Still Red

Alcohol-free red is the hardest thing in this category to pull off, because alcohol carries most of what makes a red feel like a red. Freixenet was one of the earlier producers to attempt it seriously, and this is the outcome of what the company describes as rigorous testing. It is a young, unoaked style finished under 0.05 percent alcohol, kept deliberately low in calories, with 38 grams of residual sugar per litre. Suitable for vegetarian and vegan diets. Temperature matters more here than it does with the whites. Serve it at 12 to 14 degrees Celsius, cooler than a warm room but nowhere near fridge cold. Freixenet pairs it with game such as partridge, duck or venison, and with butifarra de Perol and mushrooms, which tells you it was built for a Catalan table.