Is Heaps Normal’s non-alcoholic wine High Hopes good?

Wine writer Katie Spain had high hopes for the groundbreaking brewers’ first foray into wine. So, how does it stack up when you taste it?

Stop the press. I have exciting news. Finally, we have an Australian-made, wine-tasting, non-alcoholic ‘wine’. Surprisingly, it took a brewer to pull this off.

When I learned that Sydney-based non-alcoholic beer guru Heaps Normal was launching High Hopes Prosecco, I had high but cautious expectations.

Since its launch in July 2020, co-founder Ben Holdstock and his team have raised the non-alcoholic bar with XPA, IPA, Lager and Stout. But wine is a different beast.

Heaps Normal has high hopes for the new soda.

Very few people around the world get this right, and the reason is simple. Alcohol literally brings a lot to the table. It provides mouthfeel and texture, palate heft, a warming sensation or heat, and psychological effects.

Research scientist at the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI), Dr. “When you remove ethanol from wine, you lose a lot,” says Wes Pearson.

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“Ethanol is a very unique compound, and there isn’t much else that is chemically similar to it. When you remove it from wine, you’re left with something that’s thin and acidic, with a juicy feel, and no longer resembles the traditional concept of wine.”

So how did a self-proclaimed disruptive business like Heaps Normal with a history of non-alcoholic beer crack the code? Lots of research.

Non-alcoholic rage with High Hopes.

The sparkling wine took 18 months to develop in collaboration with the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) and is produced from 100 per cent grapes sourced from South Australia’s Riverland. Throughout the process, Heaps Normal wine head Ned Brooks spoke with winemakers, bartenders and organic chemists at AWRI’s Non-Inferior Wine Research Center.

“I did a little deep diving into the category and got a lot of taste,” Brooks says. “We always felt like people were creating non-alcoholic wines just to fill a category in their product range. There weren’t many people actually trying to create a beverage worth drinking.”

While Australia has some impressive NoLo wine alternatives, things made with grapes haven’t quite worked.

The founders of Heaps Normal are Andy Miller, Ben Holdstock and Peter Brennan.

“In Australia it felt like there was a method and no one deviated from the methods of de-alkalizing, adding grape concentrate, adding flavours, adding colours, adding thickeners,” says Brooks.

“That seemed like a bit of an easy answer, and no one was really willing to think outside the box and see what else they could come up with.”

There are some exceptions.

“Edenvale is an exclusively non-alcoholic wine producer, and there are also a number of German, American and French producers who are exclusively non-alcoholic.”

Edenvale is another producer of non-alcoholic prosecco.

Dr Pearson said Heaps Normal’s approach to product development was “very clever”.

“I think having a wine background they have the advantage of creating products in that space without almost what I would call the ‘baggage,’” he says.

“As a beer company, they don’t have to make a product to replace traditional wine because their customers are not traditional wine drinkers. They just need to make a product that tastes good and works for situations where non-alcoholic beer products are consumed.”

The wine is produced in-house.

High Hopes is an unconventional movie.

“In this case, basically the entire process had to be rethought,” Brooks says. Not only the alkalizing side, but even the grape variety during harvest [the grapes] and what we achieve at each step of the winemaking process, rather than being an afterthought.”

“I thought, ‘Can I make something like a dry snack that would suit someone who wants to eat it with oysters, rather than something that feels like sweet green bubbles?’”

Ned Brooks, Heaps Normal wine head,

Brooks’ wine background includes working in wineries, hospitality, retail and wholesale. He wanted to make something that worked as a standalone beverage as well as with food.

“Prosecco styles are a very broad category,” he says. “I thought, ‘Can I make something like a dry snack that would suit someone who wants to eat it with oysters, rather than something that feels like sweet green bubbles?’”

As for what’s next for Heaps Normal, there are also positive signs for those thirsty for a new, alcohol-free still wine option.

“We are currently working through research and development on a stable product,” Brooks says. “I don’t actually have a date or anything like that, but we’re trying to figure it out.”

Great Expectations from Heaps Normal

Decision

My verdict on Heaps Normal High Hopes Prosecco? Perfect. Even shredder. It actually tastes like Prosecco. There are lashes of lemon, life-affirming fizz, heady acidic undertones, depth of flavor and bubbles that keep the distance.

Blindfolded, I could tell this was a traditional Prosecco. Best of all, I ate it with breakfast this morning and I can go to work sane. Winning.