Welcome to Champagne
Capital Malts, Briatin's finest champagne bars and Champagne - Brand Spotlight.
Introduction to Champagne
No other drink conjures up the same images of luxury, celebration and happiness as Champagne. At a time when all the other traditional French wine regions are struggling to compete with upstarts from the New World, only Champagne stands head and shoulders above the competition. There is an aura of invincibility about Champagne to the extent that, for most consumers, there is sparkling wine, and there is Champagne.
This awe-inspiring reputation has been driven by the monolithic Champagne houses that dominate the region's production, and the not inconsiderable marketing budgets that are used to build the profile of brands that drive the market. This phenomenon was not seen in the world of wine until major new world wine brands made their recent impact. The thirst for Champagne in the UK is remarkable. We are the second biggest market behind the domestic market in France. Soren Jessen, the man behind 1 Lombard Street and Noble Rot, attributes this to the British drinkers' civilised attitude towards Champagne. It is not just for a celebration, it is a choice alongside wine and all the other options available to the modern consumer.
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Where is Champagne
The Champagne region is comprised of around thirty thousand hectares of vineyards based around the towns of Rheims and Epernay just 90km to the east of Paris. Ninety percent of the vineyards are owned by small growers who sell their produce to the big companies and cooperatives that make the wines on an industrial scale. The three grape varieties permitted to be used in the production of Champagne are the white chardonnay, and the red pinot noir and pinot meunier. The Champagne vineyards are the most northerly in France, and the coolest. The resulting wines tend to be thin, weedy and a little acidic, which by happy accident makes them ideal raw material for the complicated process that leads, via secondary fermentation in the bottle, to the vibrant bubbly nectar that is good Champagne.
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History
The Champagne vineyards initial success was predominantly due to their proximity to the great city of Paris. However due to their northerly location, the fermenting wines would often stop before the process was completed due to the onset of winter, and would only start again with the warmth of spring. This proved catastrophic as the wines were by this time in bottle, and the carbon dioxide produced as a by product of the fermentation was likely to cause the flimsy bottles to explode. An auspicious start, this was however the basis of their success.
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The big players in the story of Champagne
Dom Pérignon deserves his position as the Godfather of Champagne for the advances in blending and wine quality that he made during his time as cellarmaster of the Abbey of Hautvillers. It is ironic that he was never trying to make sparkling wines, and was continually frustrated by exploding bottles. It was with the advances in British bottle making technology that the pesky bubbles could be harnessed and enjoyed in the late 17th century.
The next major development was from the house of Veuve Cliquot where the system of remuage was developed to remove the dead yeast cells after the secondary fermentation in the bottle, and thus provide a superior saleable product for the consumer. Earlier Champagnes were sweeter in taste, and it was Madame Louise Pommery, responding to her English customers who created the dry 'Brut' style that is widely enjoyed today.
The Champagne method (or traditional method as it is now properly known) of producing sparkling wines may be costly and take several years, but the results are fantastic and are now being practised around the world.
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Sparkling wines today
Sparkling wines have been produced elsewhere in Europe and with some success, but it is with the development of new world sparkling wines, often with the investment of capital and knowledge by the Champagne houses, that the sparkling wine market has become a dynamic force. Mumm, Moët and Chandon, Roederer, Deutz, Devaux and Taittinger are all involved around the world. The best wines are made in the coolest sites, and some of the best new world sparklers are coming from New Zealand and Tasmania in Australia. One surprising country to look out for in the quality sparkling wine stakes is the UK. Given that the white cliffs of Dover are made of the same piece of chalk that gives Champagne its distinct character, we should perhaps begin to take English sparkling wines such as those of the award winning Nyetimber in Sussex, a little more seriously.
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The rungs of the Champagne ladder
When we think of Champagnes, most of us think of non vintage brut. This is the workhorse of the region, a blend of different cuvées, wines held back from previous vintages, a blend of the three different grapes, and the wine that a Champagne house produces to a consistent style year by year. There are however a diverse range of styles of Champagne.
The most common of these, and a rapidly growing phenomenon is that of rosé Champagne. The huge commercial success of Laurent Perrier Rosé has led to an explosion of rosé Champagnes onto the market, either made by blending a little red wine into the cuvée, or by the saignée method where the colour is bled out of the red grapes before, and during fermentation.
The sugar level or dosage is another stylistic difference, highlighted by the sweet Veuve Clicquot Demi-Sec, and the bone dry 'zero dosage' Laurent Perrier Ultra Brut. The first is great with a fruit pavlova, and the second a perfect accompaniment to half a dozen oysters.
In a good year a house will release a vintage wine. This is a serious Champagne, and a pure expression of the house's vineyards in a particular year. Vintage Champagnes are usually aged for longer on their yeast lees than the two to three years that the non vintage matures, and will need some more time before release to open up. The pinnacle of Champagne production is the prestige cuvée. Dom Pérignon and Louis Roederer Cristal have been joined by many other names, but ones to look for are Pol Roger Cuvée Winston Churchill, Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame, Krug and Taittinger Compte de Champagne. Ray Roncetti, manager and buyer for Kettners Champagne Bar, recommends Laurent Perrier Grande Siècle from his fantastic list. Whilst it may not have the same standing as others, it doesn't share the same astronomical price tag either!
At vintage level and above, one starts to see the sort of quality wines that Olivier Rigolot of La Grande Marque describes as 'serious structured wines, not Champagne for bubbles'. He continues: 'To make a great Champagne, you need to start with a really good wine'.
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Different house styles
Each Champagne house has its own signature style. These varying styles come about from the proportions of chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier in the blend, and the wine making techniques employed in the winery.
Two extremes of style would be the fresh, green, balanced and elegant Taittinger Brut Réserve NV, with a high proportion of Chardonnay in the blend, contrasted with the rich, nutty luxurious style of Bollinger, with a higher proportion of Pinot in the blend, and occasionally some oak ageing.
Pommery have taken this concept a step further, with the launch of seasonal Champagnes. The Blanc de Blanc, or 100% Chardonnay, Summertime, is light, green, refreshing and frivolous, whereas the Blanc de Noir, Wintertime, is more toasty, rounded and warming. Blanc de Blanc and Blanc de Noir Champagnes are well worth seeking out.
If you are not yet inspired to go and discover the delights awaiting you in a bar near you, then I will leave you with this from the incomparable Lily Bollinger on Champagne:
'I drink it when I am happy and when I am sad. Sometimes I drink it when I am alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it when I am not hungry, and I drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it unless I am thirsty.'
Matt Whishaw, Wine buyer, Dhillon Hotels (January 2005)
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Bar Focus - London's Finest Champagne Bars
London is full of fantastic places to drink Champagne. The square mile has always been a a hotbed of consumption, and bars like La Grande Marque on Ludgate Hill are city institutions. Though La Grande Marque is not the most stylish bar in town, with its roots firmly in the camp of the City wine bar, it does have a wonderful list of Champagnes. It is unusual in that it does not have a pouring Champagne. Instead they pour a different Champagne every month. Over Christmas 2004 it was Pol Roger White Foil NV, and in early 2005, Perrier Jouet NV, Pommery Wintertime Blanc de Noirs NV, Dom Ruinart 1993, Mumm Cordon Rouge NV and Taittinger Brut Réserve NV will all be making an appearance. Every three months they also change their pouring rosé Champagne as well. More.
The new kids on the city block are Dion Champagne and Wine Bars, with their original bar on Leadenhall Street, and their second just opened in Paternoster Square, St Pauls. If your wallet can stretch to it, you can enjoy a glass of Bollinger Grande Année 1996 in Leadenhall, or Krug at the Paternoster Square bar, which will soon have a late license and live music every Wednesday. The bars are elegant and contemporary, with fantastic tapas style food, and wonderfully attentive service.More.
More cost conscious city drinkers could do worse than check out Abacus, a buzzy and modern bar with some crazy priced deals during their happy hour. More.
In the West End it is hard to ignore Kettners, a Soho institution since 1867 (when Auguste Kettner, chef to Napoleon III, made London his home), and a wonderfully relaxed and unpretentious bar, with a fantastic array of Champagnes and a choice of bottle sizes. How about trying a Nebuchadnezzar of Pol Roger, if you have enough friends to get through the equivalent of twenty bottles with the pop of just one cork! Otherwise try a bottle of Jacquart Brut Mosaique. More.
Noble Rot in Mayfair has a wonderfully relaxed and stylish bar below the restaurant. It does have a 'late week late night' membership, but is great place to relax and unwind over a bottle of Louis Roederer Brut Premier or Pommery Rosé. More.
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Champagne Spotlight
Some of the biggest Champagne brands along with the bars you can find them in.
Laurent-Perrier Burt non-vintage
Laurent-Perrier, which embodies the House style is deliciously fresh and easy to drink. The blend is composed of over 55 different Crus (with an average 94% rating). After being aged for over three years, liqueur d'expédition is added and the champagne is matured for a further six months. the result is a delicate yet complex nose, with hints of citrus fruit, and a good balanced palate. Perfect as an apéritif, it also goes very well with food.
Laurent-Perrier can be found in the following London bars: The Savoy, Claridges, Spoon @ Sanderson and Blue Bar at Berkeley Hotel.
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