Tempera

Tempera is a producer of no & low ABV specialty beverages built around recipes created by chef Mauro Colagreco. The idea traces to his restaurant Mirazur in Menton, where guests who did not want wine or alcohol were offered only sparkling or still water. In response, Colagreco began producing pairing drinks on an artisanal scale in the Mirazur kitchens, and each blend was developed there. The concept was tested in small quantities before being adapted for industrial-scale production over nearly a year of work; the development required twelve months of research and development before launch, during which the drinks were tested by Mirazur's sommelier teams.^[1],[2]

The recipes draw inspiration from the gardens surrounding Mirazur and use plants and flowers that grow on the shores of the Mediterranean. The name Tempera derives from the temperate microclimate of Menton, where Mirazur is located. The brand launched in September 2023.^[2]

Mauro Colagreco -- Co-founder and recipe creator. Mauro Colagreco is a three-Michelin-starred chef, originally from Argentina and based on the French Riviera. He was born in La Plata, a university city near Buenos Aires, where he studied economics for four years before turning to gastronomy and training in cooking in Buenos Aires. He moved to France in 2001, working in the kitchens of Bernard Loiseau, Alain Passard at L'Arpège, Alain Ducasse at the Hotel Plaza Athénée, and Guy Martin at Le Grand Véfour. In 2006, at age thirty-one, he opened Mirazur in Menton in a 1930s villa above the Mediterranean, and has lived in Menton since that year. He also operates a Parisian bistro called Grand Cœur, and the producer states he now runs thirty restaurants across twenty destinations.

Arielle Bove -- Co-founder and CEO. Arielle Bove co-founded Tempera with Colagreco and serves as CEO. She partnered with him to bring his no-alcohol drink recipes to market.^[2]

Tempera positions its beverages as gastronomic drinks designed to pair with food, interacting with dishes to highlight textures and reveal the depth of flavors. The producer states its drinks do not use dealcoholization or grapes, instead creating an aromatic experience from other ingredients. Each bottle was designed to carry a complex aromatic bouquet featuring an initial attack note and a base note.^[3],[4]

Colagreco's culinary philosophy is rooted in his Argentine heritage and the local French countryside. He oversees a five-hectare garden near Menton, close to the Italian border, containing about 150 plant species and dozens of tomato varieties, irrigated with mountain spring water and managed biodynamically; the garden directly supplies fruits, vegetables, aromatic herbs, and edible flowers to the Mirazur kitchens. He has directed his own biodynamic garden for years, and reading Masanobu Fukuoka's book "The One-Straw Revolution" led him to develop permaculture and biodynamic gardens.

Tempera builds each recipe as a unique blend of flowers, fruits, plants, and spices intended to give a distinct aromatic profile, and the blends contain no added sugars. The producer does not use dealcoholization or grapes. The still blends are based on infusions and contain 0.0% alcohol because infusion does not generate alcohol; the sparkling blends are fermented rather than dealcoholized.^[5]

Temperature- and time-controlled infusion. For the still blends, each ingredient is infused at its own specific temperature and time. Tempera adjusts the infusion time and temperature of tea for each batch, because its aromatic potential varies with the climate and with the plantation's manufacturing each year. Yerba mate expresses floral notes and a delicate astringency when infused, and its aromatic profile and astringency level change depending on the temperature at which it is infused or macerated.^[6]

Artisanal fermentation of rock samphire. Rock samphire undergoes artisanal fermentation in Tempera's production, which causes its iodized freshness to evolve toward aromas of smoke, pepper, and cloves.^[6]

Colagreco's Mirazur received its first Michelin star within a year of opening, its second in 2012, and its third in January 2019. With that third star he became the first chef not born in France, and the first Latin American chef, to receive three Michelin stars in the French Guide. Six months after Mirazur received its third star, it was named the best restaurant in the world by The World's 50 Best Restaurants.

Colagreco was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador to promote actions in favor of biodiversity, the first time this honor was given to a chef; a 2022 account describes him as the first UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity from the culinary world.