Alcohol Free

For the wine lover, it can be very painful to hear from a doctor that they must, for a while, abstain from this liquid they love. They are told that while they are pregnant, or while they are on a certain medication, they cannot consume any alcohol.

Often these wine lovers turn to the "alcohol-free" wines that are on the market to tide them over until they can drink freely again.

Let the drinker beware!

Wines marketed as "alcohol free" actually have .5% alcohol in them. Research has shown that this amount of alcohol is enough to cause problems in people who are sensitive to alcohol. There are some people who could get tipsy from drinking a dinner with this, because they have no tolerance for alcohol.

The wineries are not hiding this fact - the Sutter Home webpage on their wine series Fre explains that after the wine essence is removed, it is "reintroduced to the dealcoholized wine and blended with unfermented varietal grape juice to create a beverage with less than 0.5% alcohol by volume."

The best advice for people told not to drink alcohol for medical reasons is to simply stay away from all alcoholic drinks - even low alcohol wine. These wines might be fine for someone who wishes a minimal-alcohol drink for a special occasion, but as a no-alcohol substitute for wine, they simply do not fit the bill.

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