Elton John has been sober since 1990, so unlike most celebrity bottles this one has a story that holds up. Zero Blanc de Blancs is made from cool-climate Italian Chardonnay fermented with bacteria that never produce alcohol — a genuinely different technique from the usual boil-the-booze-off approach — with green tea extract adding tannin and grip.
The result: pear, white peach and a little pineapple, orange blossom on the nose, and a drier finish than most AF fizz manages. At £10 in Sainsbury’s and Tesco it sits in the sweet spot between the £6 crowd-pleasers and the £18 occasion bottles.
Full tasting notes and our member ratings below.
Serve it well chilled in a flute or wine glass, the same as you would a conventional Blanc de Blancs — the fermentation process (rather than boiling off alcohol) means it keeps a genuinely fine, persistent fizz rather than fading flat after a few minutes in the glass. Once opened, keep it in the fridge and it’ll hold its sparkle for a day or two with a stopper, though it’s best drunk the day you open it.
Stockists: launched at Sainsbury’s and has since expanded to Tesco, Asda, Ocado, Booths and Amazon, RRP around £10 for a 75cl bottle. For another AF sparkling option at a similar price point, see our Fortnum & Mason Sparkling Tea review.
Worth noting: because it’s fermented rather than dealcoholised, Elton Zero sits at the premium end of the AF sparkling category alongside bottles like Noughty and Thomson & Scott Noughty — if you’ve tried the boiled-off style of AF prosecco and found it thin or overly sweet, this is a genuinely different production method and tastes like it.
Compliance note: This article is published by The Clear Head, a UK lifestyle site for people who don’t drink, are drinking less, or are sober curious. We aim to provide honest, practical information without promoting any particular brand or approach to alcohol.
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