Raspberry Nectar

Velvety raspberry nectar made from Meeker raspberries

Alain Milliat’s raspberry nectar is a French fruit nectar made from Meeker raspberries with 40% fruit content; it is velvety, deep red, and offers a fruity acidity. A nectar is made from fruit purée, not clear juice, and this one comes close to a fine raspberry coulis.

Raspberry nectar of this depth is a real treat for berry lovers: Alain Milliat’s raspberry nectar captures the aroma of hand-picked Meeker raspberries from Alsace. With a 40% fruit content, it is dense and velvety—far more than an ordinary raspberry juice—and carries the fine acidity that defines a good raspberry.

Deep red, velvety, fruity-acidic

Even as you pour it, the nectar glows with an intense, deep red in the glass and gives off the enchanting scent of freshly picked, sun-warmed raspberries.

The texture is rich and velvety, almost like a coulis, and the aroma carries that fine acidity that gives sweetness its freshness and tension. Fruity, velvety, and vibrant on the tongue, it captures the full power of a ripe berry. Here, you taste the raspberry as it smells in the garden, not the pale aroma of a powdered mix.

The Meeker variety is a mid-early summer raspberry that provides the fruit farmer with dark red, particularly delicious berries. Sweet and tart at the same time, it is perfectly suited for a nectar with character.

Hardly any berry is as delicate as the raspberry; it softens almost immediately after being picked, and few lose their aroma so quickly. In this nectar, all of that is preserved: the scent, the color, and the fine acidity. A piece of high summer that tastes of the garden and the sun even in December.

Pure, with sparkling wine, or as a coulis

This raspberry nectar is a versatile companion, both in the glass and in the kitchen.

Served pure and well-chilled, it is a velvety delight; topped with sparkling water, it becomes a fruity spritzer; and with a splash of sparkling wine, it makes for a festive aperitif. A spoonful over vanilla ice cream, panna cotta, or cheesecake, and its acidity even cuts a fine figure in a delicate salad dressing. Being as dense as it is, it can replace a homemade coulis in an instant.

The Meeker variety unfolds its aroma best at 8 to 12 degrees in a thin-walled white wine glass. You can find clearer and more tart options among the juices, and you will find a berry-flavored relative in the strawberry nectar.

Meeker from Alsace, juice or nectar

A nectar is created when a fruit cannot be clearly pressed, using fruit purée, water, and a bit of sugar.

The European Fruit Juice Directive allows up to 20 percent sugar in nectar and, depending on the fruit, requires only about 25 percent fruit content. Alain pays little heed to this, as his raspberry nectar contains 40 percent fruit. The Meeker berries are harvested by hand because, as Alain emphasizes, the flavor develops on the bush, and they are processed in the Rhône Valley south of Lyon.

Alain Milliat, himself a fruit farmer from Orliénas, took over the family farm in 1983 and launched his project in 1997 to elevate juices and nectars to the level of fine wines. His creations quickly won over the sommeliers of gourmet restaurants, with whom he continues to work today. Read more in the portrait of Alain Milliat, or discover further velvety varieties from apricot to pear in the nectars collection. Truly remarkable.