Joe Rogers

All the drinks you need to complete Dry January

  • From Spectator Life

Statistics suggest that many of us who valiantly hid our gin in the back of the wardrobe on New Year’s Day have since slid back into comfortable old habits. But whether you’ve had a dry Jan wobble or you’re just walking extra slowly past the strong lagers in the supermarket, fear not. 2022 brings with it lots of great alcohol alternatives to help you cut down or cut out that sauce for the rest of January and beyond.

Oddbird Blanc de Blancs, 0% – Spirit.ed £9.95

Oddbird.jpg

As a nation we’re probably a bit too into the idea that celebration must necessarily be accompanied by alcohol. But in fairness to us, opening a bottle of fizz to mark an occasion is a pretty lovely piece of human behaviour that’s not easily replicated by, say, putting on a big brew. For this reason, a properly good sparkling wine substitute has been an elusive goal of the burgeoning low-and-no industry since the beginning.

Many prototypical offerings closely resembled Shloer or Purdey’s and failed to deliver a suitably Champagne-y experience. But this Dry January, Swedish upstart Oddbird is offering a zero ABV sparkling Chardonnay that really hits the mark. The firm sources grapes from the Laguedoc, vinifies them, and then ages the resulting wine in oak for up-to 12 months. Distilling in a vacuum allows them to vaporise ethanol at low temperatures, removing it from the equation without breaking down the wine’s delicate flavour in the process. We can imagine there’s slightly more to it than that, but the good people at Oddbird are tight-lipped about their ‘unique, patented method’ so for now we can only speculate.

In the glass, Oddbird Blanc de Blancs is dry and pleasantly floral, with apple blossoms, almond pastries and lemon oil. Superb aperitif material and excellent with shellfish or goat’s cheese.

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