from Pub cellar to country house, the chef for all seasons

SiP

Welcome To SIP, our new regular column devoted to every delicious thing we can sip; wines, cocktails and non alcoholic delights.

Written by our journalist Maroulla Paul who is a self confessed nerd when it comes to wines and spirits. Maroulla has WSET Wines and Spirits Level 3, WSET Sake Level 1 and Capstone Level 1 (so far!)

ABV 0% DELICIOUSNESS 100%

When Laura Uberoi from our Editorial Board asked if we could look at non-alcoholic wines for this edition of SIP, my heart sank. I have tried so many non-alc (as they are now familiarly referred to) drinks - both ‘wines’ and ‘spirits’ - and I can honestly say, I find them all disgusting and would rather just stick to water if it's a non-drinking day.

But when Laura suggested introducing me to Matthew Jukes, my attitude changed. For anyone who doesn’t know, Matthew is a bit like God in the wine industry. He is a world-famous wine writer and taster and has worked in the business for almost four decades. What he doesn’t know about wine can easily be written on the back of a postage stamp with a lot of space to spare. He is a consultant to some of the finest Michelin-starred restaurants around the globe and has won more awards than we’ve had hot dinners. As a WSET Diploma student, I was most certainly not going to pass up on an opportunity to interview this guru.

Matthew, as well as everything else he does, just happens to be the co-founder and CEO of Jukes Cordialities, a range of non-alc drinks which he created and blends himself. Ahead of our interview, Matthew sent me some products to taste and I must confess they sat untouched and unattended in my fridge for a couple of weeks while various bottles of Riesling and Assyrtiko came and went in rapid succession.

The weekend before the interview, I knew I had to grit my teeth and try them. I had a sample box of four sparkling drinks; No 1 (a white), No 6 (a red), No 8 (a rosé) and a sparkling Pinot Noir. These are described as ‘prêt-à-boire’ - simply chill them, open and drink!

I started with the red - Jukes’ best seller. As I opened the can and poured it into a beautiful crystal glass (I was hoping the aesthetics would soften the blow) I was instantly hit with an aroma which I identified as apple cider vinegar. Now when it comes to wine, vinegar is not the best aroma to experience so my initial impression was not good. I took a deep breath and tasted - and in that one mouthful, I was converted.

This sparkling was full of black fruit; berries, currants and plums but also with some fig and spice - pepper like in a Syrah but created not from compounds but from actual peppercorns which Matthew cracks and sieves off the dust. Beetroot gives it huge depth of colour and a sense of terroir. The vinegar transformed to a fresh acidity in the mouth which stopped the drink from being sweet or cloying as many non-alcs tend to be. I loved it!

I very quickly made my way through the rest of the box.

The rosé is all about melons - both watermelon and cantaloupe, rhubarb, pomegranate, sour cherry and cranberry. For each fruity element, there is a vegetal counterpart to balance it. There is a taste of the sea; a saltiness and there is a big kick of fennel. It is dry and exotic, not overly fruity - more akin to Provence the place rather than the wine and its acidity makes it the perfect pairing for spicy foods - which is probably why Mayfair’s Tamarind have it on their list. And at only 13 calories per glass, you can forgive yourself for ordering another naan. (Matthew describes the rosé as being Barbie pink but with a flick knife in its pocket. Demure but menacing!).

The white really uses the vinegar brilliantly. The vinegar is combined with tarragon and sage which results in some floral notes. It has a cleansing, dynamic, brittle finish which is exactly what we look for in white wines. The length is extraordinary. Matthew talks about the vinegar almost as a ‘washing line’ on which he hangs various foods and flavours. The vinegar is the flavour delivery system. The result is the same silhouette as wine on the palate.

Then there is the Sparkling Pinot Noir. This one actually macerates pinot noir skins (sourced from Blackbook, the urban winery we reviewed last year, who just happen to serendipitously be Jukes’ neighbours) in the apple cider vinegar and uses no other ingredients. I think this one might well be my favourite.

I was excited to speak with Matthew and to find out more. What made him make such a leap?

“The story dates back around 8 years when I was in New York doing some talks on wine and working with some sommeliers and two occurrences really made me stop and think. I was at a dinner in a swanky restaurant sitting next to Sally Singer who was the editor of vogue.com and she said as it was a Tuesday night, she normally would not drink as she never indulged except at weekends but she was going to make an exception because she was with me. I found her being so prescriptive unusual. The following day, I was having lunch at a Daniel Boulud restaurant and I barely saw a bottle of wine at the other tables, it was wall-to-wall water and coke. It dawned on me something terrifying was going to happen to the wine business. New York is the scene setter for the rest of the world so I knew it would come our way before long. I knew someone was going to have to come up with an alternative to fine wine that is not a dealcoholised wine. Dealcoholised wines are not wine; they are wine flavoured sweet drinks that are not gastronomically pleasing.”

Matthew decided to take on the challenge himself. His start point was that when we describe the aromas and taste of different wines, we never use the word ‘grapey’ but normally flavours of foods so he decided to use his wine blending experience to blend such foods to create a wine-like drink. He said his Eureka moment came when he came across an ancient recipe called a ‘Haymaker’s Punch’ , which was a drink invented in the South West of England in the late 1700s from leftovers - cores, knobbly bits etc. These offcuts were put in a bucket and steeped in apple cider vinegar then strained and honey was added. The result was a healthy, sustainable, delicious cordial that could be diluted with water and so Matthew recreated this recipe not using leftovers but the finest quality ingredients he could find in his local Waitrose. Whilst he was very pleased with his initial experiment, it was still too sweet so he then spent the next couple of years playing with iterations until he got to something that was a red drink that was tasty and shared the taste profile of real wines.

As well as the sparklings, Jukes also produce a set of cordials - which is what the restaurants and bars are buying. And when I say restaurants I mean top tier ones like Core by Clare Smyth, Adam Byatt at Trinity, Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester - these are just a few of many in London as well as all over the world (including Arpège in Paris, Matthew’s favourite place). As chef-led places, these restaurants appreciate that these are drinks also made by chefs using a combination of the 160 ingredients in the Jukes pantry with the highest quality organic apple cider vinegar.

There is a ritual involved in mixing the drink. You chill the bottles - and the water, choosing still or sparkling and then combine half the bottle (marked clearly) with 100 mls of your preferred water. Depending on which water you pick, the drinks will taste completely different from the same base.

“With still water the drinks will seem more relaxed, with more volume and feel silkier. With sparkling, they will be more urgent, with more energy. Jukes 1 is more chardonnay-like as a still but with sparkling it is edgier, with more elbows!”

You can vary these quantities to suit your personal preference and make it stronger or stretch it so it just has a whisper of flavour but you can drink it all afternoon.

Another thing you can do is mix tonic water and an ice cube and maybe a slice of orange to a bottle of Jukes 6 in a gorgeous heavy tumbler and you will think you are in a swish bar drinking a devastating cocktail. You will even find yourself getting a little merry without any booze - your mind will play tricks on you.

Jukes have just been certified as being organic. They are also halal. So virtually anyone can imbibe - healthily and happily.

Whether you are a non-alc cynic (like I was) or a convert (as I am now!) you really need to try Jukes. For the first time there really is a delicious alternative to wine. ν

https://jukescordialities.com/

“Jukes have just been certified as being organic. They are also halal. So virtually anyone can imbibe - healthily and happily. ”