Category: Champagne

• Glasses should be clean and free of any traces of detergent or rinsing agent [could cause Champagne to flatten]

• Avoid all forms of perfume, i.e., personal or room fragrance [these will interfere with the appreciation of the aromas]

• Ideal drinking temperature is [8° – 10° C] – chill the bottle for 20 minutes in an ice bucket filled with ice

• When pouring, fill the glass only two-thirds [this allows the aromas to circulate]

• Once the Champagne is poured, allow some time for it to open up

What can you see? What can you smell? What can you Taste? Champagne deserves your undivided attention. You need time to appreciate its colour, effervescence, savor its aromas and define its dominant impressions.

Colour and Appearance

Once the Champagne is poured, place a sheet of white paper behind the glass try to identify the shade.

Colours can range from: pale gold; green gold; grey gold; straw yellow; yellow gold to antique gold. For rosé Champagnes colours range from coral pink, salmon pink to deep pink.

How does the Champagne look to you? Is it limpid, sparkling or silky?

And what about the bubbles, are they: light; fine; lively; plentiful or slow?

Nose

Once the initial effervescence has subsided, bring the flute to your nose and inhale slowly, at length and then inhale again. How do you describe the aromas? Are they floral, fruity, vegetal, or does the aroma remind you of dried fruits or some other indulgent delicacy?

Floral aromas can range from rose, lime blossom, orange blossom or violet.

Fruity smells will range from grapefruit, apple, pear, quince, peach, apricot, nectarine, mango, banana, lychee, coconut, cherry or currant.

Vegetal bouquets range from almond, grass, fern, to truffle.

Dried Fruit odors range from hazelnut, raisin to dried fig.

Other indulgent delicacy aromas include butter, brioche, toast, honey, candied fruit, vanilla and various spices

Mouth

Champagne reveals its complex personality best on the palate. Try rolling the Champagne around your mouth – there is bound to be a dominant impression.

How does the Champagne feel?

Does it feel powerful, solid, comforting, smooth, light, mature, or opulent?

Now how would you describe the impression?

Is it creamy, delicate or complex?

Go ahead and enjoy what is hiding inside your flute glass – Wishing you all a Happy Global Champagne Day!

France is undoubtedly the most famous wine-producing country in the world and Beaujolais is one of their most popular red wines. Each year at one minute past midnight on the third Thursday of November over a million cases of Beaujolais Nouveau begin their journey to Paris for immediate international distribution. One of the most animated rituals in the wine world has now begun – a worldwide race to be the first to serve this new wine of the harvest. At the same time, banners are erected proclaiming: “Le Beaujolais Nouveau Est Arrivé!” – “The New Beaujolais has arrived!” and along with this begins the annual celebration of the arrival of the Beaujolais Nouveau. This celebration is steeped in tradition, frivolity, grandeur, legend, and bien sûr great wine!

This wine-producing region covers parts of the north of the Rhône département (Rhône-Alpes) and parts of the south of the Saône-et-Loire département (Burgundy). This region produces twelve officially designated types of Beaujolais known as AOCs, which include some of the finest and priciest grand crus, including Fleurie and Cote de Brouilly. The most common two are Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages, the former accounts for half of the region’s annual output, and is used to make Beaujolais Nouveau.

Six to eight weeks earlier the wine was merely a cluster of Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc grapes (Gamay) in a grower’s vineyard. By expeditious harvest, rapid fermentation, and speedy bottling the wine is ready to drink. This wine is as close to a white wine as a red wine can get – the must is pressed after three days, therefore the astringent tannins normally found in red wines are not evident, leaving light, fresh fruity notes. Beaujolais Nouveau is bright cherry red or violet in colour and is to be served at 10°C (50°F). The race from grape to glass may seem absurd, but half the fun is knowing that on the same night around the world in restaurants, bistros and homes everyone will be celebrating the first wine of the year.

There are over 120 Beaujolais Nouveau festivals held in the region with the most famous Les Sarmentelles. This five-day festival is held in the town of Beaujeu and features wine tasting, live music and dancing. During the afternoon on Beaujolais Nouveau Day wine and local foods are available for sampling. There is also a tasting contest featuring all twelve Beaujolais with the winner receiving his or her weight in Beaujolais-Villages! Later that evening there is a torchlit parade through the town honoring the growers and producers, with the Grande Finale ‘Fireworks at Midnight which marks the release of the new wine.

The town of Salles-en-Beaujolais also holds a ‘Beaujolais Nouveau Hike’ each year, which features tours of cellars around the area. A less obvious event is Le Marathon du Beaujolais, which is a three-day event in which participants taste the wine after running a marathon! Everywhere in France street parties are held for locals and tourists to taste the new wine. It’s one of the few times you’ll ever see en masse drinking in France!

The harvest ended more than one week ago: I wish we could rest and enjoy the current Indian summer but there is still a lot of work to be done. Bringing the crop in is a real achievement in itself, but the winemaking part is still in progress and will require considerable efforts before we can finally relax. The base wines will not be finished and ready for tasting before early November.

The harvest itself went reasonably well. As I mentioned before, the maturity of the grapes has reached very satisfying, largely above average levels, a relative surprise given the weather conditions over the summer. Chardonnays were healthy and the botrytis in the Pinot Noirs was to a large extent a non-issue—we only had to pay attention at the time of picking. However the very last days of the harvest were quite rainy and it was really time to finish. This harvest leaves us all with the great feeling of having done our utmost: good things should come out of it, but it is hard to say more right now. As usual, patience is key.

Richard Geoffroy