Next, in March, I sipped French Bloom’s new vintage-dated organic blanc de blancs with spicy dishes at Jungsik, New York’s two-Michelin-starred Korean restaurant. Winemaker Rodolphe Frerejean-Taittinger, whose family produces both Champagne and cognac, and his wife Maggie are behind the no-alcohol French Bloom brand. Its first beverages, Le Rosé and Le Blanc, are already served in three-star restaurants such as Alain Ducasse.

What wowed me is their new La Cuvée, made from chardonnay grown in the Languedoc and created to resemble serious, aged Champagne. The three-figure price reflects its ambitious sophistication and complexity.

Frerejean-Taittinger says he had to rethink vinification to make it a success. “You have to create an exaggerated base wine with as much acidity, richness, flavor and aroma as possible so some of them survive the de-alcoholization process,” he says. He uses low-temperature vacuum distillation—three passes in total—to reach 0.0% alcohol.

2022 French Bloom La Cuvée Blanc de Blancs Alcohol-Free Sparkling Wine ($119) is certified vegan and sulfite free, with a coppery gold color, creamy texture and aromas of dry apricot and baked apple. There’s a backbone of acidity, tobacco and caramel notes, and a long, long finish. It’s ridiculously expensive, yes, but with only 17,000 bottles for the world, it certainly measures up to the spirit of celebrating a special occasion.

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