Nothing happens in March each year New York City feels charming to me—even the slightest train delay (looking at you, Q) sets me off, and my favorite wool coat suddenly feels like a straitjacket. This year, that melancholy was happily exchanged for the sandy beaches in Thailand. Palm HeightsA legendary hotel in Grand Cayman. This trip was a few weeks after I found out that I was pregnant, unlike previous trips to the city in early spring. At the hotel restaurant I asked our waiter if I can order something. You can also read more about the benefits of using He was confused when he heard that the cocktail contained non-alcoholic sparkling wine.
He pointed to the menu before me and said “We have a lot of drinks without alcohol.” The menu had six carefully crafted options that included ginger beer, tonic, tonic water, fruit extracts, and various juices. After a little back and forward, the booze-free sparkling wine arrived. I then suggested to the staff, that they consider adding this zero-proof drink to their menu. The sparkling wine was dry and crisp and went perfectly with the shoestring fries I ordered and my Caesar salad. The addition of non-alcoholic wines would have simply made the menu more inclusive, rather than taking away from the carefully crafted list of mocktails (as perhaps my server feared).
In the US, restaurants are offering more mocktails. At least the ones that are worth their salt. But the options for someone who can’t or doesn’t drink, but just really craves a glass of wine—and isn’t a big cocktail drinker to begin with—are surprisingly still limited.
It seems that this is beginning to change. There are a few places in New York City that offer nonalcoholic wines by the glass or bottle (often abbreviated to “N/A Wines”). At the iconic Gramercy TavernBy-the-glass booze free wines are so popular, Randall Restaino, beverage director at the bar, has recently added them to their bi-weekly order sheet. Restaino says that they now replenish these wines every week. Condé Nast Traveler. “I can remember eight years back, when we served at Chef’s Table, Brooklyn Fare, one guest asked for this per service. Now, at Gramercy Tavern the N/A wines are the most popular nightly.
I went to Gramercy Tavern in New York City on a weekday during a quiet time. I noticed another bar patron asking Martin Hofstatter for Dr. Steinbock Fisher’s Riesling Zero. Martin Hofstatter makes Riesling, Pinot Noir and other wines in Italy’s Alto Adige. Restaino says that he “crafts real wine grapes using real terroir, and then dealcoholizes” them. “It is a pleasure to drink a wine that has no alcohol. The flavor profile stays the same, just like if you were drinking a traditional wine.”
