Interesting article on Champagne

WINE TALK
1

Here is an interesting article http://www.mofflymedia.com/Off-the-Vine/March-2011/Champagne/on Champagne from which I learned many new things, including:

Don’t store the wine “at 37 degrees since that will slowly eat away at the fruit and the bubbles in the bottle”.

Non-vintage Champagne should be consumed within the first year because “it is not going to get any better in the bottle”

“You will find the Rose Champagne to be automatically drier than the brut Champagne since the leading varietal is Pinot Noir and that is a drier grape than Chardonnay.” [NOTE TO SELF: need to figure out which grape is the most dry of all…]

"There is only ONE Dom Perignon. I get asked from time to time how many different champagnes does Dom Perignon produce; the answer is ONE. "

This last piece of information is particularly concerning, as it makes me suspect that the Dom Perignon Roses and Oenotheques that I’ve tasted may have been forgeries…

2

The blogger is writing for her local market (Fairfield County, CT.). Gems like the ones above, and this one:

If you have a sub-zero that has a temperature setting for white wine that would work, but not your normal refrigerator temperature at 37%

resonate loud and clear with her readers. [snort.gif] [head-bang.gif]

3

Hard to find a single good sentence in the article.

4

Oh wow
31 years in the wine industry and she comes up with those gems!
I particularly liked “The grape varietal is mostly Chardonnay” [shock.gif]

Cheers
Rip

5

It is sad that someone who is in the business for “31 years” can’t do a better job of conveying the relatively simple concept of sweetness levels in Champagne - or is that quality levels? - her article is even confusing in this regard.

No wonder the average American consumer gets frustrated in trying to learn about wine. If one were to read this, then go to a decent wine shop and ask about Champagne they would hear two stories that were the exact opposite of one another. I would give up as well!

6

Champagne seems to suffer from the largest amount of incorrect ‘common knowledge’ of any kind of wine. Its a real shame with the amount of new growers coming into the market over the last few years.

7

Poppycock! You only need to remember two names: Dom Perignon & Veuve Clicquot!

Oh, and if you want a Champagne with no dosage: Pol Roger. [wink.gif]

8

Oops, I had intended to include that quote on my list as well…hilarious!!

9

Why do you say that? neener It’s hard to mess it up:

  • always use flutes, other glassware should be shunned as it doesn’t display pretty bubbles as well

  • never serve bubbly at anything less than ice cold

  • ONLY serve at weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and other milestones

  • Champagne isn’t wine, which is why decanting it never helps

  • mixing it with orange juice is best, you get two fruits in one drink!

10

Don’t forget that it causes hangovers and that you must drink it or cover it within five minutes of opening or the bubbles will dissipate!

11

Well the bubbles are the only reason to drink it. When it goes flat, I toss the juice down the drain and shake up a snow globe to remain entertained.

12

Srsly.
Whenever I bring champagne to dinner for non wine geeks they say one of two things

  1. I dont drink champagne I always get a headache from the bubbles
  2. It’s just dinner, what’s the champagne for??
13

Damn, there goes my bubbly and popcorn night if I can ONLY drink it at weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and other milestones. Great advise! [popcorn.gif]

14

I felt a little sorry for her so I emailed her.

[edit] she just emailed me with her response… do I dare…

15

You gotta!

16

[beg.gif]

17

I really just emailed her as a “heads up” but she elected to send me her response to a reply on the blog. First is an email to me, the second quote is the readers post with her comments in bold. I did not post any comments.

As far as the Dom Perignon is concerned - yes, there is the oenotheque and Rose. Many people believe that Dom Perignon is a champagne house - which is what I meant by ONE Dom Perignon.
Maybe I had too much Champagne when I wrote the article or
At least someone is reading the blogs
Will promise to be much more diligent and spend better time preparing my sentences.
Terry



There is so much misinformation here as to boggle the mind.

There’s no standard as to how many vintages are blended into an NV bottling. Some use up to 20. Many use more than 5.

(most of the larger champagne houses use 2 or 4)

  1. Most NV bottlings DO improve with bottle age. -

**Non Vintage Champagne IE: VEUVE CLICQUOT does not improve with age… **

  1. Most rose Champagne is made from a majority of Chardonnay and the red grapes are used to add color. It is rare for a rose Champagne, or any Champagne top made from all or close to all red grapes.

THIS IS OUTRIGHT LIE - PINOT NOIR IS THE MAJOR GRAPE THAT GOES INTO MAKING ROSE CHAMPAGNE.

  1. Most rose Champagnes are sweeter than “regular” Champagne.

ROSE CHAMPAGNES ARE DRIER THAN BRUT - I WILL BLIND TASTE YOU AND YOU WILL SEE

  1. Pinot Noir is not “a drier grape” than Chardonnay. No grape is “drier” than another and, typically, Chardonnay has higher acidity at harvest than Pinot Noir so the Champagne will come off drier.

  2. There are 3 Dom Perignons: regular, rose and Oenotheque.

THIS WAS ANSWERED EARLIER

Wow.

She sent another email, which I won’t post. I think she’s a little taken aback. welcome to the bloggosphere I guess. I sent her a link to this thread, maybe she’ll join wb and turn it all into a positive experience.

We probably all have poor posting skeletons in the closet.

18

[popcorn.gif]

19

Wow. Her responses in bold to that blog comment are highly combative and not altogether true. Are you sure you didn’t get that from a wine forum, Brig? [wink.gif]

20

Wow, she fails pretty hard here