R.W. Knudsen's Sparkling Crisp Apple Cider

That top was double wrapped!  Not sure if it was intentional...

Ingredients - Sparkling Apple Juice & Asorbic Acid

Amber in color, and as most fruit drinks it smells like it’s main fruit component, apples.

It’s dry for a juice, and has a slight bite. It’s lightly carbonated, and has a light mouthfeel.  It’s a bit of a tart, green apple taste.

Works as a Wine Alternative:  I think it’s straddling a line between dry juice and sweet-for-wine that makes this a hard decision.  

Did I Like it: Not so much, It’s a bit to tart for my tongue, and oddly enough, my wife who often likes tart flavors didn’t fall for this one either.

Would I Recommend it:  Only with the perfect pairing, 5 out of 10

Who Might Like it: Green apple fans.

R.W. Knudsen's Sparkling Organic Apple

My Experience:

You know, whenever I see a set of something I'm interested in, I get excited. I love sets. So, every time I see R.W. Knudsen's sparkling juices I want to buy them all. This one changed that, at least a little...

It has very little carbonation, as with most of R.W. Knudsen's stuff, and in the glass it looks exactly like normal apple juice. Smells like apple juice, though it's not a very strong scent. It tastes just a little tart, pretty much exactly like you'd expect if you took apple juice and carbonated it. Much much milder than Martinelli's Sparkling Cider.

Works as a wine Alternative: Not really.

Did I like it: It's ok. A 5 or 6 out of 10. It's just very plain jane, expected, and done.

Would I Recommend it: If you love apple juice or drink it semi-regularly, give this a shot to change it up a little.

Who Might Like it: Maybe anyone who likes apple juice...

R.W. Knudsen's Sparkling Strawberry

My Experience:

Strawberry! Who doesn't love strawberry drinks? Like strawberry lemonade. Or strawberry rhubarb lemonade? Or... R.W. Knudsen's Sparkling Strawberry!

It's pretty transparent for a red juice, more a rouge color, and it has medium sized bubbles continuously moving to the top. The carbonation is relatively light. Smells of strawberries, and a hint of something else, maybe grape or apple. It's not that sweet, for a juice. It is not tart, like strawberry stuff often is. The taste definitely hints at the pineapple that is also in this, like in the cherry. It's mellow and easy going, and would probably drink well with lots of light or medium foods. My wife, who is also a strawberry lover in general, loves this. We had it with plain ol' spaghetti, which was a bit heavy for this drink, but otherwise an ok pairing. Canned spaghetti sauce tends to be very sweet, which helped this Strawberry drink because its sweetness didn't overwhelm some of the other flavors, like it might have, if we had this with something more savory like a roast or anything with gravy.

Works as a wine Alternative: Not really. You can drink it with anything, and it'd be ok, but I don't think it would pair particularly well, in terms of giving contrast or complementing a food, with anything.

Did I like it: I think it makes a wonderful cooler, I'd love to sip it with a straw out on the patio, but it doesn't really make for a great pairing with lots of foods. My wife disagrees. We will have to try it again soon for a second take. 7 out of 10.

Would I Recomend it: Not as an alternative, yes as a drink.

Who Might Like it: Juice lovers.

R.W. Knudsen's Sparkling Cherry

My Experience:

First off, its scent is very dark, very much like black (as opposed to normal) cherries. It's not as sparkling as Martinelli's (I'm learning that nothing is) and the carbonation was quite coarse. The acidity is higher than most sparkling juices I've tried, and the flavor is very strong. Of cherry, that is, though the plum juice that's also in the drink shows through a little. The acidity probably comes from the pineapple juice that's also in this blend. It's very sweet, though not as sweet as Martinelli's, similar to R.W.'s offering in pear but somewhat more tart, due to the cherries I'm assuming.

It's got a nip of sour in the finish. It could make a good every-day drink, (which I'm calling a Table Drink, as in a Table Wine.)

It reminds me a lot of the cherry kirsebærsauce sauce that goes with Ris a la mande.

This would be great for a cherry float with vanilla ice cream!

Works as a wine Alternative: Sure.

Did I like it: Yes, though nothing spectacular, 6 out of 10.

Would I Recommend it: Just like the Kristian Regále stuff, I've enjoyed trying all of these and comparing them. (Though these haven't been as good as the Kristian Regále stuff.)

Who Might Like it: You know, with all of these sparkling juices it's pretty straight forward. I'd recommend them to anyone who likes the fruit they are based on, or thinks they could find a good pairing.

R.W. Knudsen's Sparkling Cranberry

My Experience:

A while back we had R.W. Knudsen's Sparkling Organic Pear Juice, and loved it! So we decided to try the rest of their juices, with high hopes.

The photo makes it look darker than it is, and it has very few, very small bubbles. It's not as tart as I thought a cranberry drink would be, and it's less sweet than the pear drink. It's lighter than most cranberry drinks I've had also. I enjoy it, but think it needs a great pairing to shine. On the negative, it's almost watery, and just a bit sweet and bit tart, overall pretty mellow for a sparkling drink. I want to try it with something light but savory and/or beefy. It's not very fizzy and surprisingly flat, and I wish it were a bit more acidic.

The last glass of the bottle was completely full of big fat red specks. The sediment was a huge downer.

I liked the taste, but with the low carbonation and high sediment content, I'm wondering if I got a bad bottle, which is not a good thing to wonder about.

Works as a Wine Alternative: Yes, though needs to be paired well.

Did I Like it: Yes, with some huge reservations, like the sediment. 4 out of 10, would have been a 6 without the sediment.

Would I Recommend it: Try a different flavor first, the pear is awesome.

Who Might Like it: It's not just for cranberry lovers, which is good in my mind.

R.W. Knudsen's Sparkling Pear Juice

R.W. Knudsen's Sparkling Pear Juice

Fine, small bubbles, compared to what I'm used to anyway (soda, martinelli's...) Had a fizzy feel to it. The Pear juice dryer than say, Martinelli's. It's dry enough you can taste the pear, sweet enough that it's easy to drink. I'd prefer it a little more acidic, with the pork chops we ate it with.

Works as a wine Alternative: Yes, a nice alternative to a sparkling wine, I think. Subtle enough, though not very complex.

This could make a good Aperitif or Dessert Wine alternative.

Did I like it: Yes, this is a definite buy again. 8 out of 10.

Would I Recomend it: Absolutely, worth a try for anyone.

Who Might Like it: Someone who likes Martinelli's, but is looking for a more subtle alternative.

Juice Roundup - R.W. Knudsen's Pomegranate Nectar and Yum Berry Juice

R.W. Knudsen's Pomegranate Nectar

It's a blend - the ingredients list says Water, Apple, Pomegranate, Grape Juice, and Pear Juice.

Looks like apple juice with a tinge of red, and I thought it would be stronger than it is. It's smooth. The apple and pear come through stronger than the pomegranate. For a juice it's not too sweet. Cut a bit of water into it - too weak. Cut with Sparkling water - not bad. Best chilled.

Works as a wine Alternative: Yes, though not as sweet as most juices, still a bit sweet for a wine alternative, however.

Did I like it: Yeah, it's pretty good. i'd give it a 5 out of 10.

Would I Recomend it: Yes, it's worth a shot. Not a stand out drink, but I thought it worked well.

Who Might Like it: Anyone who likes juice, I think.

R.W. Knudsen's Yum Berry Juice

Lots of ingredients. Very thick, smells mostly of strawberry, thick like Kerns nectar, My wife hated it, not recommended. Cut with anything makes it worse - It stays thick but loses flavor.

Works as a wine Alternative: No

Did I like it: No, it was horrible. Maybe a 1

Would I Recomend it: No

Who Might Like it: Can't think of anyone.

R.W. Knudsen's Blueberry Pomegranate Juice

I had this at the same time we tried Ariel's White Zinfandel & R.W. Knudsens' Black Current Nectar

My Experience: I don't have much to say about this. The blueberry taste is the strongest, and it tastes like a juice. It's sweet, and has a slight tang to it. The aftertaste is mostly blueberry and tangy. Much better with ice.

Works as a wine Alternative: Not really. It's a juice. An interesting juice, but it's not subtle enough nor is it complex enough.

Did I like it: I liked it through about one glass, didn't want to reach for another, though. 4 out of 10.

Would I Recomend it: Not as a wine alternative, maybe for a juice-o-phile.

Who Might Like it: People who love blueberry.

R.W. Knudsen's Black Current Nectar

R.W. Knudsen's Black Current Nectar

The same time I tried Airel's white Zinfandel I also tried a few juices, this being the first. (This being the second)

My Experience: It looks like a red wine in the glass. Guess what it smells like? (Black Currant, duh!) It's nice to have experienced this to know exactly what it smells like when someone says a wine smells of black currant. Now I know! It was smooth, with a hint of better, like the dregs of grape juice. It's sweeter than wine, but not sugary like many juices. The aftertaste has a touch of tang. I had it a room temperature and liked it better that way, compared to being iced. It'd probably be best just a bit under room temperature (like red wine.)

Works as a wine Alternative: Yes, I think it does. It's subtle, though not terribly complex, I think it does work. Just barely acidic enough to pull it off.

The ingredients also list Apple, so this isn't quite a "Pure Juice" so under the blended juices label it goes.

Did I like it: Yes, both my wife and I thought it was worth trying again. 6.5 or 7 out of 10.

Would I Recomend it: Yes, again if for no other reason than to taste black currant. It's so common to hear that a wine tastes or smells like black currant, so it's worth it to try it out.

Who Might Like it: I'd think this juice would have a very wide appeal. Sweet, but not sugary, not too acidic, easy to drink.