Virtual Tasting for Charity Week 6 (Dec 28-Jan 4)– Drop Some Bubbly Knowledge, Support Early Childhood Learning

WINE TALK
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Welcome to the final week of the 2022 WineBerserkers’ Virtual Tasting for Charity event. As usual, this is Bubbly Week!

In anticipation of BerserkerDay 14, I invite you to join me in throwing gobs of money toward a good cause, the Montgomery County Early Learning Fund.

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I’ll get to the point. Early childhood learning solves two problems: 1) kids learn (duh), and 2) their parents can afford to remain in the workforce. This is quite a challenge in my little corner of West Central Indiana. We simply do not have enough early learning “seats” available. This is causing a tremendous strain on our entire workforce system.

My local Community Foundation has formed a public-private partnership with local government and several employers to raise $3.7 million dollars to renovate a building that will provide 125 child care slots for infants and children up to age five. This is a real game changer, and you can help.

I have three offers.

Offer 1: The Einstein

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You drop some bubbly knowledge, I drop some coin. Tell me something interesting about sparkling wine. It could be a cool fact about how it’s made, a note on an under the radar region or producer, bubbly through history, in the movies, etc.

Caveat: regular tasting notes on a specific wine do not count, unless you’re donating money. (Thanks again, Tuite!) However, “value-added” tasting notes DO count. Tell me something over and above the tasting note, like something about the producer (e.g. this family-run winery has been around since 1868), the vintage (e.g. it rained all spring and there were threats of mold), or the region it came from (e.g. the chalky soils make for unique flavor profiles).

For every note of sparkling wine knowledge, I will donate $10 to the Montgomery County Early Learning Fund, up to $250. 25 seats available.

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Offer 2: The Casablanca

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I’m looking for 10 Berserkers to make a donation of any amount to the Early Learning Fund. I will add another $25 to each donation, up to $250.

But wait – there’s more! A local wine buddy has agreed to match my $250. So, if 10 Berserkers donate any amount, we will add another $50 per donation, up to $500. 10 seats available.

To donate:

  • Click here to go to the Community Foundation’s giving page, then click the “Donate Now” or “Give Online Now” button.

  • Select “The Montgomery County Early Learning Fund” from the dropdown menu. It should be the first choice.

  • Put “WineBerserkers” in the “This donation is in Honor of” box.

The Community Foundation will tell me how many Berserkers donated, and I’ll write them a check.

Offer 3: The Leo

Gatsby - Leo Toasting
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Back by popular demand…

The first five Berserkers who put on a tuxedo (or black suit) and post a recreation of this photo… I will donate $50, up to $250. 5 seats available.

Lady Berserkers, if you do not have a tux, you can recreate this photo with your best formalwear to suit Leo’s outfit.**

So, there you have it. I look forward to your bubbly knowledge, donations, and splendid photos.

Cheers!

Patrick

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Nice! I’m in for The Casablanca (already done). As for The Einstein, so if I read this right, you’re not taking TNs, but instead TNs that have some form of educational angle would qualify? So, if I decide, let’s say, with @brigcampbell to drink a handful of Champagnes this week, if I can insert the knowledge piece in each then it qualifies?

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That’s correct. A “plain vanilla” tasting note alone does not count, unless you donate money. Heck, if you donate money, your tasting note can be “Tasted with Sally.”

What I’d like to see is a “small batch Madagascar vanilla” tasting note. Just add a little sumthin’ sumthin’ to the tasting note, such as:

  • how old the winery is
  • interesting vinification choices
  • what the overall vintage was like, etc.

(And here’s lookin’ at you, kid, for being the first Casablanca!)

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I’ll figure out some informative way to serve @brigcampbell all kinds of acidic, fruit devoid, shrill grower Champagne this week. We’ll raise you a little money in the process. As for whether he will survive it or not, who cares—it’s for a good cause. :money_mouth_face:

I’ll start tonight without him, as my Ducks are on, in their quest to outrace Chicago into last place and get Connor Bedard.

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Here’s some fun knowledge in this vein for charity: At a time when Demi sec champagnes we’re popular, Mathilde Emilie Perrier of Laurent-Perrier launched a bracing high acidity style champagne to meet her tastes and those of some of her British customers: Grand Vin sans Sucre.

It is believed to be the first zero dosage champagne taken to market and was first created in …… 1889!

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Sorry, no knowledge here but I’ll donate $250 myself, need a link to the charity though. Neighbors invited us over for dinner last night and asked me to bring wine. Forgot my phone though so no pics and notes only from memory.

2013 de Négoce OG Brut Rose Lot 276 - We started with this one and I had zero expectations. Not a lot of domestic sparklers that move my needle. This one was a little on the sweet side but had crisp strawberry/raspberry fruit, a consistent mousse and was a crowd pleaser. It performed well for what it was and for that I was happy.

Laherte Frères Brut Nature Blanc de Noirs NV - This is my first go-round with this wine but I need to get more time with it. This was lovely. A faint tinge of salmon color, a mineral streak ahead of the mousse with wonderful body. Stone fruit with a hint of citrus, it flashes the fruit at your palate and then merges back into it’s mineral lane. Really enjoyed this but had far too little time with it. Relative bargain at $52.99.

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Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, born 16 December 1777 in Reims, was the daughter of a wealthy father, Ponce Jean Nicolas Philippe Ponsardin (from 1813, Baron Ponsardin), a textile manufacturer and politician.[2] Her mother was Jeanne Josephe Marie-Clémentine Letertre-Huart.

She married François Clicquot at the age of 21. Her husband died six years later leaving her a widow at 27 with a six year old daughter Clémentine. Her husband’s death may have been suicide,[3] but it was attributed to typhoid.[2] Madame was wealthy by virtue of her very well connected family. Napoleon and Josephine had both stayed at her family’s home (L’Hotel Ponsardin was the name of their household, not literally a hotel). Her father was made mayor of Reims by Napoleon’s decree.[4]

Her champagne today
Her husband François died in 1805, leaving his widow (veuve in French) in control of a company variously involved in banking, wool trading, and champagne production. Under Madame Clicquot’s control, the house focused entirely on champagne, and thrived[5] using funds supplied by her father-in-law.[4] Under her management and her skill with wine, the company developed early champagne using a novel technique called riddling. Prior to this invention the second fermentation of wine to create champagne resulted in a very sweet wine with large bubbles and sediment from the remains of the yeast used in the fermentation in the bottle (which creates the bubbles in the wine) resulting in a cloudy wine.

She still used the original English technique of adding sugar, but after this second fermentation was complete the bottles were held upside down. The bottles were regularly turned so that the dead yeast would all gather near the cork (riddling). Once the settling was complete, the wine near the cork was removed, followed by an addition of wine to refill the bottle

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My first post! :slightly_smiling_face:
Contributed to the Casablanca offer: universal free education beginning with early childhood is a dream I’d like to see come true in the US.
Thanks for doing this, and happy new year to all!

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Holy cow, Brian. Thank you!

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Thank you, Mia!

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Done!

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Thank you! If you ever come to Podunk, Indiana, there’s a bottle with your name on it.

It’s a bottle of chloroform, so that I can kidnap and force you to build me an outdoor cellar. But it’s the thought that counts, right?

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Not much of a fact about champagne but what it can mean in special moments. Today marks the twentieth anniversary of my first ever “big” wine purchase. A bottle of Perrier-Jouet Belle Epoque to open upon a successful proposal of marriage to my now wife. She’d always admired the bottle decor of the bottle behind the counter of our local bottle shop. It was best champagne we’d ever had at the time.

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Not particularly Einstein-like, but I went to the Penedes region this year and was really pleased with the bubbly I drank. As any geek paying attention knows, many of the best sparkling producers have broken away and are making wine under the Corpinnat banner, requiring things like hand-harvesting and sustainable practices etc. etc. I visited Corpinnat producer Sabate i Coca and the similarly excellent Pares Balta (not Corpinnat I don’t think) and would recommend to anyone.
Best of all, so much long-aged high quality stuff is in the $20s. After my curiosity was piqued by my visit, Robert Panzer sent out an offer for Pere Mata cava, with prices of various bottles between $16-22 or so. I bought a few different kinds and have been very impressed for the money. Would love to drink good champagne most nights of the week, but I’m not rich and everyone needs high-quality affordable sparking wine in their lives. :rainbow:

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(Bottles aging in the Pares Balta cellar)

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Traditional champagne method is double fermentation but before that it was ancestral, single fermentation.

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-make-sparkling-wine-using-the-methode-ancestrale

During the méthode ancestrale, wine is moved from a vat into individual bottles while it is still fermenting, and then sealed under a crown cap. Bubbles are created when carbon dioxide gas, a byproduct of alcoholic fermentation, gets trapped in the wine. The wine is not filtered and no dosage (sugar) is added, which is why pét-nat is considered more “natural” than other sparkling wine styles, all of which require more human intervention in the wine-making process.

Wines made using the méthode ancestrale undergo a single primary fermentation, and are usually lower in alcohol, around 11-12%. The alcohol content is low because ancestral method wine doesn’t go through a secondary fermentation process, which raises alcohol content. These wines often have some sweetness from residual sugar that has not fermented completely, resulting in an unaged wine with a focus on fresh fruit flavors.

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That truly warmed my heart. Thank you for sharing!

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I just did the Casablanca because I cannot think of any knowledge that hasn’t been posted here several times over or that I’ve heard several times so I assume its common knowledge.

Finishing off some Bollinger Special Cuvee I opened last night. I might crack one of those $30 Ch Heidiecks Glas won’t STFU about later.

Happy New Year all!

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Happy new year, Rock. Been a while since I have run into you, If you want to do some bottles in 2023, be happy to drop you an invite.

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My will is always in, Francisco. My schedule will insist on being in on the negotiations. :clinking_glasses:

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Ok Patrick, let me see if I can add some knowledge here to support your charity.

I made another trip to Champagne this past May, with the goal of getting to the Cote de Blancs. Along with that, I wanted to visit Aurelien Laherte, who wines I really dig and they now have a strong presence in my cellar. You will find my note below for the recently released 2018 Meunier called Les Vignes d’Autrefois, from his plots in Chavot and Mancy.

On the trip, what became evident to me is how the major villages of the north (Montagne, Marne and CdB) are all quite close to each other. Where this is especially true is for Laherte Freres in Chavot. It’s 15 mins from the epicenter in Epernay, and then about the same from Avize in the Cote de Blancs. For sure, Google Maps can help simplify the distance but to really appreciate it is to drive it. I just dug how reachable so much of it is once you are in this ‘northern’ section. Conversely, if you want to do the ‘southern’ piece, which for me is the Aube and Montgueux, then that is a different commitment. It’s 90 mins from Laherte Freres into the south (think Marie Courtin, Vouette et Sorbee, Bouchard, Gerbais).

My post here is an attempt to add some familiarity to a region that may seem a bit of a mystery to some, but it does make sense when you can drive it, be in it and see how reachable much of it is once you are in Reims or Epernay.

  • 2018 Laherte Frères Champagne Extra Brut Les Vignes d’Autrefois - France, Champagne (12/30/2022)
    First of three, got these from Caveau in Oregon who really had a great price--props to them. 100% Meunier, and I have to think that the dosage on this vintage is maybe in the lower end of the printed range (0-5 gms). Worth stating too, when I visited Aurelien in Chavot this past May, he had commented that 2018 was going to show more 'solar', a vintage where the sun perhaps had more of its way was my interpretation. It shows here. This is a fuller expression of Autrefois, lots of fruit, of tangy nectarine, blood orange, pink grapefruit, even a melon within a brassy tone. Yeah, it's got some spine here, mainly reflective within the pink grapefruit and there is some saline-like imprint too, yet the wine is as much about the fruit fullness in parallel. I have another half bottle for tomorrow's NYE so we'll see what that shows...following day, this comes into focus. I like this best with a light chill, as it charges up the blood orange, grapefruit and lime acidity. And I really noodled on what the tangy spice thing is in this wine, and where I land is a ground green cardamom. It has this complementary fit with the acid, adding a floral kind of thing that rings for me like a fresh cardamom that is infused into the wine. Strong vintage for Autrefois, really enjoyed this bottle.

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