A drink with... Majken Bech-Bailey

Born in Denmark, sommelier Majken Bech-Bailey is a pioneer in non-alcoholic pairings in some of the top Michelin-star restaurants in the world. Her own range of non-alcoholic wine alternatives, BÆK, is listed in restaurants including Gordon Ramsay High in London, Grace & Savour in Birmingham and Adare Manor in Co Limerick, Ireland.

‘Twelve or 13 years ago I had no idea that I would become a sommelier, in the fine dining world. Most people in the rural community I grew up in drank beer or rum and coke, not wine, and I didn’t really drink alcohol. I was all set to go to business school when I spent the summer working at a Michelin-star restaurant. It completely changed the direction of my life.

‘While I was there I tasted a white Burgundy with some age, paired with a lobster and tomato dish – I was blown away by the match, by how each elevated the other – and it made me want to learn more about wine.

‘Because I wasn’t a big drinker, I asked if I could play around with the non-alcoholic pairing at the restaurant – I wanted to create something more complex than what they were offering. After that I looked after the non-alcoholic pairing at every restaurant I worked at. It’s often an afterthought in restaurants and can be neglected where somms are so passionate about wine. You’ll find water sommeliers today, and tea sommeliers, but because the non-alcoholic category is so broad, it’s hard to find people, like me, who specialise in that area.

‘In fine dining the dishes are very complex – I want to respect that and offer guests the same experience, and satisfaction that they would receive if they were ordering wine.

‘I met my British husband, chef Jordan Bailey, in Denmark around 12 years ago. After working together in Michelin-star restaurants in Oslo, we moved to Ireland in 2019 to run our own restaurant, Aimsir, which won two Michelin stars after just four months.

‘It was great fun, but in 2023 we decided to start our own private catering and consultancy business instead. In the course of that I ran some masterclasses on non-alcoholic drinks, and restaurants started asking me to make a few bottles for them. In-house chefs and sommeliers often don’t have the resources to make elaborate non-alcoholic juices that might only last a week. That’s how BÆK [brook or stream in Danish] came about.

‘Previous to that I’d create a match for a specific dish. Now the challenge was to create two products, specifically designed to go with food, but without knowing what they’d be served with – one as an alternative to white wine, and one to red wine.

‘Just as with wine, we’re considering colour, clarity, aroma, texture, body, flavour and length. And we use some wine descriptors so that people will understand what it tastes like. We’re trying to mimic some of the elements of a wine, but we’re not trying to mimic wine itself. If you try to do that, you will always fail because it will never taste like wine – because it doesn’t contain alcohol. My vision was to create something that feels like having a glass of wine, but doesn’t necessarily taste like having a glass of wine. Lots of people said we should use a wine bottle as packaging, but I didn’t want that. I wanted it to be clear that the products are not wine – that instead they are something unique, that merit attention.

‘The advantage of having a chef for a husband is that I had access to an entire kitchen and range of ingredients. Plus he understands how to create a certain flavour experience.

‘I wanted the pepper and tannin you’d find in a red wine in the ‘red’ version; we ended up using the juice from aronia berries, because they are thick-skinned, almost bitter, with a tannic-like structure; we add this to Merlot grape juice, which is sweet and contrasts with the aronia; Earl Grey tea concentrate, Sichuan pepper, orange, clove, and barrel-aged raspberry balsamic vinegar.

‘With the white, instead of just going with a dry, high-acid drink, I wanted something rounder and with a little sweetness so it would go with savoury and sweet dishes. We use the juice of Chardonnay grapes and Bramley apples – Bramleys give the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness – infused with roasted Jerusalem artichokes; there’s also a touch of beeswax, honey, tonka beans and seasalt.

‘We’re also developing two sparkling versions: one that’s an aperitif style, and one to go with afternoon tea that has a stronger flavour profile.

‘I believe in the future of the non-alcoholic category. It’s booming, and partly because there is a generation of non-drinkers emerging. Many have been exposed to fine dining from a young age, and are sophisticated diners. They’re excited to come across an option that’s not Coke.’

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Amy has 30 years' experience in publishing, and worked at a senior level for leading companies in the consumer, business-to-business and contract publishing arenas, before joining Decanter in October 2000 as Magazine Editor, aged just 28. As well as overseeing content planning and production for the print offering, she has also been involved in developing digital channels, Decanter.com and Decanter Premium.

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