Today we travelled 565 feet up to Vancouver’s tallest view point for a one of a kind wine tasting. We were at Vancouver’s sky high revolving restaurant, Top of Vancouver. This was an amazing setting and a unique way of unveiling Kim Crawford Zero, an alcohol-removed Sauvignon Blanc.
New Zealand’s Kim Crawford is already known for their line of Sauvignon Blanc, so I was curious to learn how they removed the alcohol from their award winning wine. They promised that despite this being an alcohol-removed Sauvignon Blanc, it still retained its vibrant aromas of passionfruit and lime, and doesn’t compromise on taste or flavour. I was excited to be the judge of that.
I am not going to lie, I have never willingly had non-alcoholic wine before. I fear that the flavour might not necessarily be as good as what I know wine to be, and for none of the gain. I only tried some once during the previous Vancouver wine festival, and only because I didn’t read the sign.
However, today I thought it would be interesting to attend a guided tasting of nonalcoholic and low alcohol wines, to see how both pairs with food. I always love writing about something new and this was a great opportunity to do just that.
Dave Edmonds, chief wine maker at Kim Crawford was in attendance to talk about the vision and process behind Kim Crawford 0. The idea, to create a wellness product with low and no alcohol alternatives to wine.
They take the alcohol out, but still wanted it to look like a Sauvignon Blanc with the same balance, acidity, and sweetness; plus a long drawn out finish that lingers.
The alcohol removal process starts with their full strength wine that get treated to a spinning cone process, as part of the distillation. The cones are a tower where the wine flows down from. During its travel, the boiling point is lowered and the alcohol is filtered and removed. They take out aroma at 60%, remove the rest of the alcohol, before putting the aromas back in. The goal was to make it as similar as possible to Kim’s full strength Sauvignon Blanc, and in this they succeeded.
The Kim Crawford 0% was clean and clear with the least amount of colour. It was crisp with tropical fruity notes of warm papaya, Granny Smith apple, and lemon. Given its drier nature, you don’t miss out on the nuance of the wine. This paired well with the prosciutto wrapped melon that we were served as an appetizer. For those interested, it comes out in August and only in private liquor stores to start.
Their low alcohol Sauvignon Blanc is 7%, slightly higher ABV and only 90 calories. I got sweetness on the forefront, and ripe guava with juicy passionfruit to end on. This paired well with our salads as first course. Some sugars to bring out the sweetness in the tomato and dried cranberries of the green salad, or to help cut into the rich heavy creams of the Caesar.
The regular Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc is at 13%. It is the most dry and crisp of the three, it has an effervescent and refreshing quality that tickles the nose. A sweeter white with bold orchard fruits like apricot and pear.
Our dinner was divided into 3 courses. Each guest was able to pick between 2 choices that all paired well with the the bright and crisp notes in Kim Crawford 0% Sauvignon Blanc. All this while experiencing two full rotations above Vancouver’s cityscape.
I went with the Caeser Salad with Crisp romaine hearts, Garlic and herb croutons, and Romano and Asiago cheese. Classically prepared, and as expected.
For our second course I choose the Lobster Ravioli over the pan seared salmon. This was five giant squares of striped squid ink pasta stuffed with Maine Lobster, Ricotta, Mozeralla, and leeks; then smothered in a roasted red pepper sauce. It was pretty tasty, but could have used more acidity and additional freshness to add longevity to the eating.
And for dessert I passed on the Belgian Chocolate Terrine for the Featured Cheesecake, which was blueberry tonight. Once again classically done with rich cheese and syrupy fruit. A lighter end to finish our light focused dinner on.
Overall, the setting and the wine were divine, the two together really made the night memorable. A great way to discover alternatives to drinking regular wine.
Top Of Vancouver Revolving Restaurant
555 W Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V6B 4N6
(604) 669-2220
topofvancouver.com
