By Martin Lemaire
Published
January 2 at 7:30 a.m.,
updated January 2 at 8:56 a.m.
Johnny Stephens
While some are beginning their Dry January, or total sobriety for a month, here is a completely delicious drink and a contrast to dealcoholized wines whose interest often remains limited.
As the saying goes, you are never better served than by yourself. Especially if your name is Matthew Jukes. As the wave of dealcoholized wines began to surge a few years ago, this famous British taster and writer found himself in a lot of trouble. People scold him, implore him, beg him to lend his palate and take up his pen to honor what he considers to be an ersatz wine. “I find it very bad. It’s always saccharine or too simplistic”he says even today, while the offerings of vintages free of the slightest trace of alcohol are multiplying in a booming market. But the subject of wine de-consumption interests him. He doesn't necessarily want to drink with every meal either. Our man therefore sets out to produce a drink ex nihilo for all these new abstainers. But it won't be wine.
Thus began experiments, alone in his London kitchen. But how can we give a product without alcohol consistency and that little extra soul that is so lacking in most dealcoholized wines? “The mission was to offer a tasty experience”he summarizes. As a good Brit, Matthew sets his sights on cider vinegar. This is rather good, because vinegar is now given many virtues, it is even on the lips of all contemporary preachers of well-being. If he readily communicates on the health aspect (regulation of blood sugar, strengthened immune system, good digestion, etc.), Matthew assures that he wanted to bring up to date an old 18th century recipe composed of a maceration of fruits and vegetables in vinegar, consumed by workers who worked in the fields. To do this, it carries out cold maceration, before bottling or canning. By the way, it considerably reduces the quantity of sugar compared to the original recipe.
“The key is acidity”
This is how Jukes was born, offered either in small vials that you can place yourself in the glass with still or sparkling water, or in ready-made cans. “The key is acidity”estimates the man who worked for the Daily Mail for a long time. On the program, three “cuvées” that are very memorable for the wine lover: a white, a rosé and a red. If the first two play a fruity aromatic score quite common in the world of alcohol-free products, the “Jukes 6” (the red) stands out with this complex nose of black fruits, spices, and this intense mouth of wet earth quite long in mouth.
Jukes
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A success recognized by the status of best non-alcoholic drink in the world at the World Alcohol-Free Awards. “In wine, we look for complexity. With Jukes, we find it”estimates Alexandre Bader, general manager of Billecart-Salmon, which distributes Jukes exclusively in France. When we know the rating obtained in recent years among enthusiasts by the Aÿ champagne house, distribution is done without difficulty. Thus, we find Jukes in Parisian starred restaurants, like the always very specialized David Toutain, in palaces like the Meurice, or in high places of liquid and solid gastronomy such as the Grande Épicerie de Paris. Jukes is also available online via its website. And suddenly, this sober January seems shorter.
Jukes
France
