Champagne Archives

Champagne Poem: Wild Fire Wine Of France

Oh, the wild-fire wine of France,  
Quick with fantasies florescent,  
Rapturously effervescent,
How its atoms leap and dance!

Floric fount of love and laughter,  
Where its emanations rise,  
All the difficulty dies,
From now and then hereafter.

Through the happy gold-n haze  
Time’s gray cheek if bright with dimples,
 And his laugh more lightly wimples
Than the sea’s on summer days.

Tongue and throat it makes to tingle,  
Beats the blood from heart to vein,  
And ascending to the brain,
Bids the spirit forth and mingle

With a world no longer grim,
But serene and sweet and spacious  
Where the girls are fair and gracious,
And the Cupids light of limb.

Soul and sense are all untethered  
Who would an angel when  
Clement king of gods and men
He can soar so grandly feathered

With thy plumage, oh Champagne?
Bottled gladness, thou magician!
Silver beaded! mist Elysiaan!  
Ecstasy of sun and rain!

Swift and subtle, glad and glorious,  
Oh, the wild-fire wine of France! 
How its atoms frisk and dance!
Over fate and time victorious.

Anonymous

Champagne Drappier and Royal Wine Corp. Announce a Joint Venture to Launch First Ever Kosher Champagne

Royal Wine Corp., the largest importer and distributor of kosher wines in North America, and Champagne Drappier, the highly-regarded Champagne house have recently formed a joint venture to import and distribute the first-ever kosher cuvees from the famed Champagne region.

Royal Wine Corp.’s travelling winemaker Pierre Miodownick participated in the vinification of the two kosher cuvee’s, a project several years in the making. The release is set to take place for the upcoming Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah).

The two Champagnes to be released are:

Carte-D’Or Brut – blended with the traditional Champagne grapes: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier, it possesses aromas of white peaches and cherries while providing aromatics typical of a rosé Champagne though the appearance of a blanc; and

Carte Blanche – a blend made exclusively from the first pressing, fresh and fruit forward, considered to be a great “party wine” by the region.

Established in Urville, Cote des Bars, Aube since 1908, the Drappier family today grow and harvest a 75 hectare (99-acre) estate. Charles de Gaulle adorned his cellars with Drappier’s most famous cuvees. Planted by the Gallo Romans circa 1 AD, the vineyard was one of the first to be improved by the Cistercians of the Clairvaux Abbey.

Drappier is the largest champagne house in the Aube region and produces approximately 1.6 million bottles a year. Said Michel Drappier: “We are thrilled to be able to expose our hand-crafted Champagnes to a new kosher audience.”

Nathan Herzog, Executive Vice President of Royal Wine Corp. added: “As the industry leader in kosher wine, we take pride in producing and distributing the finest kosher wines. We are excited to include the Champagne house of Drappier’s stature to our select portfolio.”

Champagne Drappier
Address: Rue des Vignes, 10200 Urville
Tel: 03 25 27 40 15
Email: info@champagne-drappier.com
Web: www.champagne-drappier.com

Royal Wine Corp.
Address: 63 Lefante Lane PO Box 17, Bayonne, NJ 07002
Tel: 201.535.9006
Fax: 718.388.8444
Email: esegal@royalwines.com
Website: http://www.royalwines.com

Liz Palmer – Wine and Travel Writer
Member of the Circle of Wine Writers (UK)
Distinguished Member of The Wine Century Club
http://about.me/lizpalmer
http://lizpalmer.wordpress.com
www.boutiquechampagnehouses.com
http://twitter.com/champagnehouses

The Safest Airlines in the World Revealed

A report released yesterday by Air Transport Rating Agency (ATRA) found that the safest carriers in the world were mainly those based in Europe and the US.

While European and US airlines rarely feature in the top 10 rankings for best customer service, airlines from these regions have dominated a new list of the world’s safest carriers.
Air France-KLM, British Airways and Lufthansa are the safest airlines in Europe.

The safest US-based airlines are AMR Corporation, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways, while the safest from Asia is Japan Airlines.

To obtain this classification, the first of its kind, ATRA examined publicly available information on 15 criteria, such as the average age of the aircraft used or the homogeneity of the fleet.

Each year, the European Union releases list of banned airlines, often considered to be the world’s most dangerous. The latest list, published in April, can be seen at http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air-ban/list_en.htm. It includes 37 Kazakh carriers and 43 Indonesian airlines.

World’s 10 safest airlines

Air France-KLM
AMR Corporation (American Airlines, American Eagles)
British Airways
Continental Airlines
Delta Airlines
Japan Airlines
Lufthansa
Southwest Airlines
United Airlines
US Airways

SEPTEMBER 1ST DEADLINE: AUSTRALIA CORKS ITS USE OF “CHAMPAGNE”

On September 1 Australia joins the global movement to support robust truth-in-labelling laws that protect consumers by requiring that wine growing place names are reserved exclusively for the regions where the wines come from.

Any bubbly produced in Australia after September 1 can no longer be labeled as “Champagne”, and will have to be called ‘sparkling wine’ or other term.

There has been a trade agreement signed between Australia and European Union which is meant to protect winegrowers around the world, and to enforce labelling laws, an initiative of the Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne, or CIVC in France.

Russia and Vietnam continue to mislabel their bottles, says a CIVC spokeperson, and more than 50 percent of sparkling wine in the US is mislabeled as champagne.

Canada has robust labeling laws and consumers have been educated and are aware they are purchasing a bottle from the Champagne region of France.

To mark this industry milestone, CIVC has created this website to count down the days and minutes until the new Australian law comes into force http://countdown.champagne.us/

CHAMPAGNE HARVEST STARTING DATES – BY VILLAGE AND GRAPE VARIETY

The Champagne Bureau (Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC) ) based in Epernay has released the dates for the 2011 Champagne harvest.

Starting dates differ from village to village and also by the grape varietal. For instance, the villages which produce the Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Noir varieties commence earlier than the Chardonnay variety. This is due to Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir variants maturing in terms of sugar levels more quickly than the Chardonnay variant, with rare exception.

The balance of sugar and acid is key in the harvesting of grapes.

Click here for the complete list of 2011 Champagne harvest starting dates by village and grape variety: 2011 Champagne Harvest Dates