I tasted 6 nonalcoholic wines, and the whites and reds were shockingly bad

I love a glass of fizz and if I had to give up a bottle of boozy bubbles then I'd be more than happy to quaff this instead.

Read more:

I tasted 5 brands of nonalcoholic beer, and the Clausthaler was a convincing dupe of the real thing

11 health benefits that have been linked to drinking alcohol in moderation

The oldest winery in America is 1.5 hours north of Manhattan, has a sprawling wine cave, and found a loophole so it could stay open during Prohibition. I spent an afternoon checking it out — here's what it's like.

The twist in the taste, which was something on par with toffee popcorn, took me completely by surprise. There was nothing in the smell that suggested a sweet treat for your taste buds was waiting. Whether it was a novelty or if this was how all mead reacts upon drinking it, I liked it a lot.

It's not quite a sparkling-something you'd toast with at a special occasion, but as a low-alcoholic drink at 0.5% ABV this was pretty good.

Score: 4/5

It went from a quite sharp tone that melted into a buttery honey flavor which was very unexpected. This had to be the sparkling mead — does all mead taste like this?

My editor tried a sip and her first words were: "What a journey."

This is such a great product if you're hankering for a glass of non-alcoholic bubbles. The bottle and label looked amazing, and it also gave a satisfying "pop" when the cork was taken out.

My only suggestion would be for the drink to smell of something so it completed the five-sense experience of drinking. But if this meant adding a scent that disrupts the actual taste then I could live without it!

Score: 4/5

I would go out on a limb (knowing nothing about the sparkling wine-making process) and say there's a heavier ingredient at play to weigh down the softness of the taste, but it was in no way overpowering. It was exactly what I would pick from a selection of sparkling wines if I thought they were alcoholic.

I know nonalcoholic wine is not supposed to be a carbon copy of the standard vin rouge, but there was massive room for improvement here. Just don't bother with it.

I am giving it a point for color and a point for liquid consistency as "real" red wine, since they were both were very good.

Score: 2/5

Then I remembered. It tasted and smelled like baked beans when you first pour them out of a tin can.

Lulled into a false sense of security by the great color, I did not expect the horrible smell and matching taste.

Good red wine color is important to me, as I've had alcoholic red wine in the past that had the translucency of blackcurrant juice, and the taste memory still gives me shudders. I will never again trust a thin-looking red wine.

The name "Eins Zwei Zero" made me chuckle when I twigged it was a play on "eins, zwei, drei" so I liked it before trying it based on that alone. Nevertheless, the tangy taste was not for me. I suspect if it was topped up with soda water this could be a totally different experience, but I am more partial to dry and lighter tasting white wines on the whole.

Score: 3/5

Unlike the rosé tasting like it smelled, this had zero wine taste on the first go, and was more like a tangy juice. My second mouthful nudged more towards "wine" territory. It had quite a heavy taste and has a strong perfume over the tang.

The look of the liquid in the glass said "white wine," and it even had teeny tiny collections of bubbles around the edge of the liquid.

The bottle and label of this drink looked great actually, and at a glance, I don't think anyone would realize it was non-alcoholic. I didn't find it to be an enjoyable drink, but it definitely had that genuine cheap rosé wine flavor.

When drinking it, my body was almost anticipating the wince from the alcohol, but it never came as it was booze-less. Maybe if you jazzed it up with ice cubes and some frozen berries, this could be better.

Score: 3/5

Even though this wine had zero alcohol in it, the flavors were really stirring up a reaction in my brain. Almost like it was presenting a 'look what happened last time you drank rosé that tasted like this' and preparing itself for a chronic headache in a few hours.

Although not marketed as anything close to a wine, this drink could be a great alternative if you're after an alcohol-free beverage that carries some complexity that a normal red wine can give.

I looked closer at the serving suggestion on the bottle and it recommends enjoying this drink over ice with a splash of tonic or sparkling water. I put it in the fridge but did not follow the rest of the instructions, which would have probably bumped the score up. However, this drink did feel a bit too mature for my tastes for me to happily go back to.

Score: 3/5

My first thought was that it tasted like the inside of what a Catholic church smells like — mainly incense. The woody, smoky flavor was the dominant tone of this drink, but was not unpleasant.

It felt as though this beverage had been designed to be sipped slowly at a stand-up drinks party while nibbling on delicate canapés. This is not a drink you want to swig back in a couple of glugs.

The color was standard red wine (ish) and didn't have a thin, watery consistency which is quite a positive if you're a sophisticated adult in a serious setting who doesn't want to look like they're drinking a kid's drink.

However, I didn't see my editor pour out each drink, so there was a chance at this point that the mead could have been a reddish color and I'd have been none the wiser. Having refrigerated all but one of drinks, the temperature also gave a little hint as to what it was.