Ahead of Sommelier Edit’s first No & Low Summit to inspire sommeliers on why alcohol free drinks are a must, we asked Maria Boumpa, head sommelier at Da Terra, why it’s more than just mocktails.
When you don’t want booze in a restaurant, you are normally forced to opt for a bottle of sparkling water. There’s not much else on offer. The problem is that when you are spending your hard earned cash on a great meal you, but don’t want to drink, you might fancy something a bit more grown-up or complex. Something that matches with the food you are ordering, as you would expect from a wine.
This is where the sommelier comes into action and many are now developing their NOLO offer to encompass much more that just mocktails. Now the savvy diner expects and demands more.
Innovation wins out
Maria Boumpa was the winner of the Top 100 Sommeliers Saicho Sparkling Tea Innovation Award in 2024. Nominated by her peers she was recognised for being at the forefront of innovation in creating alcohol free drinks that matched with the culinary creations at London’s Da Terra.
Her passion for highlighting the attributes of no and low drinks in a restaurant context is a direct response to demand from her diners. She feel that there are number of reason dictating why sommeliers have to stock or create great quality products. “First and foremost is the quality of the ingredients used. Many producers of NOLO focus on the origin of the products they are using. The depth of flavour is really important and how well the drink can pair with the food in a restaurant setting or how the product can be used in a bar environment too,” she says.
Sparkling Teas are a whole new world. They are focused on specific types of tea, provenance and terroir that give distinct characteristics.” In a restaurant context she believes sparkling teas are very suitable as aperitifs, “thanks to their light and refreshing nature. They can also be paired with food really well.
“This category has gained popularity, as more and more people are trying to reduce their alcohol intake,” Boumpa explains. “There are a variety of reasons; health, pregnancy, religious etc. The exciting thing is that creating and serving good ready to drink options gives sommeliers the opportunity to offer a drink that matches the meal with a whole new selling point and approach.”
She says that customers are often surprised and delighted, preferring a “grown up” alternative to a simple glass of sparkling water. The other important factors she reveals is that “at the end it can contribute significantly to the restaurants bottom line.”
NOLO matching versus wine pairing
Boumpa says that there is no difference to pairing NOLO drinks with food from wine. “You have to follow the same principles,” she comments. “It’s exactly the same as food and wine pairing. When we introduced a non alcoholic pairing in Da Terra we followed the same process but turned it on its head.”
She adds, “to put it simply, I thought about what style of wine I could potentially pair with the course and then tried to create a drink that would have these qualities. Acidity, tannins, smokiness or fruit characteristics. It definitely is a very creative process, if a little more complex than food and wine pairing. But a sommeliers definitely follows exactly the same process. ”
Currently Boumpa finds the majority of dealcoholised wines lacking. “I haven’t come across any interesting alcohol free wines so far,” she says, “Alcohol free wines can be highly processed. To remove the alcohol the resulting drink is stripped of a lot of flavours and character.” This may be the case for still alternatives, however, the category is developing rapidly and great improvements are being made.
Sparkle it up
Sparkling alcohol free wine tends to be a favourite with sommeliers as the bubbles add in texture and balance to the finished product and brands like Zeno, French Bloom and Steinbock are appearing on bar backs and restaurant lists frequently.
“It’s exactly the same as food and wine pairing. To put it simply, I thought about what style of wine I could potentially pair with the course and then tried to create a drink that would have these qualities. Acidity, tannins, smokiness or fruit characteristics.
For Boumpa “Sparkling Teas are a whole new world,” she enthuses. “They are focused on specific types of tea, provenance and terroir that give distinct characteristics.” In a restaurant context she believes sparkling teas are very suitable as aperitifs, “thanks to their light and refreshing nature. They can also be paired with food really well,” she says. “At Da Terra, I am pairing Saicho Sparkling Darjeeling with more complex savoury and smokey courses and the toasty Hojicha with dishes that are full of umami, for example.”
Sommelier Edit NO & LOW Summit
If you are a working sommelier who wants to learn from the best about the NOLO category, apply for a place at our upcoming Sommelier Summit taking place on Monday 31 March.
You will get to taste a wide range of products and delve into this dynamic world of alcohol free drinks, whilst learning from the professionals about how to taste and assess the very best products on the market now that are suited to a restaurant list. Sign up here.
