Romain des Grottes is the type of vigneron who farms with the utmost sensitivity, who sells important oils from his herb farm alongside his pure wines, who improvises at his piano with a concert-level depth. What he isn’t, I’m assured to attest, is the kind of winemaker to chase a pattern. And but, his wildest success will not be his beloved Beaujolais, however an unfermented N/A wine known as “L’Antidote.”
For the European pure wine set, L’Antidote has develop into the N/A wine of alternative—a frequent sight on tables throughout Paris, Copenhagen, London. Romain conceived of it in 2010, method earlier than the present race towards N/A. After I requested him what impressed its creation, his reply was easy: “I discovered it a compelling thought to mix the juice with the native flora.” He additionally wished to create a nonalcoholic drink for when he wanted to remain clear-headed, one that might additionally double as one thing particular to share along with his youngsters. He by no means anticipated it to be successful.
To make L’Antidote, he blends apple and his personal gamay juice, then aromatizes it with herbs, flowers and artemisias that sprout in his untamed vineyards. He then applies his winemaker mind to steadiness the acidity, sweetness and bitter parts and turns the entire thing glou-glou with the addition of bubbles. The ultimate step is “tunnel” pasteurization, a course of typically utilized by craft beer folks, wherein the bottled product, as an alternative of the uncovered juice, is heated to stabilize it; he finds this preserves L’Antidote’s refined aromas.
Demand, nonetheless, has not been refined. Simply 4 years in the past, in 2020, he produced 10,000 bottles. As of 2024, 87,000. Pushed by pure demand, this isn’t solely a quantum leap, however an outpacing of his Beaujolais manufacturing by nearly 9 occasions.
U.Ok. importer Joel Wright says he zips via 9 to 10 pallets (greater than 6,000 bottles) yearly. The share of that allocation is consumed not solely by the pure wine group, however at extra conventional spots—just like the Noble Rot eating places in London, the place it’s served for £6 ($8) a glass. Throughout the Channel, in Paris, Nathan Ratapu owns a petite tenth arrondissement e book and wine store, Rerenga. L’Antidote is by far its blockbuster. “One of many appeals,” he says, “is classic variations. In 2023, they had been herbaceous. In 2024, they really feel a lot lighter on their toes and barely extra fruit-forward.” If the drinker’s alternative is pure, this different works with that ideology. As he notes, “It’s not some mass-produced soda or some brand-oriented alcohol different or wine with the alcohol stripped out.”
One other pure wine hub, Copenhagen, has additionally embraced the drink. Solfinn Danielsen, who sells it at Rødder & Vin, a well-liked caviste and pure wine bar, calls it “the gamay model of a root beer.” He typically shares a glass along with his son, one thing Romain would approve of; he believes that his L’Antidote (and its new sibling, L’Antelope, with elevated bitterness and 50 p.c much less residual sugar) can work as coaching wheels for a younger palate. “We are able to present a baby the complexities and surprise of wine, with out there really being wine,” says Romain. (That is, in fact, a wine different speaking level that will give the present prohibitionists hives.)
For all its success with the Gen Z set in Europe, at present you’ll be able to’t discover L’Antidote within the U.S. Chris Terrell, who had beforehand been Romain’s importer, instructed me that with its 2018 debut, prospects would order after which return it “after they realized it wasn’t wine.” The error was comprehensible; the bottle is comparable in form and label to the vigneron’s Beaujolais. There’s a rumor that one other U.S.-based importer is poised to deliver it again, however for now, stateside drinkers must be content material to easily place it on their European purchasing checklist.
As for Romain, he stays bewildered by L’Antidote’s ascendency. Final spring, at a hybrid wine tasting within the Jura, he reached under the desk and pulled out his latest classic of L’Antidote—it was natural and juicy, like a twig- and thyme-wrapped raspberry refresher. After I requested about its success, he shook his head in mirthful shock. “I simply can’t imagine it.”