I Tried The Viral Frozen Pickle And Wine Trend So You Don't Have To

I'm no stranger to weird drink combinations. I've made my fair share of odd mixtures at the soda fountain, and dirty sodas seem to have occupied a great deal of my sampling as of late, but rarely do I try a drink combination that begins with wine. This time, that changed as I tried the viral trend of adding frozen pickles, salty pickle brine, and ice to sauvignon blanc.

The combination of pickles and booze has become something of a campy offshoot for brand partnerships, like when Grillo's and PBR came together for pickle beer. I've had pickle-laced beverages before, and I'll fully admit that they tend to be much better than I expect. So I wondered if sauvignon blanc would behave similarly and end up being surprisingly drinkable. 

I sampled this oddity so you don't have to, determined to figure out if this was a drink worth trying. The ingredients are simple enough to come across, and the preparation process was very straightforward. All I needed to do was build up the courage to try pickle wine.

To pickle-fy your sauvignon blanc, you'll need ice, whole dill pickles, pickle brine, and, of course, a bottle of wine. I picked up both the wine and pickles from Costco. Surprisingly, they were in reasonably sized packages. I've become reliant on the choices Costco offers since the options are generally limited, except in the wine selection. 

Still, I was convinced the choices the warehouse offered would be tasty, since I've had the opportunity to try many pickle brands and know what to look for in stores. Costco's selection has rarely let me down, especially when it comes to quality. Seeing that it offered refrigerated pickles (instead of just shelf stable ones), I felt all the better about my selections.

My wine of choice was a White Haven sauvignon blanc from New Zealand, and for pickles, I grabbed a jar of Bubbies Kosher Dill Pickles. At home, I use an Opal Ice Maker, so I readily had ice on hand for the tasting. Of course, you'll also want a glass of some kind, so I created the mixture in a wine glass that had plenty of room for everything.

When I got home from Costco, I placed my wine in the fridge. Though you'll be adding ice, to mitigate initial ice melt and dilution, it helps to start with freshly chilled wine. Then, I shook up the Bubbies container (as the jar recommends) and plucked out two pickles. I placed them in a Ziploc bag and stored them in my freezer.

Once the pickles were thoroughly frozen (and I had built up enough bravery to give this a try), I cut one of them into large coins. I added a generous scoop of ice to my wine glass, dropped the pickle chips on top, poured in the chilled wine, added some pickle brine to the top, and gave it all a stir with a spoon. Then, I got to sipping, bracing for what might come next.

By now, you've probably guessed that I was nervous to try this drink. It's got two of my favorite things: wine and pickles. Could it be bad? I wasn't terribly eager to find out. The combination was interesting, that's for sure. 

There's a tanginess to it that comes entirely from the pickle, and the taste of the sauvignon blanc is present too, though certainly muddled. On its own, the sauvignon blanc has a bright flavor that tastes fresh and enjoyable, like the kind of wine you might drink on a clear summer day. The flavor doesn't need the addition of anything other than maybe a snack, enjoyed separately from the drink.

As soon as I sipped this wine and pickle mixture, my first thought was "why." It seemed like an unnecessary addition that certainly made for an interesting and eye-catching drink but not one that is necessary for an enjoyable glass of wine. This had all the flavor and feel of something like a wine cocktail but without enough savory elements to satisfy a Bloody Mary fan or enough sweetness to make umbrella drink fans swoon.

Flavor-wise, it was salty and refreshing but the wine wasn't made better by the inclusion of the frozen pickle pieces and brine. Like the iconic Pickleback Shot, it's a decent use of leftover pickle brine if you just can't stomach pouring out that salty liquid, but I found that I much preferred the flavor of the Costco sauvignon blanc all on its own rather than combining it with the pickle. So, no, I don't think this pickle-infused sauvignon blanc is worth a try. I didn't take more than a few sips before dumping it down the drain. It was a waste of perfectly good wine that I certainly won't be recreating.

That said, if the sauvignon blanc you've selected is lacking crispness or a refreshing quality, the pickle additions may help. This feels like more of a hack to improve bad wine than a way to make all sauvignon blanc better. Still, I'd rather just select an enjoyable bottle of wine from the grocery store than attempt to revive it with pickles. For any leftover frozen pickles I have, I might just add them to my next salad.