A quest for healthier lifestyles sees more winemakers embracing wines with low or no alcohol levels, including the much-loved sparkling wines. Even better, the growing range of non-alcoholic bubblies is making giant steps towards an appealing level of quality.
I can’t remember the exact source, but a while ago I read an article claiming the German per capita consumption of sparkling wines is the highest across the world. Germany is also the third largest producer of sparkling wine globally after Italy and France.
It seems we Germans are quite into bubbles. But can you really blame us for this?
Exactly!
Thankfully for those that want or need to cut down on alcohol, there is now also a growing range of no-alcohol sparkling wines slowly but surely starting to catch-up in terms of quality.
Even more excitingly, with alcohol out of the way, there is no need to wait until cocktail hour to crack open a bottle.
The idea to have bubbly for breakfast came when I realized January 28th is National Blueberry Pancake Day.
Though I am not a breakfast person – I am easily content with a few cups of coffee only – but on the few occasions I am making an exception, I am usually looking for something on the sweeter side. And seeing I would take the time to whip up a blueberry pancake, pairing it with the non-alcoholic Schloss Vaux Träublein bubbly seemed absolutely fitting.
Background: Schloss Vaux Sekt Manufaktur
It was the year 1868 and as wired as it might sound, Schloss Vaux was founded that year in Berlin, far away from the next vineyards. It did not stop the new sparkling wine producer to quickly became one of the leaders of sparkling wines in Germany though.
A few years later, Chateau Vaux on the Mosel river near Metz in Alsace became the new home of Schloss Vaux cellar for the next forty years. Sitting in a region that found itself on either side of the German-French border various times in history, Alsace returned under French rule again after the First World War.
Forced to sell the property after the transition of Alsace to France, Schloss Vaux found its new permanent home in the Rheingau wine region – and started to embrace the local style of sparkling wines.
If you want to learn more about the beautiful Rheingau wine region, read my blog German wine regions: Rheingau.
When the time is right to travel again, it is one of the regions high up on my bucket list to explore the wineries beyond the leading historic wine estates in the area.
All Schloss Vaux bubblies are made following the méthode traditionnelle, meaning they are made the same way as Champagne, with second fermentation taking place in the bottle.
Today, the bottles with the different brightly coloured labels prominently spotting the Chateau’s coat of arms are a staple at any good wine and gourmet shop across Germany.
Review: Schloss Vaux Träublein
Following the growing quest leading healthier lifestyles also thus a more conscious drinking behaviour, Schloss Vaux too has put a non-alcoholic range on the market, consisting of the Vaux Träublein, a ‘sparkling wine’ based on a mix of grapes and black currants.
In the glass, Schloss Vaux Träublein displays a colour of light salmon rosé and lively perlage.
On the nose, there is a complex grape aroma with a hint of cassis and strawberry surrounded by light notes of grain and malt.
On the palate, Schloss Vaux Träublein exhibits an animating composition of fruit coupled with an elegant subtle freshness and fine acidity.
This bottle is about pure drinking fun without having to bother about the booze.
Are you into drinking non-alcoholic wine and bubblies? What’s your general experience on this?
Carrots and Tigers 