French Bloom Le Blanc – Alcohol-Free Sparkling – 75cl

French Bloom exists because two friends got bored of being handed elderflower cordial. Maggie Frerejean-Taittinger and Constance Jablonski met again in Paris in 2019, one of them pregnant with twins, and worked out that nothing on the non-alcoholic shelf was worth putting on a dinner table. Five years of development later, this is what they built.

It starts as real organic French Chardonnay, made properly as wine, then goes through a gentle dealcoholisation that takes it to 0.0% while leaving the structure intact. That is the hard part, and it's where most of the category falls over — strip the alcohol out clumsily and you're left with something thin and sweet. This holds its shape.

In the glass you get mineral freshness and pear on the nose, then a bright citrus attack, crisp orchard fruit, and a texture that turns creamy and silky in the middle rather than falling away. It finishes on dried fruit, a touch of honey and beeswax, and a saline note that lingers properly. Certified organic and vegan, with no sugar added.

Thirty pounds is real money for something with no alcohol in it, and I understand the hesitation. But this has been voted the world's best non-alcoholic sparkling wine three times over, and it is the only bottle in the category I'd open in place of champagne rather than as an apology for it.

How to Serve

Serve it properly cold, 6–8°C. Use a white wine glass rather than a flute — the aromatics are the best thing about it and a flute buries them. Once open it holds for a day or two under a sparkling stopper.

Where to Drink It

The Wolseley, where a 0.0% that looks the part matters. Scott's in Mayfair, alongside the shellfish. Noble Rot, whose staff will not raise an eyebrow at it.

Food Pairings

Oysters work beautifully — the salinity in the wine meets the salinity in the shell. Otherwise smoked salmon, a plate of gougères, or fish and chips, which is far better with fizz than anyone admits.