One of France’s most famous Champagne families is divided on a topic close to their hearts: alcohol.
Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, the honorary chairman of his family’s champagne house, has vowed never to make a non-alcoholic sparkling wine.
But Rodolphe Frerejean-Taittinger, a descendant of the founder of Champagne Taittinger, is doing just that – and has turned to the parent company of arch rival Moët & Chandon to help bankroll the project.
Moët Hennessy, which also owns champagne houses Krug and Veuve Clicquot, has taken a minority stake in French Bloom, a non-alcoholic sparkling wine brand run by Mr Frerejean-Taittinger.
Launched in 2021, French Bloom makes its alcohol-free sparkling wines with a combination of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, claiming to use “a visionary winemaking and dealcoholization process”.
Its drinks cost upwards of €29 (£24.15) a bottle and as much as €109 for its Cuvée Vintage 2022. French Bloom’s products are already sold by upmarket retailers such as Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges.
The company has no business linked to Champagne Taittinger but Mr Frerejean-Taittinger is the great-grandson of the company’s founder Pierre Taittinger, and the nephew of Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger.
Pierre-Emmanuel vowed in a recent interview with The Telegraph that he would never release an alcohol-free wine under the family’s Champagne brand, saying: “Alcohol is alcohol. When we go to alcohol, it’s because we don’t want to drink without alcohol. If you don’t want to pray, don’t go to church.”
His nephew has a different view. French Bloom was founded by Mr Frerejean-Taittinger’s wife, Maggie, alongside Constance Jablonski, a well-known French model who has starred in campaigns for the likes of Estée Lauder, Calvin Klein and Moschino. Mr Frerejean-Taittinger later joined as chief executive.
The two founders are said to have come up with the idea for French Bloom in 2019 while Ms Frerejean-Taittinger was pregnant and working as a director of the Michelin restaurant guide.
Moët Hennessy’s investment in the business comes as a growing number of people around the world cut down on alcohol. Health concerns, as well as a greater understanding of the impact on mental wellbeing and a desire not to be captured drunk on social media have all been blamed for the shift.
It poses a challenge for drinks businesses, particularly those such as Moët Hennessy that sell high-end wines and spirits that command large profit margins.
Philippe Schaus, Moët Hennessy chief executive, said the company’s investment in French Bloom demonstrated “our commitment to offering high-quality, alcohol-free choices to consumers who moderate their alcohol intake”.
Mr Schaus added: “We are confident that our expertise in wines and spirits combined with French Bloom team’s exceptional innovation and visionary leadership, will enable us to craft the future of this category.”
A spokesman for French Bloom said: “The company’s commitment is solely to innovation and quality in the non-alcoholic sparkling wine sector, focusing on establishing a distinct identity and superior products in the market, separate from any ties to Taittinger Champagne.”
As well as serving as chief executive of French bloom, Mr Frerejean-Taittinger co-founded Frerejean Frères, a separate champagne brand, with his brothers Guillaume and Richard in 2005.
While the Taittinger name is synonymous with the sparkling wine, his paternal Frerejean dynasty traces its roots back to a line of cannon-manufacturers that supplied Napoleon Bonaparte and his armies.
Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger’s comments about non-alcoholic wine came at the opening of Domaine Evremond in Kent, Champagne Taittinger’s first venture into English wine – another equally controversial move among the elite of the champagne world.
While Taittinger Champagne has embraced the potential of English viticulture, Moët Hennessy’s chief executive, Mr Schaus, has argued that wines made in Britain could never rival those from the Champagne region. He said in 2022: “There’s much more to a category like champagne than just [your] latitude.”
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