Do you miss your wine?

NicknShan · November 2015

It isn't perfect. But it's a good substitute.... Fre is the name of it. And it "looks" like the real stuff (and semi tastes like the real stuff) so I have already swapped it in my glass at public event. Yes. I have carried bottles of NA wine in my purse.

Cheers!

PS: I can't post a pic mobile, so I'll add it to the comments.

NicknShan · November 2015

Where did the insert picture option go?!? :-) sorry. The pic will have to wait.

berky84 · November 2015

never heard of this... thanks. I will check this out when my apitite is back

itsStackie · November 2015

I had grape juice tonight. Not the same, but I did enjoy the sugary drink.

Huskerfanz · November 2015

I really do and didn't even drink much while TTC. But it sounds so good now! I'll have to try this.

candicek15 · November 2015

Loooooove wine. Haven't missed it lately with MS, but my hubby and friend were drinking a Pinot noir that I live the other night and it smelled SO good. Where do you buy this substitute you speak of?!

MynaBird · November 2015

Desperately.

My grandmother has medical conditions that are exacerbated by alcohol (and everyone in my family is a drinker), so we started buying Fre for family gatherings a few years ago (and making sure someone is always offering to refill Grandma's drink so she doesn't know she's not getting the good stuff). It's served a double purpose for the last few years as there's been someone pregnant at pretty much any given time since 2011.

I have to say, I am not really a fan of it on its own. It's not really a great substitute for wine. (My grandma lost her sense of smell years ago, so she's easier to fool.) But if you use it to make a white wine spritzer or a champagne cocktail, it's tolerable, and at least then I get to feel like a grownup.

NicknShan · November 2015

@candicek15 its in the NA aisle at the grocery store.

@MynaBird have you tried all three flavors? I like the white Zin best. Followed by the red blend

MynaBird · November 2015

@NicknShan I've had the Chardonnay, the Brut, and one of the reds -- didn't hate the whites, but the red I struggled with. It was just so definitely not anything like a wine I would ordinarily drink. I wonder if that was the Merlot, though? I wouldn't ordinarily drink a Merlot even if it hand alcohol, so maybe I should try the red blend instead. I don't really like white Zin in general.

MsBeachNJ · November 2015

I've been pouring it into empty real wine bottles to trick my friends /family at gatherings... I wouldn't drink it just because I miss my real wine (as there's no Sauvignon blanc option!) but it has helped me keep my cover!

I've purchased it at the liquor store.

Patience7150 · November 2015

Will have to try! Finally unpacked my kitchen after a three month reno and when I hit the wine glasses, it was all I could think about...Oh goodness, still even gets me now. Thanks for sharing!

scotten · November 2015

So, so much.

I have been doing NA beer. I hosted a "A baby is brewing" couples baby shower last weekend, that sort of had a beer theme. My husband was in the garage pouring NA beer into an empty Sam Adams bottle for me to keep our secret! Lol It worked!

I'll definitely be on the lookout for the NA wine!

26pointrunningfor2 · November 2015

I'm looking at a wine rack with 110 bottles of wine on it (yes, I counted because I can't touch). I've taken a micro sip or two of my husband's wine. Everyone told me that it wouldn't sound good to me. LIES. ALL LIES.

Thanks for the tip about Fre. I jokingly said to my hubs that I might pick some up, but if there's even moderate approval of it, I'm all in.

cdnrunning · November 2015

Another brand is Ariel. I purchased but haven't tried it yet. If you're a red wine drinker that likes a dry full bodied wine you will not like Fre. Fre is very sweet. Yuck.

MynaBird · November 2015

cdnrunning said:

Another brand is Ariel. I purchased but haven't tried it yet. If you're a red wine drinker that likes a dry full bodied wine you will not like Fre. Fre is very sweet. Yuck.

Exactly my problem. My go-to with red wine is a Barbera or a Malbec, and I just don't know if there's a substitute. Let me know how the Ariel is. Until then, I'm subbing cranberry juice.

mrsp2213 · November 2015

Oh how I miss the wine. I was a glass-with-dinner-every-night girl before I got pregnant. The first few weeks sucked, it's actually getting easier the longer I go without it but there have definitely been a few nights where a tall glass of cab would've been very enjoyable.

I told the Mr. to screw the push present and just sneak a good Napa cab into the hospital instead.

youenjoymyself · November 2015

Bleh, reading the title to this post made me throw up in my mouth a little. And I used to LOVE my wine!

MynaBird · November 2015

I will say this: I came out of my first pregnancy below my pre-pregnancy weight, and while that was partly due to hyperemesis and heartburn, I'm sure it's also because I didn't drink the, like, 250 glasses of wine I would have drunk otherwise.

chloe97 · November 2015

Oh my gosh this is me times 1000! I miss my wine more than anything. I spent the weekend with my rich wine snob friends. We went to dinner and they were ordering $200 bottles of wine. All I could do is smell H's glass and put it to my lips and then taste my lips. It was torture! I am counting the months to delivering this baby and having a glass of Cabernet.

MrsAlliKat · November 2015

I have tried the Fre brut and thought it was good. Sweeter than a typical brut. It made a great mimosa when I wanted it to look like I was actually drinking, though!

Philter14 · November 2015

I drank Fre last pregnancy and recently discovered Ariel. I like Ariel much much better!

cdnrunning · November 2015

@Philter14 good to hear. I'm going to give it a shot when I get back from this business trip. I'm not sure how many other options there even are...

nekedfeet · November 2015

I've just replaced "wine" with "whine". I can safely say, it's not the same. Miss my reds..... <sigh>

auntieembabes · November 2015

26pointrunningfor2 said:
I'm looking at a wine rack with 110 bottles of wine on it (yes, I counted because I can't touch). I've taken a micro sip or two of my husband's wine. Everyone told me that it wouldn't sound good to me. LIES. ALL LIES.

Thanks for the tip about Fre. I jokingly said to my hubs that I might pick some up, but if there's even moderate approval of it, I'm all in.

A. You have a 110 bottle wine rack? Can we be friends after babies????

B. Who told you wine wouldn't sound good? Lying jerks. I missed wine more than anything with my DS (and I'm not a glass every night person or anything). People keep reminding me that it's "ok" to have like a half a glass but that's just a tease! It's like wanting a piece of chocolate cake and expecting a single chocolate chip to totally be the same thing.

auntieembabes · November 2015

youenjoymyself said:
Bleh, reading the title to this post made me throw up in my mouth a little. And I used to LOVE my wine!

That sucks! I'm like that about coffee when I'm pregnant (and I LOVE my coffee)

WinniethePoohsPants · November 2015

Yes, yes, yes. Sooo sooo much. I'm trying to pretend that wine just no longer exists.^^^

NicknShan · November 2015

I need to try Ariel! I agree that Fre is sweeter - you don't get the dry enjoyment. Whhhiiinnneeee.

26pointrunningfor2 · November 2015

@auntieembabes -to be fair, the rack holds 80, we have a secondary one beside it to hold the overflow. We can't keep up with our wine club shipments (maybe time to get rid of a couple!) I'm going to need help drinking all of this wine, so Yes! Let's be friends!!

kayla2536 · November 2015

I loved my wine before pregnancy but writing this and thinking about it right now make me nauseous!

vmatt850 · November 2015

NicknShan said:
It isn't perfect. But it's a good substitute.... Fre is the name of it. And it "looks" like the real stuff (and semi tastes like the real stuff) so I have already swapped it in my glass at public event. Yes. I have carried bottles of NA wine in my purse.

Cheers!

PS: I can't post a pic mobile, so I'll add it to the comments.

I love this! I drank some at a Halloween party to not give myself away. Kept it in a cute sac thing!

vmatt850 · November 2015

There's this form of torture coming up in my town called a "wine walk". Which I usually walk with my gals and sometimes my grandmothers - it's on Nov 20th and I volunteered at work to be a pourer. All the downtown businesses (well, all the smart ones who get involved) have 2 choices - a red and a white and it's such a fun shopping event, too. I work at a spa and we do games where you can get up to a $100 gift card.

But, I'll be there with my Fre.

Knottie86418473 · November 2015

I don't miss my wine nearly as much as I thought I would and I was a 1-2 glass a night drinker. The first couple weekends were a little tough, but it's gotten easier. I don't have bad MS (just occasionally queasy), but fortunately the smell, while not completely foul, just doesn't appeal to me. But it's beer week right now where I live and my daily walk takes me past about 5 neighborhood bars. That part sucks as everyone looks like they're having so much fun and I can closely see all the beers they're sampling! I haven't tried Ariel or Fre, but have been mixing seltzer water/club soda with a little pomegranate or cherry juice to replace wine. For me it helps just having something different from water in a different glass. How do you guys pull off tricking people by drinking the Fre/Ariel? How do you avoid others accidentally drinking your 'wine'? I'm trying to figure out how to keep the pregnancy a secret over Thanksgiving because my family would figure it out if I wasn't drinking (they're already suspicious) but they would also know if they got fake wine!

heyyitsmac · November 2015

I miss beer more than I miss wine. Wing night just isn't the same.

theatremandy · November 2015

I work as a wine consultant. Yes, I miss my wine. My wine club just came today, and I earned another half case that'll be on its way soon. I'm also heading to Dallas Friday for a leader retreat with the company. Sigh. Oh well. I'll have one heck of a stash in June. I'm a dry red girl, so I just can't do the Fre.

hellomommas · November 2015

YES YES YES. I am going on a little getaway with my fb to Florida this weekend and we rented a beach condo. I totally wish I could have a glass of Shiraz! But I have my eyes on the prize--- that first glass after the baby will be glorious.

chloe97 · November 2015

Question- is anyone else concerned that Fre isn't actually 100% alcohol free? H bought me some yesterday and after looking into it, we realized that the wine may have about .5% alcohol. This is about the same as most NA beers. I tried a couple NA beers the day I got my BFP (3 weeks and 4 days) and I definitely felt a very very slight alcohol buzz after 3. I switched to club soda after that. I'm going to ask my Dr at my appt on Tuesday, I'm just wondering if anyone else has any insight.

NicknShan · November 2015

chloe97 said:

Question- is anyone else concerned that Fre isn't actually 100% alcohol free? H bought me some yesterday and after looking into it, we realized that the wine may have about .5% alcohol. This is about the same as most NA beers. I tried a couple NA beers the day I got my BFP (3 weeks and 4 days) and I definitely felt a very very slight alcohol buzz after 3. I switched to club soda after that. I'm going to ask my Dr at my appt on Tuesday, I'm just wondering if anyone else has any insight.

I am not concerned one bit. Here is from Fre's website:

"Although we remove most of the alcohol during our spinning cone process, a small fraction of a percentage of alcohol remains—less than one half of one percent (<0.5 %). That’s roughly equivalent to the alcohol content of orange juice left on the counter overnight!"

I also will have one NA beer from time to time (usually an O'douhl's Amber). If you felt a slight buzz from 2 NA beers, I would get checked out for something else before think it would be due to the beer. They say you would have to drink 9 NA beers to be the equivalent to 1 beer. That means MAX you have the equivalent to 1/5 of a beer after 2 (22.2% to be exact) - spread out over the time it took you to drink 2 NA beers.

So no, I don't worry.

chloe97 · November 2015

When I say slight buzz, I mean the feeling that I've drank alcohol-not that I can't drive. I felt like I had had a couple sips of regular beer.

I understand your reasoning, but I'm not sure that I'm comfortable taking ANY risk in the first trimester. We've doubled our grocery budget buying organic produce and hormone-free meats to lower any risk of developmental problems, I'm forgoing my nightly Zyrtec and waking up constantly because my nasal passages are blocked up, so it feels weird to consume even a trace amount of alcohol. It'd be one thing if I loved it, but I tried a sip of it yesterday and was not incredibly impressed. I'm just as satisfied with my Welches sparkling grape juice, so I will stick with that until the 2nd or 3rd trimester. I'm definitely planning on a half-glass of the good stuff on my bday in early June. It can't come fast enough!

CourtJack · November 2015

More than anything. (well, I miss beer equally)

And no, I can't even drink fake wine. I feel like I would be cheating on real wine. And I just would never do that to one of my very best friends in the whole world.

NicknShan · November 2015

Hahaha @CourtJack

@Chloe97 - I totally hear you on that. I would say my grocery bill has gone up - but not significantly since I am eating so much less :-( Kudos to you for making that change! One of my cravings is Cheetos. I haven't given in yet - but I wish there was a good healthy alternative...

lynnernon · November 2015

@chloe97 Zyrtec is fine during pregnancy. Don't give it up!

Also, I have a hard time imagining feeling any buzz after 3 sips of beer...

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