Fruit Nectar by Alain Milliat from France
Alain Milliat nectar is a drink made from the pulp of fully ripe fruits that cannot be pressed clear, such as apricot, peach, mango, or strawberry. With water and a little sugar, it turns into a velvety glass. The ten varieties from the French manufacturer range from berry to pear, fruity and full-bodied.
Nectar is the velvety sister of clear juice. For fruits like apricot, peach, banana, or strawberry, it is impossible to press a direct juice, as their pulp is too dense. Therefore, Alain Milliat, a trained orchardist from Orliénas near Lyon, turns the pureed fruit flesh into a velvety drink with water and a small amount of sugar. You can find ten varieties with us, each made from fully ripe harvested fruit.
What distinguishes nectar from juice
The difference lies in the fruit itself.
Anyone who presses an apricot or a peach does not get a clear glass, but rather a puree. Such fruits release their aroma only as pulp, and that is precisely what the drink is made from – fruit pulp, water, and a little sugar in a carefully balanced ratio. A fruit juice, on the other hand, is direct juice from pressed fruit.
That is why the velvety version tastes fuller, denser, and rounder. It fills the mouth where a juice refreshes it – two temperaments of the same family. It lies on the tongue velvety, fruity, and full-bodied.
The fruit alone determines how much water and sugar are added. A ripe apricot needs little help, while a tart passion fruit requires a little more balancing. Alain adjusts this for each variety individually so that in the end, the fruit speaks, not the sweetness. He has been honing these ratios since 1997.
You will find the varieties with us in 330 ml bottles and some also in 1-liter bottles, depending on whether you are enjoying it alone or serving a dinner party. Tightly sealed and stored in a cool place, an opened bottle stays fresh for a few days, allowing you to sample your way through at your leisure without anything going to waste.
Ten varieties from apricot to Williams pear
The selection reads like a stroll through an orchard.
It begins on a sunny note with apricot and velvety white peach. Things get berry-forward with strawberry and deep-red raspberry, and exotic with mango and passion fruit.
The range concludes in an autumnal tone with the Williams pear, which smells of ripe pome fruit. Most varieties are available in 330 ml bottles, with the most popular ones additionally available in 1-liter bottles for larger gatherings.
Each variety makes its own entrance: apricot sunny and mild, raspberry delicately acidic, mango rich and tropical. This way, you will find the right glass for every time of day and every mood, from a gentle breakfast companion to a fruity afternoon refreshment.
Fruit pulp from fully ripe fruits
Here, too, the moment of harvest is decisive.
The more fully ripe an apricot or strawberry is picked, the more fully its aroma finds its way into the pulp, and the less intervention is needed, Alain emphasizes. For each variety, he chooses the origin with the most distinct character and processes the fruit quickly before the scent fades.
This keeps the glass close to the fruit: the strawberry still earthy-sweet, the peach still floral, the pear still juicy. What is harvested ripe needs no tricks, only the right day.
Alain has been traveling in pursuit of fruit for this purpose since the 1990s, to the regions where a variety thrives best. Sometimes it is the apricot from the south, sometimes the pear from the cooler north. You can taste this effort in the pulp, which feels fuller and more honest than any quick shortcut.
Berries, stone fruits, and exotics in a glass
Three small worlds can be found in this selection of varieties.
There are the berries, strawberry and raspberry, which taste like summer meadows and pots of jam. There is the stone fruit, apricot and white peach, floral and gentle. And there are the exotics, mango and passion fruit, which bring a little wanderlust to the glass with their sweetness and acidity.
Precisely because the selection is so diverse, it is worth having several varieties on hand. Sometimes you are in the mood for the familiar berry from the roadside, sometimes for the distant mango, or the gentle peach after a long day. In this way, a bottle of nectar never becomes routine, but each time a small choice for a particular mood.
This is how you find the right fruit for every mood – from the familiar home garden to the far away. Every variety is best enjoyed pure and well-chilled at 8 to 12 degrees Celsius.
And because a nectar is so dense, a small sip is often enough. Mixed with sparkling water, it becomes a light fruit spritzer; poured over ice, a summer drink; a spoonful in yogurt, a quick dessert. One bottle, many possibilities.
A manufacture with the ambition of great wines
Behind these bottles lies the same philosophy as that behind wine.
Alain Milliat founded his company in 1997 near Lyon with his first six juices and velvety fruit drinks because he felt that what is taken for granted with wine was being neglected with fruit: terroir. For over 25 years, he has been winning over French sommeliers with this approach.
Production and bottling take place in Valence in the Drôme, right in the middle of France's largest fruit-growing region. Today, the brand is at home in over 20 countries. The full story is told in the manufacturer portrait of Alain Milliat. We stock these velvety varieties because they show fruit exactly as it comes ripe from the tree. Simply delicious.
Strawberry nectar with sparkling wine, a delight
A good fruit pulp is not a thirst quencher; it is a fine ingredient.
We love pouring strawberry or peach nectar into a glass of sparkling wine to create a fruity aperitif in no time. Served on its own, velvety apricot goes well with a Sunday breakfast, pear with cheese and nuts, and mango with yogurt and muesli.
The handy 330 ml bottle makes it easy to portion: a dash in punch, a spoonful over ice, a splash in a dessert. Thus, one variety goes a long way and brings a different fruit to the table each time. Our tip: passion fruit over panna cotta – it tastes like a vacation.
For a gift, place three varieties side by side – a berry, a stone fruit, an exotic – and you have a small cabinet of fruits in a box that everyone is happy to unwrap. Sample your way through the ten varieties and find your glass for the next beautiful occasion, whether at the breakfast table or in a champagne flute in the evening. It brings joy when guests arrive, and also on a quiet Sunday for yourself.
