Flexibility, not Sobriety w/ Maggie & Rodolphe Frerejean-Taittinger, French Bloom

Pairing their need for a complex substitute for wine, for both pregnancy and professional network, Maggie Frerejean-Taittinger and friend Constance Jablonski enlisted Maggie’s husband, Champagne and Cognac winemaker Rodolphe to found French Bloom . With four years of R&D prior to launch and constant refinement since, French Bloom aims to redefine the alcohol free premium sparkling wine space. Maggie & Rodolphe delve into the creation of French Bloom, exploring its core markets, target customers, and the factors that have drawn them in. Detailed Show Notes: French Bloom overview 500k bottles (2024) Created a premium NA sparkling category Focused on sparkling to create complexity, can play with layers LVMH minority investor 4 years of R&D to get the desired quality De-alc process loses 60% aroma (was 90% in 2021), removes the backbone of the wine Built NA wine like Cognac, needs an undrinkable base wine Focused on the South of France (warmer, higher alcohol and body) for stronger wines, more body, Languedoc (more organic 40% vs 3-4% in Champagne) Limoux is the best place for NA sparkling, 300m high, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, a temple of natural wine Base wine is a bit oxidative, very acidified (used to add lemon juice, now naturally from wine), oaky (new oak, foudre ), no sulfites, more tannin Create blends of different reserve wines Extra Brut (0% abv, 0 sugar) has a base of 30% reserve wine from 2 years, aged in new oak barrels to give more structure Better to make adjustments before de-alc vs after Use voile to protect wine from oxidation (like Jura) Flash pasteurization is used b/c no abv, sulfites to protect the wine NA market Wine, beer, spirits - $10B (2020), $20B (2025), believes $30B (2030) Premium NA sparkling - $0.5B (2025), could double next 5 years Holy grail is quality NA still wine, not there yet Best distributors are wine / Champagne distributors, Thailand/Belgium have NA-focused distributors French Bloom customers Biggest markets are Champagne markets (France, US , UK, Japan, Australia, Belgium, Germany) Younger (25-45), skew female, appreciates both alc and NA sparkling wine Sells 20% DTC globally 2024 NielsenIQ study on NA purchase behavior - driver - for conscious hosting (aligns w/ French Bloom’s ethos of not excluding anybody); health & wellness; driving Marketing is digital first, leveraging Constance as a tastemaker and key opinion leader More partnerships - Coachella, French Open, just signed F1 (10-year partnership, 1st ever official NA sparkling wine, Moet Chandon on podium; F1 new fans are 75% female, 50% Gen Z from Netflix series) Most effective marketing has been the founding story and authentic storytelling (i.e., Maggie’s pregnancy, Constance’s need for moderation while networking) Marketing through top-tier restaurants, hotels, and shops (e.g., Michelin-starred; became the wine sold at Erewhon in 1 week) Michelin-starred restaurants have 50% non-drinkers at lunch, 20% at dinner No sugar, no additives, organic messaging plays well in California, less on the East Coast Uses the term “alcohol free” vs. “non-alcoholic” NA trends around NA wine & food pairing, including “moderate pairing” (wine & NA wine/drinks as part of pairing); mirrored cocktails (3 versions ofthe same cocktail - NA, low, full) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Flexibility, not Sobriety w/ Maggie & Rodolphe Frerejean-Taittinger, French Bloom is an episode from XChateau Wine Podcast by Robert Vernick.

This episode is 47:23 long.

This episode was published on Oct 18, 2025.

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