Noughty Sparkling Chardonnay
86/100
The short takeA clean, apple-forward sparkling wine that was actually a wine first. It will not replace grower Champagne. It will replace most of the nonalcoholic 'bubbly' that never fermented.
Tasted Karl HillHow we score
Serve Well chilled, flutes or white-wine stems.
Who it’s for Aperitif service, a toast, or a spritz base when you want wine rather than soda.
In the glass
- Nose
- ripe apple, a little lemon peel, and a faint pastry note that never quite becomes brioche. The bubbles do more work than the aroma.
- Palate
- Brisk, lightly sweet, and simpler than a bottle-fermented wine. Green apple and citrus sit on a slender body. The mousse is fine enough for a toast.
- Finish
- Short, clean, and a touch sugary if the glass sits.
Structure and likeness Show Hide
Structure
- Sweetness
- Off-dry
- Body
- Light body
- Carbonation
- Soft bead
- Finish length
- Short finish
How wine-like is it?
Separate from the score. A convincing resemblance is not a higher rating.
A wine that fermented, then lost the alcohol. Ripe apple, lemon peel, and a faint pastry note that never becomes brioche. The mousse is fine enough for a toast. The body is slender, and the close turns sugary if the glass sits.
The wine
The balance question is toast against fruit. Bubbles do more aromatic work than that pastry whisper, so the glass stays apple-forward rather than yeasty. The toast is a suggestion; the fruit is the line you actually drink.
The sip lets the fruit side win: brisk, lightly sweet, green apple and citrus on a slender body, simpler than bottle-fermented wine. The mousse is fine enough for a toast. The pastry suggestion stays in the background — present enough to hint at Chardonnay sparkle, too faint to carry the glass alone. Soft bead, light body, off-dry without juice weight when served cold.
Serve it colder than you think, in flutes or white-wine stems; fine with salty snacks, less happy next to rich sauce. Apple and lemon lead; the pastry note seasons the aroma without rewriting the sip. Toast versus fruit, and fruit takes the glass — lemon peel beside ripe apple, bubbles ahead of brioche. Off-dry, light body, soft bead, short close — apple ahead of pastry every time you pour it cold.
86 sits above the median of the 27 dealcoholized Chardonnay bottles we've tasted.
How to drink it
The rest of the serving note.
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Well chilled, flutes or white-wine stems. Fine with salty snacks; less happy next to richly sauced food.
The bottle
Trade record, where to buy, and product facts.
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Where to buy
- Noughty Wine US
- Noughty Wine US
- Package
750 ml bottle
- Typical price
-
$138.00 / 6 × 750 ml bottles
≈ $23.00 per bottle
≈ $23.00 per 750 ml
- Also listed
- Noughty Wine US (US) · Producer
- Availability
US specialty NA retailers including Boisson and The Zero Proof; also sold from the US Noughty shop
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
- Thomson & Scott, with dealcoholization associated with Carl Jung
- Origin
- Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
- Base beverage
- Organically grown Spanish Chardonnay, fermented in stainless steel, then carbonated after alcohol removal
- Bottle / can
- 750 ml
Sources disagree on Method and ABV. Send a correction
Sources & verification
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Where sources disagree
Sources disagree on the following points.
- Method: Thomson & Scott's own product page describes de-alcoholisation by vacuum distillation with aroma recovery, then light carbonation. Some trade listings additionally mention spinning-cone technology before or alongside vacuum distillation. We print both and do not collapse them into one proprietary story.
- ABV: Producer technical data list 0.0% vol. Several US retailers describe the wine as under 0.5% ABV, which matches American non-alcoholic labeling rather than a lab contradiction we can resolve from here.
Evidence at a glance
- Producer documented12 facts
- Unverified2 facts
Sources
-
Producer noughtyaf.com
- ABV (sources disagree)
- Method
- Production
- Ingredients
- Calories
- Sugar
- Country
- Volume
- Base beverage
Additional sources
Product record history Sourced changes and open disagreements. Prior claims stay on the record when sources conflict.
- ReviewedReviewed and published.
- UpdatedCatalog record updated from sourced research.
- OpenDiscrepancyMethod and ABV.
Instead
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2024 Chardonnay
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Oceano Zero 2024 Chardonnay sits at 88 in the same style. It has less perceived sweetness.
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Chardonnay
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Luminara Chardonnay sits at 87 in the same style.
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2023 Neue Brut
A higher-scoring bottle in this style
Society De La Rassi 2023 Neue Brut sits at 87 in the same style.
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86/100