Debate a Bubble - Champagne News and Reviews

First stop Krug

What do you do when you have an invitation to visit Krug? You drop whatever it is you're doing and you say 'Yes please'.

I hadn't been back in Champagne 48 hours when I got exactly that opportunity, so unpacking boxes and putting up pictures had to wait whilst I went off to Rue Coquebert in Reims last Friday morning.

Despite it's huge reputation Krug is not a very large champagne house. Annual production is only around  half a million bottles, which is small compared to the many millions produced by the largest houses.

There's no imposing mansion in Rue Coquebert, just a modest, although very elegant, building tucked away down a quiet side street - you could easily drive right past without knowing it.

It was 10.30 by the time we arrived and it was encouraging to see that a bottle of Krug Grand Cuvée was all ready cooling in an ice bucket on the table in the reception room. I suspect there is one there permanently.

Since your tatste buds are at their most receptive in the late morning it was the perfect time to open the bottle and our hostess, Julie-Amandine, was not slow to do the honours.

There are a number of things that set Krug apart from most other champagne houses

Grand Cuvée is Krug's main brand and unlike most other cuvées de prestige, Grand Cuvée is not a vintage champagne. In other words it contains reserve wines from previous years, just like any other non-vintage champagne (or multi-vintage as Krug prefer to say).

It's precisely these reserve wines that contribute to Krug's distinctive character and depth. The reserve wines are kept for many years, 15 years or more in many cases, and always represent a minimum of 40% of each year's blend. That's unusually high and the result can be tasted in the amazingly long finish and powerful flavours.

Another secret to the Krug style is the fact that all the first fermentation of the grape juice (or must) is done in oak barrels as opposed to stainless steel vats.

Not that Krug is looking to add any over-powerful woody, vanilla-like flavours to their champagne.

The new barrels are conditioned for several years by being used to store wines from the second (lesser quality) pressing of the grapes and these wines are then sold off to third parties.

By doing this most of the excess tannin and woody characteristics are eliminated from the barrels before they are used in earnest to ferment juice destined to be part of a Krug champagne.

A third factor in the unique Krug style is the use of  Pinot Meunier. Whilst most of the famous prestige cuvées are blends of the two so-called 'noble grapes' Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with no Pinot Meunier, Krug takes an diferent view and Pinot Meunier always figures prominently in their blends.

The result is quite unique.

I may be shot down in flames by avid fans of Krug, or Krugists as they are called, but I have to say that Krug is something of an acquired taste.

The first thing that struck me is the amazing balance between on the one hand the powerful aromas, rich flavours and extra long finish that rolls around your mouth long after you've swallowed and on the other hand, the striking freshness, almost austerity, that you feel when  you take a mouthful.

It's a combination that's difficult to describe and no doubt volumes have been, and will be, written on the subject. All I can say is that Krug leaves an impression that you've certainly drunk something remarkable, but it's not a champagne that's leaves you with a warm glow, eager for another generous glassful.

Perhaps it will grow on me and I certainly hope I have the chance to put the idea to the test again in the near future.

Back To Champagne - Come And Visit

Next week I'm off back to Champagne to live, at least for a couple of years.

I'm working on a really exciting project which I shall reveal over the coming months as it progresses, but if you like champagne then I promise you'll like this.

I'm looking forward to being in the thick of things in Champagne again and of meeting lots more of the small champagne makers who are attracting ever-more attention these days. So there'll be lots to tell you in the weeks ahead.

If you've ever thought of visiting the Champagne region then now's your chance. We'll be running special Champagne Discovery weekends several times this year  ( the first one is in March)

 http://www.maboffers.com/Champagne-House-Party-Weekend.pdf

and of course if you come during the week you'll be welcome too.

Personal guided tours, tutored tastings, great food, very comfortable accommodation  and a very warm welcome - all waiting just for you in Champagne.

You'll find more details here

http://www.madaboutbubbly.com/home-in-champagne.html

See you soon, I hope

Jiles

 

Champagne - Putting the Romance in Valentine’s Day

If you're planning a romantic evening on Valentine's Day à deux, à trois, à quatre or more (who knows?) champagne seems to be the obvious choice of wine, but where does the link between romance and champagne come from?

Here’s a short run through of champagne’s romantic history and a few tips for making this year’s Valentine’s Day that extra bit special.

In fact champagne has been linked to love and romance for centuries. Back in the mid 18th century a certain French cardinal, of all people, by the name of de Bernis used the imagery of a champagne bottle popping open to make very thinly-veiled erotic suggestions in a poem to his would-be mistress the Marquise de Pompadour.

She’s the lady who famously said that 'champagne is the only drink that makes a woman more beautiful after drinking it than before'  which is a pretty good line to remember for romantic occasions in any day and age.

She must have been quite a beauty because she soon became the mistress of King Louis XV, presumably much to the disappointment of Cardinal de Bernis, but at least he had champagne to drown his sorrows.

By the late 1700s in France the connection between seduction and champagne was well and truly established. Legend has it that the saucer-shaped champagne glasses called coupes were modelled on the the breasts of another famous French royal : Marie-Antoinette, who was the wife of king Louis XVI
 
They were a saucy lot back at the court of kings Louis XV & XVI, but in fact the earliest reference to the magical seductive qualities of champagne was by an Englishman called Sir George Etheridge as long ago as 1675, so perhaps the French don’t know everything about the art of seduction after all.

There is a good reason why champagne can make you feel merry quite quickly, loosen your tongue and perhaps your inhibitions too. Unlike still wine which you have to take into the stomach before the alcohol is released into the bloodstream, with champagne the alcohol starts being released into your system when the bubbles burst in your mouth.

Champagne is also the only wine you can appreciate with all of your senses: you can see the bubbles rising in the long, slender glass, you can smell the rich aromas, taste the flavours and feel the cool sensation of the wine if you run your finger down the outside of the glass and, if you raise the glass to your ear, you can even hear the bubbles dancing and bursting - so champagne is certainly sensuous as well as sensual.

The effect was beautifully summed up in the novel ‘Madame Bovary’ by Gustav Flaubert

“Iced champagne was served, and the feel of the cold wine in her mouth gave Emma a shiver that ran over her from head to toe.”

You’re probably going to want something to eat with your champagne, so what’s it to be?

Well, strawberries and chocolate are two delicacies that spring immediately to mind and, apparently, scientific tests have shown that all three have a clear beneficial effect on your state of mind.

If you saw the movie Pretty Women you’ll remember that Julia Roberts used to love to drop a strawberry right into her champagne glass. Champagne purists might turn their noses up at this but, if you enjoy it, go for it, but I’d recommend using rosé champagne rather than white champagne.

For one thing the colour of rosé is enticing and romantic in itself, but the other reason is that rosé is a better complement to the strawberries.

This is partly due to the matching colour, but also because rosé champagne often contains a higher proportion of red grapes, particularly Pinot Noir, than the equivalent white champagne and it's these grapes that give the champagne those lovely aromas and flavours of red fruit, including strawberries, so the two together are a  match made in heaven.

What about chocolate ? Well, I hate to be a kill-joy, but chocolate and champagne really aren’t that great a combination. It’s down to you of course, but I think you'll get much more pleasure if you eat and drink them separately.

The reason for this is that chocolate is rich and creamy in texture and can be quite sweet to the taste. On the other hand, most of the champagne we drink is brut meaning that it has a low sugar content and is fairly crisp and fresh on the palate. These two opposites are best enjoyed on their own.

If you're absolutely set on eating chocolate with champagne here are a couple of tips that are well worth trying:

•    try white chocolate instead of dark chocolate with champagne

•    try a demi-sec champagne rather than a brut champagne

Demi-sec is richer in sugar and makes for a much more satisfying, smoother combination with the sweetness of the chocolate. You’ll find demi-sec champagne on sale in most good wines stores

Whatever you chose, have a romantic Valentine's Day and remember what another Frenchman said about champagne. This time it was a famous gourmet from the19th century by the name of
Brillat-Savarin

“Burgundy makes you think of silly things; Bordeaux makes you talk about them, and Champagne makes you do them.”

A New Way To Judge Wines

I've always been wary of relying too much on recommendations by 'wine gurus'. It's useful to have some pointers, but when all is said and done, we are all individuals with different tastes and so no one really knows what you like except you.

I wrote a blog post about this last year 

http://bit.ly/Experttasters

 and it seems that I was not the only one thinking the same thing.

That's why I was excited to read an article in the Wall Street Journal explaining about a new type of wine tasting competition.

The project is the brain child of a gentleman called Tim Hanni a Master of Wine who wants to change the way things are done.

No more 'gurus' doing the tasting, just regular wine drinkers. After all they are the ones who are going to be buying and drinking the wine.

No more taking notes and confering afterwards. In fact the whole thing will be a lot simpler and the results may well  reflect more accurately what most amateur wine drinkers enjoy.

Says Mr. Hanni:

"experts 'do things no normal human being would ever do' in a social setting, including slurping, gurgling and 'creating metaphors about place, fruit and vegetables' while writing tasting notes."

Unfortunately that's all too true and the result is that most amateur wine drinkers find the gurus' comments confusing and that can make the amateurs feel inferior or inadequate. Of course this applies to champagne just as much as to any other wine.

So a change is long overdue and it looks as though the time has finally come thanks to Tim Hanni and no doubt to a few others involved in the project.

You can read the whole article here  http://bit.ly/5TEcuc 

and it really is a breath of fresh air