Cabernet Sauvignon

Name: Be Free Cabernet Sauvignon
Brand: Be Free

Image: The Dry Standard

79/100

The short take
An approachable alcohol-removed Cabernet with modest freshness and gentle tannic structure. Low aromatic intensity, limited mid-palate concentration and a short finish hold back its quality.

Tasted 13 Oct 2026Karl Hill How we score

Serve 14–16°C (physical bottle label)

Who it’s for An approachable Cabernet only if gentle tannin is enough. The middle is thin and the finish is short.

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TDS Wineprint

This pour · documented production

Sweetness Medium-sweet Firsthand tasting
Acidity Moderate acidity Firsthand tasting
Body Light body Firsthand tasting
Tannin Low tannin Firsthand tasting
Finish Short Firsthand tasting

Updated 13 Oct 2026 — origin corrected.

Compare bottles Like this glass

In the glass

Appearance: Clear, deep purple-red.
Nose: Subdued blackberry and soft black-fruit aromas, with low intensity and little aromatic complexity.
Palate: Blackberry leads a simple, light-bodied fruit profile with slight sweetness. Medium, gently mouthwatering acidity supplies freshness, and low tannin adds a mild grip. The texture is smooth, but the mid-palate lacks concentration.
Finish: Short, with black fruit fading into a lightly drying sensation.

Structure and likeness Show Hide

Structure

Sweetness: Medium-sweet
Acidity: Moderate acidity
Body: Light body
Tannin: Low tannin
Finish length: Short finish

How wine-like is it?

Separate from the score. A convincing resemblance is not a higher rating.

Black fruit, acidity and mild tannin give it a recognizable red-wine structure, though concentration and persistence are limited.

The wine

Be Free Cabernet Sauvignon is smooth and light-bodied, but the middle of the sip lacks concentration. Blackberry gives it a clear fruit identity without much range. Slight sweetness makes the profile approachable, while medium, gently mouthwatering acidity adds modest freshness. A mild tannic grip supplies some structure without making the wine feel heavy.

Those elements give the wine a recognizable red-wine shape. The light body is not the central weakness; the more limiting feature is the lack of flavor depth within it. Fruit, acidity and gentle tannin are present, yet the simple blackberry profile does little to develop through the mid-palate. The result is easy to approach but limited in interest.

The clear, deep purple-red appearance is more emphatic than the aroma. Subdued blackberry and soft black fruit offer little aromatic complexity. The finish is short, with black fruit fading and a lightly drying sensation remaining. Together, the quiet nose, modest concentration and limited persistence hold back the wine’s quality. Its freshness and gentle grip make it an approachable Cabernet, but there is little depth to explore beyond that simple fruit and structure.

79 is typical of the 16 dealcoholized Cabernet Sauvignon bottles we've tasted.

The bottle

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Research notes

This supports the production type and alcohol band. Bottled and shipped by Peter Mertes KG Weinkellerei; produced in Germany; imported by Saranty Imports, Stamford, Connecticut. Best before end January 2028, lot L036305.

Where to buy

No producer purchase link on file.

Package: 750 ml

$9.99 (Total Wine; Mix 6 for $8.99 each)

Availability: Total Wine & More, Chantilly, VA

Availability is market-specific; a producer link does not establish shipping to every country. Prices and availability are independently observed and may change. Retailer listings do not imply endorsement. A different package is labeled as a different format. Reader-service exceptions and commercial links are identified above; neither affects scores, rankings, classification, verification, or editorial coverage.

Product facts

Producer: Peter Mertes KG Weinkellerei
Origin: Germany
Bottle / can: 750 ml

Sources disagree on Sugar. Send a correction

Sources & verification

Facts checked Nov 2026 8 primary sources Method: not disclosed Conflicts: 1 noted Show details Hide details

Where sources disagree

Sources disagree on the following points.

Sugar: The same secondary report gives inconsistent bottle, per-liter and added-sugar figures. Those historical secondary claims remain unresolved, but the photographed package now establishes the canonical figure of 6 g sugars per 125 ml.

Evidence at a glance

Bottle verified13 facts
Retailer sourced2 facts

Production record

2 core facts remain to be documented or rechecked.

Classification: Verified
Method: Undeclared
ABV: Ceiling declaration
Origin: Documented
Record: Has open discrepancy

Explore the Production Map

Sources

Bottle / can label Bottle label
- Identifiers
- Nutrition
- Producer
- Serve
- Production
- Method
- Volume
- ABV
- Country
- Ingredients
- Calories
- Sugar (sources disagree)
- Barcode (EAN/GTIN)
Bottle verified
3 notes

Identifiers
Earlier claims retained in source and correction history.

Method
Total Wine’s non-alcoholic red list says a special method without naming a still, cone, or membrane.

Barcode (EAN/GTIN)
Barcode recorded from packaging or producer listing
Retail listing totalwine.com
- Price
- Availability
Retailer sourced
Note

Price
Chantilly shelf price supplied with the purchased bottle.

Additional sources

See something wrong? Submit a correction.

Product record history Sourced changes and open disagreements. Prior claims stay on the record when sources conflict.

28 Sep 2026ReviewedReviewed and published.
7 Nov 2026UpdatedCatalog record updated from sourced research.
13 Oct 2026Fact corrected · SugarCorrected from 36 g sugar per 750 ml bottle (4 g/L residual sugar, of which 6 g added sugar per serving) to Omitted; inconsistent claims retained in discrepancies. Reopened the cited secondary report and confirmed that its sugar figures do not reconcile.
13 Oct 2026Fact corrected · RegionCorrected from Mosel (per Vivino/Wine-Searcher; CellarTracker also lists Pfalz — flag as conflict) to Omitted; region not established. The existing region field combined conflicting historical claims without exact source URLs for each. The bottle front label supplies no region, and the cited Vivino page could not be reopened. No resolved regional origin is established.
OpenDiscrepancySugar.