Wine Archives - Page 11 of 11 - Opening The Bottle

There are many reasons to consider drinking alcohol free wine, either all the time or in certain situations. Im going to run through 13 reasons i can think of which make me think about drinking more alcohol free wine instead. This list is taking for granted you like the taste of alcohol free wine as a substitute. Ive done a comprehensive review of what i think the taste of alcohol free wines is and how to know you are getting a good one. You can read about that here. To buy Halal Wine in the USA, follow this link for Halal Wine Cellar and use code OPENINGTHEBOTTLE for 10% discount. There are some brilliant non alcoholic wines on Amazon, you can check them out via this link 1. Less calories = less belly This is the biggie for a lot of people, not least me and my dad bod. As we get over a certain age, keeping the weight off is harder and harder. Alcohol is calorie laden so any reduction in calories consumed is a huge plus point. Wine has around 125 kcal per 5 fl oz (147ml or 1 glass) whereas alcohol free wine has around 25 kcal for the same volume. That is around an 80% reduction in calories if you switch to alcohol free wine. Another way to look at it is you can drink 5 times as much alcohol free wine as regular alcoholic wine for the same amount of calories. Food or beverageKcal count4 glasses of regular wine500 kcal4 glasses of alcohol free wine100 kcal100g donut with chocolate 452 kcal2 Mars Bars460 kcalCalorie difference with comparison If you are having 2 glasses of wine, 5 nights a week that works out to be roughly 1230 kcal a week in wine calories alone. A pound of fat is about 3600 kcal so you would be putting on 1 lb of fat every 3 weeks with this moderate drinking! The same amount of alcohol free wine in a week would only result in 250 kcal. Thats about the same kcals as mowing your lawn for 40 minutes so its easily achievable to be weight neutral by substituting alcoholic wine for alcohol free wine. For more information read my blog on alcohol free calories here. Are they just full of sugar, are they good for weight loss? Ive gone to a lot of effort to compare all the different wines and explain the calorie, sugar and weight loss differences. 2. Safe for pregnant mothers One of the traditional reasons for not drinking (much) alcohol is being pregnant. All Obstetric and Gynaecology Colleges across the world (UK, USA, Australia)recommend limiting or reducing alcohol intake to zero if possible when pregnant. In general, alcohol free drinks are safe in pregnancy. They have had their alcohol removed to a level below 0.05% alcohol by volume (ABV) meaning it is not physiologically active. If you compare that to a glass of fresh orange juice with an ABV of 0.5%, you can see that an alcohol free drink has less than 10% the alcohol of orange juice. You can drink about 240 glasses (5 fl oz or 150ml) of alcohol free wine before it counts as 1 US Standard Drink. Alcohol can affect pregnancy in a number of ways. increased risk of miscarriage foetal growth restrictionfoetal brain underdevelopment increased risk of preterm labourincreased risk of stillbirthcan cause fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)baby can be more prone to infections If in any doubt or worried re alcohol free wine when pregnant then just abstain and discuss with your doctor. The main argument against drinking alcohol free wine is that there may be more alcohol in the drink than the label displays. This is increasingly unlikely as governments are stricter with alcohol laws. Ive written an extensive blog on alcohol free drinks for pregnant moms here. There is a lot more detail and the facts explained. 3. Safe for breastfeeding mothers This was the other traditional reason to not drink alcohol and to try alcohol free wines. It follows on from drinking in pregnancy and the imperative not to harm your baby by expressing alcohol into the breastmilk or becoming drunk and inadvertently harming your baby by neglect. It is generally recognised that drinking alcohol free wine when breastfeeding is safe. The UK NHS website states "an occasional drink is unlikely to harm your baby". You would need to drink nearly 250 alcohol free drinks to register 1 glass of alcoholic wine so as you can see, this is highly unlikely to be problematic. As with pregnancy however, if in any doubt or worried re alcohol free wine and pregnant then just abstain and discuss with your doctor. For more information read my blog on breastfeeding here. As you can imagine it is synergistic to pregnancy but with some extra specific considerations. 4. They are Halal and perfect for religious objectors Ive written extensively on this here. It is a complex issue and needs careful consideration. As a general rule, alcohol free wines can be Halal. The wine needs to be 0.0% ABV for the strict Islamic Law to deem it Halal. Certain wine brands have gone as far as to get specific Halal Certifications. Not all non or low alcoholic wines are 0.0% ABV with a range from 1.2% down to 0.0% ABV meaning it is critical to read the label. https://youtu.be/dyAOXSxqKYY Process for Halal Certification Conservative Islamic law interpretation is clear, Muslims are not allowed to drink any intoxicants, or any drink that may make a person intoxicated. The Prophet Mohammad says in the Quran “Every intoxicant is Khamr and every intoxicant is forbidden. He who drinks wine in this world and dies while he is addicted to it, not having repented, will not be given a drink in the Hereafter.” A "dealcoholised wine" at 0.5% is nearly impossible to get drunk on, you would need to drink litres an hour to get near it but there certainly is a detectable amount of alcohol. The new 0.0%/alcohol free wines have no detectable alcohol which allows them to be halal but i understand there may be other point of law that an observant Muslim may need to take into consideration. Certifications such as this for Pierre Zero range should provide some reassurance. In research for this blog i have seen arguments that if you are drinking an alcohol free version of an alcoholic drink, in the same way or mimicking the way you would if it was alcoholic. This can be considered haram. So seemingly after buying a Halal alcohol free wine, you may drink it with others who are drinking regular wine and this act may render the alcohol free wine haram. This is a point that you may want to consider with a local religious leader. https://youtu.be/aZvoQM7LIjE Mimicking drinking alcohol The same is applicable for someone from any religious background who doesn't want to drink alcohol. Alcohol free drinks are the perfect alternative 5. You can drink at work or a work function Imagine the scene, you many be entertaining clients, out for a work lunch, at a Christmas work do, have to go back to work after or be professional when representing the company. All these situations would preclude you from having alcohol. You'd probably like to fit in and alcohol free wine is a great alternative. An alcohol free wine feels like a more adult alternative to a regular soft drink. 6. You can "drink and drive" One of the perceived advantages of drinking a non alcoholic beer, wine, gin etc is that you can probably drive ok after a few. They do all contain alcohol though so are they safe and how many can you drink? You can reasonably drink up to 400 bottles of alcohol free beer (<0.05% ABV) without increasing your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above the legal limit of 0.08%. You could drink 900 glasses of alcohol free wine and have 3200 measures of alcohol free spirits. Various factors such as size, age, sex and medical history can have an affect on this. Different strengths of non alcoholic drinks will have other limits. You would need to drink 900 glasses of alcohol free wine in an hour to fail a drink driving blood test Class of driverStandard drink 5fl oz 12% wine limitAlcohol free limit Non alcoholic limitLow alcohol limitOver 2149609640Commercial24804820Under 21 ZT0.5120125Complete drink driving limit for wine in standard units. Non alcoholic is <0.5% ABV and low alcohol is <1.2% ABV Above is a guide as to how many standard drinks it may take to be over the legal limit. For a full in depth analysis my full blog on this topic is available here. 7. You can drink and look after your family There are many times i find myself wanting a drink but find that for different circumstances i can't. Say for example I'm home alone with the kids and i want to be able to drive in an emergency. I would not be able to drink alcohol but i may want an alcohol free equivalent. Or similarly if my wife wanting to drink but one of us wanted to stay sober to look after the kids, i might want to drink an alcohol free gin along side her regular gin. One of my favourite times i want to have a drink is when i'm BBQing. I feel thats the perfect time for a glass of chilled wine! But if kiddie bath and bed time is to come, or i've to drive them somewhere afterwards then an alcohol free beer is the perfect alternative. I don't feel like i'm missing out. Another example might be if your kids are having friends around to play or there is a kids birthday party at your house. You may not feel able to or might think its inappropriate to be drinking alcohol but having an alcohol free wine or beer would fit the bill here nicely. 8. Heart benefits are retained We have all heard red wine is good for the heart but does alcohol free wine retain this and are there any other health benefits of drinking alcohol free wine? Alcohol free red wine retains the specific polyphenol antioxidant called resveratol when it is dealcoholised from fermented grapes. This means it has all the added heart health benefits of alcoholic red wine, such a lowering of blood pressure and reduction in coronary artery disease, without the adverse affects of alcohol. The antioxidants in wine are called polyphenols. In particular one called resveratrol has been the focus of research for its ability to protect us against heart disease. The thinking is resveratrol may do this by reducing the amount of bad cholesterol in the blood, preventing some blood clotting and preventing damage to blood vessel walls. As this is such an important topic ive highlighted further research on a specific blog on the topic 9. Perfect for the elderly or frail -no increased falls risk Alcohol is not the the friend of the elderly. As you get older you are more susceptible to getting drunk and having a fall. You are also at increased risk due to the many medication you can end up on that will interact with alcohol or make you more at risk of falling. Falling as you get older has an increased risk of injury, namely fractures or worse, a bleed in your head if you hit that. Frailty fractures like breaking you neck of femur (hip) and proximal humerus (top of arm/shoulder) should be avoided at all costs as they come with a heavy morbidity and mortality Alcohol free wine can be the perfect substitution. Lots of flavour, able to enjoy wine on your own or with friends and family and no increased risk of a fall and possibly a hip fracture. 10. You can drink and play sports Trying to do anything sporty after alcohol is both difficult and unsafe. You might want a drink before a round of golf or going to play a friendly game of football with friends after dinner but would like a drink or to fit in with others drinking. Well then having an alcohol free glass of wine still enables you to go out and do whatever you need to do. My own personal reason here is i like to run but my only spare time is in the evenings. Sometimes i come home from work and want a glass of wine or 2 with dinner. As soon as that happens i know i'm not running that night. Well an alcohol free wine can substitute here and i can still go for my run. It means i save on calories with the drink and compound it by burning calories running i otherwise wouldn't have! 11. You will have better sleep and no hangover the next day Ah to be 21 again when you could drink what you wanted, go to be when you wanted and then get up when you wanted and be able to function normally. Im in my late 30s and if ive a few glasses of wine my sleep suffers and the next morning can be difficult. Ive 2 adorable early alarm clocks in my kids no matter if i'm in work or not so no lie ins for me to recover, its up at dawn every day! Alcohol is known to give you a disturbed sleep which does significantly add to your hangover. Another key ingredient in any hangover is dehydration. Waking up with cotton mouth isn't nice and it takes a long time to get back on the level, for me it does anyway. As alcohol free wines don't have the alcohol which is a diuretic and making you pee, it is actually keeping you nicely hydrated. Also lacking the alcohol means you'll have a normal nights sleep and be able to function the next day, drive to work, play with the kids or go for a run. 12. You can blend in and enjoy the fun Nobody want to stick out like a sore thumb. Whether thats out at a bar or at a friends dinner party, you do set yourself apart being on soft drinks whilst everyone else is having an adult drink. This might be because you are driving, have something to do or just don't drink alcohol for any number of reasons. However if you want to feel more part of the party with a more adult type drink (even though the whole family can drink it!!) then a glass of alcohol free wine may be for you. 13. It is safer for cooking with. Alcohol doesn't burn off. Wine is used in many dishes to add flavour, deglaze pans and add a richness to sauces. We think that the alcohol is burnt off in the cooking process but is it actually? I’m going to look at the evidence and investigate if alcohol free wines are a good alternative for cooking. Lots of recipes use wine in the main dish, in the sauce or deglaze. Spirits can be used to flambé at the table. Conventional wisdom is that any alcohol used will be burnt off in whatever the cooking process is. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Nutrient Data Laboratory undertook a study to look exactly at how long it does take to burn off alcohol in cooking and what is removed for the various techniques used currently. The Nutrient Data Lab had some interesting findings. It can take longer than 2.5hrs of cooking/baking to remove all the alcohol, which has been add, to a dish. 5% of alcohol remains after 2hrs, 30% after 1hr cooking and the dramatic flambé only gets rid of 25% of alcohol! Cooking techniqueAlcohol % remainingCooking for >2.5hrs0%Cooking for 2hrs5%Cooking for 1hr25%Cooking/simmering for 15mins40%Flambé once flames die down75%Alcohol remaining after cooking Alcohol free wine is made from grapes that have been fermented just like alcoholic wine but then the alcohol is removed by vacuum distillation or filtration. This means that it is basically the same wine sans alcohol. As such if you want to cook with it you get the same flavourings but with the alcohol starting at 0.0% meaning there is none to get burned off and you always end up with 0.0% alcohol in the finished dish. For an in-depth look at wine in cooking, including exactly how much alcohol is left over and if the antioxidants survive, check out my blog on it here.