Back at the Kiwi Juice Headquarters, we have been developing a range of delicious and refreshing grape juice based recipes, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic (5% alc). Our taste team reckons the juices pack so much great flavour that the addition of only sparkling water (non-alcoholic) and vodka (to 5% alcohol by vol.) make for the perfect drink.

For a simple non-alcoholic version simply take one of our 250mL grape juices and mix with two 50 mL shots of sparkling soda water. For the alcoholic version (5%), replace one of the 50 mL soda shots with vodka. Serve over ice. We have even calculated the alcohol concentration and the standard drinks as 0.6 per serve, based on a single serve of 150mL.

In future we will highlight new recipes; this week we provide just the base recipe to make perfect sparkling grape juice drinks - serve over ice for the ultimate refreshment. 

"In all my years writing wine columns, one of the most common questions I'm asked is whether it's possible to find grape juice made from the types of grapes that make wine? Why? Because believe me, once you’ve tasted the juice of a wine grape, it's almost impossible to go back to bland old grape juice.

There are a few wine producers in New Zealand producing non-alcoholic grape juice from the same grapes as they make their wine, and they’re great because they taste like the wine they’d normally make yet they're sweeter and contain no alcohol.

This week I tasted a new range of pure grape juices from First Press in Gisborne. They're made from Hexton-grown Chardonnay, a lychee-laden Gewurztraminer from Patutahi and fruit from Tolaga Bay goes into their Merlot and a spicy-sweet rosé crafted from Syrah grapes.