Ghia, which bills itself as a non-alcoholic aperitif inspired by the Mediterranean, launched last summer with a single 535ml SKU. Now, the brand is extending its lineup into the ready-to-drink space with a sparkling version of the original drink, called Le Spritz.

Ghia Le Spritz is made with an interesting blend of ingredients that starts with a base of water, riesling white grape juice and yuzu juice. From there, the product uses natural extracts for its flavoring. These include lemon balm extract, elderflower extract, gentian root extract, fig concentrate, acacia, orange extract, rosemary extract and ginger extract. Fruit and vegetable juices have also been added for coloring. The product has no added sugar and contains just 40 calories and 7 grams of sugar per can.

From a taste perspective, the flavor profile that they’ve created is really impressive. More importantly, it’s one of the most direct replacements for an Aperol Spritz or other aperitif spritz. There’s a note of grape to the base that, when paired with the other ingredients, definitely tastes like wine, which is something that is so often missed in similar non alcoholic offerings. Beyond that, it has just the right balance of bitter and sweet with noticeable notes of gentian, ginger, orange peel, acacia and rosemary. 

It’s light, but complex, and very refreshing -- we could definitely see ourselves consuming this on a regular basis and the flavor is something that we think could be enjoyed by anyone who is familiar with bitter liqueurs such as Campari (although Ghia is a bit more tame). 

The product is packaged is an 8 ounce can that’s shorter and a bit wider than the 250ml can that is typical of the energy drink category.  As an alternative to alcohol, this feels like a good choice especially considering that it’s about the same height as a whiskey glass and therefore doesn’t stand out all that much.

The can itself is a bare metal that has been decorated with a variety of what appear to be hand applied labels. This approach, combined with the slightly retro looking typeface used for the Ghia logo, gives the product a vibe that’s both nostalgic, artisanal, clean and cool. Plus, we like the somewhat matter-of-fact flavor name Le Spritz. 

While the hand labeled can should probably be replaced by a painted or printed version at some point, the core of what they’ve created should translate pretty well as the brand evolves. However, in the shorter term we’d like to see a slightly more prominent mention of this drink being non-alcoholic. 

Overall, Ghia’s Le Spritz is a really enjoyable product that’s definitely one of the best tasting non-alcoholic cocktail alternatives that we’ve had to date.