Tag: Champagne

Halpern Portfolio Wine Tasting October 27: Champagne Gosset tasting with Philippe Manfredini



Champagnes Tasted:

N/V Grand Blanc de Blanc – A golden yellow with delicate green tints; fine lively bubbles; mineral and floral notes on the nose with apricot and citrus; very fresh with great harmony on the palate – overall a crisp and well-structured champagne – 93/100

2000 Grand Millesime Champagne – A bright, sparkling radiant yellow gold; Lively and effervescent bubbles; the initial nose exhales rich, complex notes; there is an atmosphere of a delicate notes almond, dried herbs, butter-pastries, honey, then notes of boxwood and incense with a subtle final note of menthol; the palate is lovely and fresh, dominated by Chardonnay; The wine’s consistency and richness is a signature of its wonderful maturity, the sweetness is perfectly balanced – 91/100

N/V Grand Rose Brut Champagne – A strong, clear salmon-pink hue; The nose is reminiscent of fresh summer fruits and berries with some insistent fragrances of cinnamon and nutmeg; The mouthful is generous, opulent and ripe marrying roundness and concentration with minerals and strawberry flavors. Infinitely silky, its elegant perfume and velvet bubbles tantalize the taste buds and caress the palate. The finish is remarkable, delicate and refined – 93/100

TOMORROW IS #CHAMPAGNEDAY – HERE IS A CONDENSED GUIDE FOR YOUR CHAMPAGNE SIPPING

THE PRACTICAL PART
Not every wine that sparkles can be called Champagne. True Champagne comes from a special region in France located 90 miles northeast of Paris. Champagne has a legendary history, and has for many hundreds of years been part of many cultural events and historical traditions. This region has a combination of chalky sub-soils and cool climate, which produces the only grapes in the world that can yield the Champagne of legends!

Grape Varieties and Styles
The three primary grape varieties that that are used to make Champagne are pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay. The dark-skinned pinot noir and pinot meunier give Champagne its length and backbone, while chardonnay gives it acidity notes and biscuit flavour. There are several other grape varieties that are permitted for historical reasons, and are used occasionally.

Non-vintage
A non-vintage Champagne includes a blend of grapes from several vintages. They also have a consistent style, and are made for immediate consumption. Most Champagne is non-vintage. Only a few non-vintage Champagnes will benefit from further aging.

Vintage
Champagne vintages are declared only for outstanding harvest years and are made from a single harvest year. The producers reserve their finest fruit for this style of Champagne, adding to its desirability. Not every year is declared a vintage year.

Presitge Cuvées
This is a proprietary blend, the top of the producer’s range, and is most suitable for cellaring. The trend is that these Champagnes come delivered in very expressive, distinctively-shaped, and labeled bottles. These Champagnes are usually made with grapes from Grand Cru vineyards.

Blanc de Blancs
Blanc de blanc is a French term that means “white of whites”, and is used to designate Champagnes made exclusively from chardonnay grapes. The blanc de blancs style is popular as an apértif due to their light, dry taste.

Blanc de Noirs
Blanc de Noirs is another French term that means “white of black”. This sounds like a contradiction, but it is not. What it tells you is that the Champagne has been made only using black grapes. Champagne made from black grapes are typically full bodied with intense richness.

Rosé
Rosé Champagnes are produced either by leaving the clear juice of black grapes to macerate on its skins for a short time or, the common method, by adding a small amount of still pinot noir red wine to the sparkling wine.

Sweetness (Brut to Doux)
In addition to classifying Champagne styles, classifications are also used to refer to sweetness. The amount of sugar added after the second fermentation and aging varies and will dictate the sweetness level of the Champagne.

• Brut: dry, less than 1.5% sugar (most common)
• Extra Sec: extra dry, 1.2 to 2% sugar
• Sec: medium sweet, 1.7 to 3.5% sugar
• Demi-Sec: sweet, 3.3 to 5% sugar (dessert Champagne)
• Doux: very sweet, over 5% sugar (dessert Champagne)

THE FUN PART – TASTING
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, savour its aromas and define its dominant impressions.

Before you pop the cork, there are a few basic tips:

• Flutes 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

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 odours 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!

To participate in tomorrow’s festivities, follow the #ChampagneDay hashtag on Twitter, Facebook, and on other social media sites. For more information about #ChampagneDay or the worldwide effort to protect wine place names and origins, please visit http://bit.ly/rhBcbh or www.champagne.us.

Liz Palmer
coHost for #ChampagneDay
@champagneHouses
http://about.me/lizpalmer

iPad2 WINNER ANNOUNCED: ERIC MUELLER IS THE OFFICIAL WINNER OF #CHAMPAGNEDAY LABEL CONTEST

The Champagne Bureau recently hosted a contest as part of the #ChampagneDay celebrations. To promote appreciation for and protection of true Champagne, the Champagne Bureau asked participants to send and post pictures of authentic Champagne labels.

Over 300 submissions were received, and can be viewed on their Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/pGmv1F.

Congratulations to Eric Mueller, he is the lucky winner of an iPad2!

Did you know that October 28th is the second annual Champagne Day?

To participate in tomorrow’s festivities, follow the #ChampagneDay hashtag on Twitter, Facebook, and on other social media sites. For more information about #ChampagneDay or the worldwide effort to protect wine place names and origins, please visit http://bit.ly/rhBcbh or www.champagne.us.

Liz Palmer
coHost for #ChampagneDay
@champagneHouses

Champagne Bar Launch: “Bubble in Paris” at Hilton Arc de Triomphe exclusive with Taittinger Champagne

Hilton Arc de Triomphe Paris has partnered with Taittinger Champagne to create “Bubble in Paris” a Champagne bar that resembles a life-size snow globe – what fun!

The translucent bar was designed by Jean-Hugues de Chatillon, who drew inspiration from the mythical realm of Narnia, to bottle a miniature winter wonderland.

The 16-foot tall dome will house an all-white, central, circular bar, a lounge that can accommodate 35, and is open now through New Year’s Eve.

WHAT TO ORDER: the signature special €25 for a glass of Taittinger Champagne.

Liz Palmer
@champagnehouses

LATEST POLL SHOWS EXTENSIVE SUPPORT FOR WINE TRUTH-IN-LABELLING

UNPRECEDENTED COALITION OF INTERNAIONAL WINE REGIONS JOINED BY NOTABLE CHEFS IN EFFORT TO PROTECT WINE PLACE NAMES.

Leaders from 15 of the World’s Premier Wine Regions gather in New York today, along with top international chefs to call on policymakers to heed growing consumer demand for wine truth-in-labelling.

Disclosed today were results from a recent poll of U.S. consumers (conducted by Public Opinion Strategies). Surprisingly, findings showed that Americans have very strong feelings about the role of location in making wine-purchasing decisions. Key findings from the poll of 1,000 U.S. wine drinkers include:

• 79 percent consider the region where a wine comes from an important factor when buying a bottle of wine;
• 75 percent report they would be less likely to buy a wine if they learned that it claimed to be from a place like Champagne, Napa Valley or Oregon, but in actuality was not;
• 84 percent think that the region a wine comes from is extremely important in determining its quality;
• 96 percent say that consumers deserve to know that the location where wine grapes are grown is accurately stated on wine labels; and
• 98 percent support establishing worldwide standards for all winemakers that would require that they accurately state the location where wine grapes are grown on wine labels.

“In over 20 years of polling, rarely have we seen such strong feelings on an issue like this,” said Rob Autry, partner of Public Opinion Strategies and the lead pollster on this project. “Consumer sentiment this strong is a clear signal that Americans care a great deal about the location a wine comes from and clearly want ready access to that information when looking at a bottle.”

Perhaps most troubling was the fact that despite broad interest in wine location from all sectors of the U.S. wine-consuming populace, when presented with two labels to compare side by side, most consumers were unable to determine the correct origin of the wine. This underscores the challenges winemakers face with current labelling laws.

“The research released today shows consumers are more focused on product origins than ever before and it isn’t just a passing concern, but one they feel extraordinarily strong about,” said Linda Reiff, executive director of Napa Valley Vintners. “When a place name is misused, a part of the identity of that distinctive wine region is lost and consumers can be misled. This poll also shows that U.S. consumers understand this and are looking for clear labelling of wine place names when they purchase wines.”

“The 15 regions gathered here today agree that great wine is made in unique places all over the world and that these unique place names must be protected. A failure to do so undermines all of these wine-growing regions and, as the research shows, runs counter to the expectations of the consumer,” said Bruno Paillard, representing the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne. “People want to know where their wines come from. The Declaration signatories have taken a global stand for truth-in-labelling and we are committed to working together to maintain and protect the integrity of wine place names.”

The poll was released by the signatories to the Joint Declaration to Protect Wine Place & Origin, a coalition first formed in 2005 when the initial global declaration was signed. The organization has since doubled in size, welcoming two new members – Rioja and Long Island – at this year’s meeting in New York.

In addition to the growing number of wine regions joining the campaign to protect place names, some of the world’s preeminent names in food and wine have joined hands with the coalition as well. An open letter was released today signed by chefs and sommeliers lending their support for truth in wine labelling. Signatories include Thomas Keller from Per Se and the French Laundry; Ferran Adrià from El Bulli; Daniel Boulud from Daniel; Alexandre Ferrand from Alain Ducasse; Wolfgang Puck from Wolfgang Puck Restaurants; Antoine Hernandez from Joël Robuchon; Michel Richard from Citronelle; José Andrés from Jaleo and minibar; Pontus Elofsson from Noma; Charlie Palmer from Charlie Palmer Restaurants and many others.

“We support the Joint Declaration to Protect Wine Place & Origin because place names are central to understanding the foods and wines we work with every day,” says José Andrés, a James Beard Award-winning chef with restaurants in Washington, D.C.; Las Vegas and Los Angeles. “We celebrate foods and wines from all over the world every day, because they bring special elements to the table and we believe that clear labelling is central to this experience.”

“Americans care about where their food and wine are from more than ever before, so we must stand together to ensure that consumers accurately receive the location-driven products they desire,” says Chef Ken Frank of Napa Valley’s landmark restaurant, La Toque.

The coalition hopes that the clear and resounding results of consumer survey data, combined with the accelerated interest on the part of chefs and other food and wine experts and an overwhelming majority of the world’s leading wine regions now working in unison will push lawmakers and others around the globe to better protect wine place names in the U.S. and beyond.

By signing the Declaration, the 15 wine regions have collectively affirmed that geographic names are fundamental tools for consumers to identify the wines from specific wine-growing areas. In their meetings today in New York, the regions renewed their commitment to working together on the consumer education and public advocacy necessary to ensure that these names are protected and respected worldwide.

The Joint Declaration to Protect Wine Place & Origin was originally signed on July 26, 2005, and now has the support of 15 international wine regions including Champagne, France; Chianti Classico, Italy; Jerez, Spain; Long Island, New York; Napa Valley, California; Oregon state; Paso Robles, California; Porto, Portugal; Rioja, Spain; Sonoma County, California; Tokaj, Hungary; Victoria, Australia; Walla Walla Valley, Washington; Washington state; and Western Australia. These quality wine regions have come together to foster the growing global recognition that location is the most important ingredient in wine. To lend support and read the full text of the Declaration, visit www.protectplace.com

Liz Palmer
@ChampagneHouses