|
|
 |
| |
| Cava out a chunk of bubbly market |
We put a panel through the arduous task of
picking their favourite bottle of champagne
CHAMPAGNE, it’s the wine of the elite. Its reputation built
on its special cuvees (blends) created for a French emperor and
a Russian czar. But it’s also the number one choice at even
humble British weddings.
It’s associated with success, fun and celebration. The world
loves the stuff and nowhere is this admiration greater than in Britain
– we drink more champagne then any other nation, including
France.
Champagne is several different wines produced in a strictly defined
geographical area – the most northern wine region in France.
Grapes are harvested by hand and rushed to the wicker wine presses
of the champagne houses or co-operatives.
Fermentation usually takes place in stainless steel vats. Of the
big producers only Krug, Alfred Gratien and Bollinger still use
wooden casks. After some ageing the wine is assembled by blending
wines from different grapes, vineyards and even vintages.
Each Champagne house has its own jealously guarded recipe. The wine
is subject to a secondary fermentation in the bottle and this creates
those marvellous bubbles.
A compound of yeast and sugar is added at the final stage, deciding
the level of sweetness. The amount of extra sugar can be gleaned
from the label. Extra brut, no added sugar, has only two grams per
litre of residual sugar. Brut has 15g per litre added sugar; Sec
17g to 35g and Demi-Sec, 35g-50g. Eighty per cent of all champagne
is non-vintage and brut.
There are three basic champagnes; Blanc de Blancs, made from white
chardonnay grapes, Blanc de Noirs produced from black grapes and
all other champagnes are made from a blend of white and black grapes.
We asked north London resident and wine educator Tom Hall, who runs
the Scala School of Wine, to recommend a well made champagne. Tom
was recently awarded runner up in a competition to find the European
Ambassador for Champagne organised by the Comité Interprofessionnel
du Vin de Champagne www.champagne.fr, an official organisation representing
champagne growers and makers.
Tom’s choice was:
Pol Roger, n/v Reserve Brut 12 per cent, £19.99. Champagne
region, France. (Usually £25.99) Oddbins, various branches.
Winston Churchill was a fan of this champagne house and is reputed
to have drunk two bottles of their fizz a day. He also fancied and
even flirted with the charming and captivating Odette Pol Roger.
The pair are long gone but the champagne they drank together lives
on. This champagne is blended from a base of 30 wines using all
three champagne grape varieties, described as a mousse of tiny bubbles
and a delicious appley nose.
We put Tom’s choice into a blind tasting with a cheap supermarket
champagne and a well known Spanish sparkler, made by a top producer
using the champagne method.
Waitrose Champagne Brut n/v 12 per cent, £9.99. Champagne
region, France (normally £14.99).
Made by leading champagne maker Heidsieck, the back label claims
only wine from the first pressing – generally considered the
best – is used.
But other factors contribute to the making of a good champagne,
the quality of the grapes and most importantly the combination of
wines and vintages used to blend the champagne.
The back label claims it has a taste of ripe fruit and biscuit.
Codorniu Cuvée Raventos Cava Brut n/v. 11.5 per cent, Spain,
£7.99 Oddbins (buy two get one free).
Codorniu is the oldest winery in Catalonia and uses state of the
art technology and the traditional champagne methods. The wine is
allowed to mature for nine months.
It is pale straw yellow in colour with pear aromas and toasty palate.
• The tasters’ response:
Everyone liked the taste of all three wines and identified the Pol
Roger immediately. It had, they said, a stronger, longer lasting
taste than the other two and streams of tiny bubbles that filled
the glass. What makes champagne special is bubbles and on this,
the Waitrose wine fared badly – the bubbles fading quickly
in the glass.
The Spanish Codorniu produced a stream of longer lasting bubbles
but only along one part of the glass. Taste wise, the Pol Roger
was the clear winner.
However, when the prices were revealed, most tasters plumped for
the Waitrose at £9.99 which they thought was incredibly good
value.
For our tasters price was regarded as the major consideration. |
|
Cava out a chunk of bubbly market
CHAMPAGNE, it’s the wine of the elite. Its reputation built on
its special cuvees (blends) created for a French emperor and a Russian
czar...
FULL STORY
Let's teach our kids a bit of respect
I’VE been surrounded by fighting talk this week. Purely on a professional
level of course...
FULL STORY
|
