Non-Alcohol Wine Ideas for the Holidays By Darryl Beeson, Cellar Master   According to a recent Gallup survey, nearly 40 percent of revelers this holiday season, among them designated drivers, expectant mothers and dieters, will abstain from alcoholic beverages.  Luckily for wine drinkers, there are great non-alcohol options. Sutter Home Winery, producer of Fre, the most successful nonalcoholic wine brand in the United States (Sutter Home also makes the best-selling table wines in the U.S.), wants to help party hosts and attendees celebrate the holidays in style with, or without, alcohol. To do so, the winery is offering a free brochure featuring tantalizing nonalcoholic drink recipes developed by Dale DeGroff, former bartender at the famed Rainbow Room in New York City, who is known in mixology circles as "King Cocktail" and the "DaVinci of Drink."  The recipes are also available on the Sutter Home Fre website at www.frewines.com. Their worthy competitor is Ariél, whose Blanc was the first and only non-alcoholic wine to win a Gold Medal against wines with alcohol.  Ariél Blanc is a premium blend of Johannisberg Riesling, Chenin Blanc, Gewürztraminer and Muscat Canelli with less than one half of one- percent alcohol.  The price is around $7. Ariél's top bubbly option is the 2000 New Century Cuvee Sparkling Brut at around $9, made with 100% Chardonnay, but again less than half of one percent alcohol. For both Ariél wines, the vineyards and vintages are selected based on their consistency of delicately floral fruit aromas. Both retain all the natural and delicate flavor of the grapes by removing the alcohol through their own unique and patented method of cold filtration. "Until recently, if you weren't drinking something alcoholic at a holiday party, you were sacrificing taste and style," says Sutter Home senior marketing director Rob Celsi. "That's no longer the case." Nonalcoholic wines provide a perfect base for creating sophisticated, eye-catching, delicious non-alcoholic mixed drinks that hosts can serve to their abstaining guests who want something tastier and more festive than bottled water, iced tea, or soft drinks." The Sutter Home Fre portfolio includes the classic holiday selections of Sparkling Brut and Spumante as well as White Zinfandel, Premium Red, Premium White, Chardonnay and Merlot, all under $10 a bottle. The wines are made using a dealcoholization process that safeguards fragile wine aromas and flavors while removing all but 0.3% of the alcohol.  Ariél also offers a Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay at around $8, as well as a Rouge and White Zinfandel for around $6. "We expect Fre Sparkling Brut and Fre Spumante to be our best sellers for holiday parties," said Celsi. "by themselves or used in drinks such as Mimosas or Champagne Cocktails, these bubbly favorites are as pleasing to the palate as traditional sparkling wines." Those wishing to obtain Sutter Home's free non-alcoholic drinks recipe brochure should call 1-800-662-5240 or e-mail their request to www.contact@frewines.com. Another reason to consider non-alcohol wines is that they are much lower in calories per glass, averaging around twenty calories versus one hundred, or more, with conventional wine. For more great "Wine Guy" suggestions, click here Do you have any questions, comments or suggestions? Email: jwdineline@aol.com Copyright © 1998 Inter Active Media Solutions. All Rights Reserved. The interactive components of this site require that you use a current browser version of Explorer; be sure to maximize your window out so you can see the entire page. This page was created by Inter Active Media Solutions.