Williams Pear Nectar

Unfiltered Pear Nectar from Williams-Christ Pears

Alain Milliat’s Williams Pear Nectar is a French fruit nectar made from Williams-Christ pears, featuring 50% fruit content—sweet, smooth, and elegant. Nectar is made from fruit pulp, not clear juice, and this unfiltered pear nectar is far too good for mixing.

Pear nectar of this quality is a rare delight: Alain Milliat’s Williams Pear Nectar captures the varietal-typical, melting aroma of the Williams-Christ pear. With 50% fruit content, this unfiltered pear juice is dense and silky, full-bodied and balanced—a nectar with all the warmth of ripe pome fruit.

Yellowish-white, silky, full-bodied

Even as you pour it, the nectar shimmers yellowish-white in the glass and gives off an enticing scent of juicy, ripe Williams pears.

The texture is silky and dense, the aroma soft and melting, with a good balance of sweetness and acidity and a beautiful length on the finish. It sits on the tongue fruity, velvety, and full-bodied—unfiltered and honest, with the full depth of a ripe pear. Here, you can taste the pome fruit just as it falls from the tree.

It is precisely this varietal-typical aroma that makes this pear nectar so special: it is not simply sweet, but round and multi-layered, with a hint of honey and a fine, spicy note. This is what a pear tastes like when it has had its time on the tree.

Hardly any pear is as famous as the Williams-Christ, which made a career alongside chocolate and ice cream as "Poire Belle Hélène." In this nectar, it reveals its quiet, noble side: fruity, spicy, and melting. Those who love ripe pears will find their full aroma here, without a single one turning brown on the table.

Pure, far too good for mixing

Williams Pear Nectar is an elegant companion that is best enjoyed pure.

Served pure and well-chilled, it is a velvety treat; it is actually far too good to be used for mixing, as it has no need for it. Nevertheless, it makes for a refined spritzer when topped with mineral water, or an autumnal aperitif with a splash of sparkling wine. A drizzle over spice cake or served with aged cheese is perfect for cool evenings.

Served in a thin-walled white wine glass at 8 to 12 degrees Celsius, the Williams-Christ maintains its melting aroma. You will find clearer and tarter options among our juices, and sun-kissed relatives in our apricot nectar.

The Williams-Christ, a pear with history

The Williams-Christ is an old pear variety that was cultivated in 1770 near London in the nursery of a Mr. Williams.

Its yellowish-white flesh is melting and carries an intense, varietal-typical aroma, which Alain Milliat preserves unadulterated in his nectar. Nectar is made from fruit pulp, water, and a little sugar, but whereas fruit juice regulations only require about 25 percent fruit, Alain brings 50 percent into the glass. The fruit is harvested when fully ripe, because as Alain emphasizes, the flavor is created on the tree, and it is bottled 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 convinced the sommeliers of gourmet restaurants. Read more in our portrait of Alain Milliat, and discover more velvety varieties among our nectars. This is how nectar should be!