For those of you who sit down for a meal and scan the menu looking for a non-alcoholic beverage that isn’t a soft drink, mocktail or sparkling water, we raise this glass to you.
English sparkling wine are already holding their own against the major Champagne houses. Now, we have Wild Idol, offering a comfortable twist along the sparkling wine circuit.
Launching their first wine dinner at Claridge’s hotel, this marked a special moment for the premium-non-alcoholic wine, a moment that the brand has been nurturing for years.
Under glittering candlelight, in one of Claridge’s private dining rooms, founder Paul Beavis beamed as he addressed the guests: “This is a surreal experience. A real pinch me moment!”
Wild Idol was presented as part of the hotel’s Wine Dinners series, pairing their Sparkling Whites and Rosés with a fine-dining menu, curated by Simon Attridge and the Claridge’s culinary team.
This time, the non-alcoholic wines were being poured, not as an alternative, but as a sparkling headliner.
Guests who were non-drinkers and therefore would feel excluded from such an event, were treated to the same journey of dedication and care, reserved for the Champagne dinners. Paired with scallops, roast chicken and chocolate tart, Wild Idol proved to be a worthy companion.
Formerly Managing Director of Champagne Lanson, Paul Beavis explained that the foundation of Wild Idol was constructed on one simple principle: alcohol-free wine should not feel like an afterthought.
So what’s their secret? Like all wines, the hidden gems are rooted in their grapes. Wild Idol is crafted from high-quality wine grapes that are never fermented. You might think a non-alcoholic wine would follow a method of fermenting wine and then removing the alcohol. However, this process can strip the wine of much flavour and texture, leaving a bland taste upon the palate.
The freshly pressed grape is chilled to prevent yeast activation, preserving natural aromatics and acidity. Now we have a sparkling wine, made from grapes, with declared vintages, but without ever becoming alcoholic.
“There was no blueprint,” Beavis clarifies. “We wanted to create something that genuinely hadn’t existed at this level before.”
Sitting around a formal dinner table, raising their glasses in a toast, or joining their champagne-drinking friends around the canapés, for non-drinkers, this clarity matters.
Claridge’s partnership with Wild Idol sends a clear message. Alcohol-free wines are moving from the side-table to the main table. Along with their minted Halal certificate, global outreach to luxury places such as Dubai and Maldives, will be a triumph.
This evening was unique for wine drinkers in the sense that we didn’t need to keep ‘one eye on the glass.’
At regular wine dinners, the cap is usually six glasses maximum, with top ups. For this night, the glasses kept coming and the wine kept flowing.
Some guests even drove up to Claridge’s, because why shouldn’t they? No sore heads in the morning, no risk of being unsteady and sluggish the next day.
Ultimately, the evening embodied everything you can find in a bottle of Wild Idol. Relaxation, calmness, safety and the memory of a spectacular time, which lingers long after the finish.