugar, non-alcoholic wine to be light, and thankfully this didn’t mean too much sacrifice on the mouthfeel.

What foods to pair with Yours Non-Alcoholic California Red Blend

Because this is a lighter, juicier wine with no tannins, it’s not going to pair well with heavy foods or pastas. This is a warm weather red, chilled just slightly and best on it’s own or with snack food.

Overall

It was definitely an enjoyable drinking experience. It’s getting a score of 89 because although it’s light, it’s juicy, has nice spicy notes and was an enjoyable drinking experience, there wasn’t considerable complexity or character to it. It’s a well-made product but I think it can be refined to be more accomplished.

Where To Buy Yours Non-Alcoholic California Red Blend

Available in the U.S. through SipYours.com and Amazon.com. Available in Canada through The Sobr Market but at an eye-watering price of $38+tax (+ shipping) vs $25 U.S. If you’re Canadian and considering trying this, go for the Edenvale Shiraz which has a similar spicy, berry-forward taste at just over half the price. Oddbird GSM is also a great option, at the same price point as Yours, with similar taste and style but it’s sold out everywhere at the the time of publication.

How we score wines at Some Good Clean Fun:

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.