Debate a Bubble - Champagne News and Reviews

How Dry is Dry?

Lot's of you have told me recently that you are often unsure how sweet or dry a bottle of champagne will be and so you don't know whether or not it will suit your taste.

In fact this is one of the things about champagne that you should be able to find out with complete accuracy, but... surprise, surprise... it's not always quite as simple as that.

When champagne comes out of the cellars at the end of the ageing process, it is absolutely bone dry; too dry in fact for most people’s liking.

So, in most cases,  a small amount of liquid sugar is added to adjust the final taste before the bottle is sold.

This process is called dosage in French. The dryness/sweetness of the champagne depends on the amount of sugar added and there are several possible categories of sweetness which are measured in terms of grams of sugar per litre ( gr/l)

The various categories are
Brut Zero (sometimes called brut sauvage, ultra brut)         No sugar added
Brut Nature                                                                                  < 3gr/l  
Extra Brut                                                                                 0 – 6 gr/l
Brut (by far the most common)                                                  6 -14 gr/l
Extra Dry                                                                                 12 – 20 gr/l
Sec                                                                                          17 – 35 gr/l
Demi-sec                                                                                  33 – 50 gr/l
Doux                                                                                            >50 gr/l

One of these categories must, by law,  be shown on the label so that gives you a clue as to the level of sweetness, but the problem is that some of the categories are quite broad. A champagne with 6gr/l of sugar is a brut, but so too is a champagne with 12 gr/l – twice as much – and you can’t tell this by looking at the label.

Also, you'll see that some categories overlap which seems to me just another source of potential confusion. 

In fact the champagne maker can tell you precisely how much sugar had been adding during the dosage and it wouldn't be difficult to put this on the label.

I don't believe that there's anything confidential about this either so all in all I can't see any reason why the consumer should not get chapter and verse on this important detail instead of the broad categories that currently appear on the label.

Like I said at the beginning, finding out the exact sweetness of a champagne should be easy but the only way to find out exactly how much sugar has been added (short of contacting the maker) is to ask your retailer and as I've said many times before - he/she should know.

Next time you're buying a bottle of champagne why not ask the retailer what the dosage is and see what they have to say?

How To Choose Champagne

If you missed out on my recent Win A Weekend In Champagne competition, don't despair; all is not lost. There will probably be one more competition before the year is out so you'll have another chance.

All you had to do to enter the competition was to share with me the No. 1 question you wanted to ask about champagne or the No. 1 challenge you face when it comes to champagne.

There were stacks of entries and stacks of great questions but although they were all put in slightly different words the theme was the same:

"How to I know which champagne to choose when there are so many to choose from?"

 "I know that there are lots of different champagnes to try, but I just don't know where to look or what to ask for, so I end up sticking to the names I know or the ones I've tasted before"

I reckon that there are lots of you who feel the same way so I've put together a few tips that I hope will be help. Here goes:

There are  4 things you need to know to  give you a clue about what the style and quality of a champagne will be like:

•    The quality of the grapes  ( there are 3 classifications of quality and these can affect the quality of the champagne: Grand Cru, Premier Cru and then the third category which is simply Cru)

•    The proportion of the different grape varieties used in the blend ( more a question of taste than quality. Do you prefer a champagne with more Chardonnay, more Pinot Noir or more Pinot Meunier in it?)

•    The length of ageing ( In general the longer the ageing, the ‘better’ the quality, so knowing how long a champagne has been aged is crucial)

•    The degree of sweetness which in French is called Le Dosage ( again, this is a question of taste rather than quality, but very important to know so that you get exactly the level of dryness or sweetness you want)

If you know these things you’ll have a pretty good idea of what the champagne will taste like and you’ll know if it’s what you’re looking for.

If it is, then you can decide how much you want to pay to get what you want.

That may sound a bit technical, but it’s not really. Some of this information is shown on the label ( although sadly not all), but if you go to a good wine merchant he/she should know these things and should be able to tell you. If they don’t, then try another shop.

How do you know which type or style of champagne you prefer?

Well there no short cut other than to try several different champagnes and in this process you’ll no doubt get a few bottles that you like less than others. Try not to view this as a disaster, though. As long as you didn’t spend a fortune, and there’s no need to do that to find good quality, then with every champagne you taste you’ll be  narrowing down the field and learning as you go along. Then the time will soon come when 9 times out of 10 you’ll be able to try an unknown brand and you’ll get a pleasant surprise rather than the other way around.

Stay Bubbly

Getting Greener In Champagne

Over the years Champagne has had some poor publicity as regards environmentally friendly practices, or rather the lack of them, but all that is changing rapidly.

Apart from the growing number of champagne producers who use organic, or bio-dynamic methods, there are many other initiatives in place to go easy on our planet and the latest concerns the weight of champagne bottles....

Let’s set the scene  with a few facts and figures – better take a note of these; they are sure to come up in trivia quizzes before too long.

Everyone will have noticed how much heavier champagne bottles are than other wine bottles. This is because the bottles have to be thicker, and therefore heavier, to withstand the pressure inside. All that’s fairly clear and obvious but here are a few things you probably don’t know

An ordinary still wine bottle weighs between 450 – 500 grams (1 – 1.1 lbs) compared with 900 grams (2lbs) for a bottle of champagne – almost twice as much. Back at the start of the 20th century champagne bottles weighed even more at massive 1.2 kilograms (2.5 lbs)

Here’s another amazing fact; the packaging used in the champagne industry accounts for a whopping 30% of all the carbon dioxide emissions of the entire Champagne region; half of this is down to the bottles alone.

Anyone who is concerned with green issues will be pleased to hear that a new and lighter version of the traditional champagne bottle has just been approved for use. In fact a few houses, Veuve Clicquot and Mumm being the biggest two, have already decided to use the lighter bottles this year meaning that they’ll be hitting the market in about three years time after ageing in the cellars.

The new bottles weigh 840 grams and whilst that’s only 60 grams lighter than the normal bottles, the cumulative effect is huge. Veuve Cliquot reckons that their overall CO2 emissions will be cut by 450 tons per year, that’s equivalent to pulling 140 vehicles off the road.

They also calculate that they’ll need 48 fewer delivery lorries as well because you can pack 24 pallettes of the lighter bottles on a lorry instead of only 22 at the moment.

For the time being however you won’t be able to see any difference. For a start the bottles won’t be on the market at all for a few years, for another thing champagne houses are not obliged to use them, so I suppose that some will and some won’t and even if they do you may be hard pressed to spot the difference since it’s only 60 grams

 Still, I imagine that, in time, the lighter bottles will entirely replace the current version and just think what an impact that will have.

There are roughly 1 billion bottles of champagne in the cellars at any one time; that's going to reduce the CO² by a lot but I'll leave it to you to calculate exactly how much!

Champagne Sales Haven't Lost All Their Fizz

Well, after all the doom and gloom earlier this year about champagne sales and prices falling through the floor, http://bit.ly/thepriceofchampagne

the year didn't end quite as disastrously as was first feared.

According to the information I'm getting, the official figures show that 294 million bottles of champagne were sold last year. That sounds like a lot of bottles but in fact it's 12% down on last year.

Still, back in Spring when sales were 30% + down on last year it looked as though the year was going to be a lot worse than it's actually turned out

Total champagne sales last year were back to the level they were in 2002 and I would think that, all in all, champagne makers will be satisfied with the way the year has ended.

Mind you, that figure of -12% versus last year is the total for all champagne makers' sales around the world and I haven't yet seen the figures for  the U.K.

Within those 294 million bottles sold, sales of the smaller houses held up much better than those of the bigger brands; many smaller houses actually increased their sales.

Is this because the smaller brands are generally cheaper than the big brands and consumers are merely driven by price?

Or is it because smart consumers are realising more and more that the big brands rarely offer the best value for money and that you can find great quality and lots of variety amongst what are popularly called the Grower Champagnes, not to mention better value?

Time will tell, and it will be interesting to see if 2010 sees the return in force of the grandes marques or  whether grower champagnes will continue their steady progress

Watch this spaces and in any event,

Stay Bubbly

Champagne Videos

This is just a quick post to tell all of you who'd like to know more about champagne that I've created loads of short videos on champagne and posted them on YouTube

There are lots of topics and there'll be lots more as the weeks and month go by, so why not drop in from time to time

Here are a few links directly to the videos

Choosing Champagne - How do I know if I'll like it BEFORE I  buy the bottle - Part I

This video look at the way the grapes are blended together to produce different results

http://bit.ly/tipsonbuyingchampagne

Part II

Here are some tips about the quality of the grapes used to make the champagne

http://bit.ly/tipsonbuyingchampagne2

The title of this next one is a bit of a giveaway

http://bit.ly/Howtoopenabottleofchampagne

What tastes and aromas to look for in champagne

http://bit.ly/Tastesandaromasofchampagne

Tasting two great grower champagnes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQafT4N

Last but certainly not least, an introduction to our Champagne Club

http://bit.ly/Welcometoourchampagneclub

Hope you enjoy watching these are be sure to e-mail me if you have any questions

jiles@madaboutbubbly.com

Rosé Champagne - How to Find The One You Love, part 2

In part 1 of this blog we sort of dived in at the deep end with the big, bold rosés de saignée.

Next up is ‘Rosé d’Assemblage’

the more delicate and refined cousin, if you like, which is by far the more common way to make pink champagne.

Assemblage 

(pronounced asomblarge) means ‘blending’ in French, and that’s what they do.

They start with the still white wine made from the crushed grape juice and then simply add a little still red wine (made in the champagne region, of course). Then this blend then goes through the normal champagne-making process which creates the bubbles and turns the wine into rosé champagne.

Incidentally Champagne is the only wine-making area in France allowed to make rosé wine in this way; everywhere else in France it has to be done using the saignée method.

Rosé champagne made by the assemblage method is usually paler in colour and lighter in flavour than if it’s made by the saignée method.

The exact colour and flavour depend on the amount of red wine that is added: the more red wine, the darker the colour and the fuller the flavours. Something around 10% red wine is typical. Anything much more than that and you’d end up with something closer to a rosé de saignée which is not what this type of rosé is all about.

Again, to give you a point of reference, Moët & Chandon, Mumm and most other rosé champagnes are rosés d’assemblage.

Because most rosé champagnes are made by the assemblage method there are hundreds to choose from, but two you may not have heard of, and which I'd recommend without question, are Franck Bonville Rosé, Grand Cru and Collard Chardelle Rosé.

Franck Bonville is based in the village of Avize in La Côte des Blancs where the white Chardonnay grapes rule supreme.  Franck Bonville's rosé reflects the location and it's light, bright and classy, with a lovely pale pink colour.

Collard Chardelle is from La Vallée de La Marne area of Champagne, where Pinot Meunier grapes are in the majority. You won't be surprised to know then, that there is 50% Pinot Meunier in Collard Chardelle rosé. The other 50% is Pinot Noir, so there is no Chardonnay is this at all.

( Smaller growers tend to source grapes from near where they live so, when you know where they are based, that can immediately give you a clue as to what style of champagne they produce).

The result is a rich, cherry-red colour, and plenty more cherry-like taste in the champagne itself. A very fruity rosé this, with a soft, almost sweet texture - really easy to drink. 

Now you’ve read both parts of this post, you know that there are two types of pink champagne, and that gives you the power to choose the style you like. ( to read part 1 go here http://bit.ly/Rosechampagnepart1

Personally I’d go for a blended (assemblage) rosé as an aperitif before a meal, especially if it’s a nice warm, sunny day. This style of rosé just seems light and bright and right for that kind of occasion.

If I were having a meal and were going to sit down and really savour the champagne then I reckon it would be a rosé de saignée for me, but it’s entirely up to you, so whatever you like is right.

So what does this all mean for you?.....

Well, the first thing to do is to decide which of the two styles you prefer – more champagne-drinking practice needed I’m afraid! It’s tough, I know, but someone’s got to do it.

Because most rosé champagne is rosé d’assemblage, this is probably the style you’ll have come across already. If so, try looking for a rosé de saignée next time, just so that you know the different tastes. Then, when you’ve decided which of the two styles you prefer, you can try other champagnes like it until you find the one that’s perfect for you.

Let me know which one’s your favourite. Leave a comment in the comment box.

CHAMPAGNE CLUB

If you're champagne-lover, perhaps you’d like to learn a little more about it and discover some champagnes you’ve never tried before instead of stcking with just a few brands whose names you know?

If that sounds good to you and you like a little help in finding those new champagnes, then our champagne club is just the thing . Find out more by clicking

here

Top photo courtesy of Moët & Chandon

 

Rosé Champagne - How to Find the One You Love, part 1

Amazingly, it's only just over a month until Valentine's Day and that will inevitably mean that lots of pink champagne will be bought and enjoyed. Over the past few years, demand for the pink stuff has just gone through the roof.

Nowadays just about every champagne maker offers a pink champagne as part of their range, so there’s no shortage to choose from, but how on earth do you go about choosing one rather than another?

Here are some timely tips to help you find the ones you like best.

The first thing to tell you is that pink champagne and rosé champagne are the same – just two different words for the same thing. So sometimes I’ll write rosé and sometimes I might put pink instead.

Next, did you know that rosé champagne can be made in two different ways, giving two very different results? It’s not a question of one being ‘better’ than the other, they’re just different.

To explain, let me start by telling you how still red and rosé wines are made...

Still red wines and still rosé wines are made by pressing black grapes and then letting the skins soak in the juice. The colour in the skins slowly seeps into the juice turning it darker and darker over time. If you leave the skins in the juice for only a few hours, you’ll get just a touch of pink colour in the wine. If you leave them soaking in the juice for a lot longer, you’ll end up with a really dark red, almost black wine.

If you make rosé champagne in this way it’s called ‘Rosé de Saignée’ (pronounced senyay which means to bleed, in French – the colour from the black grapes ‘bleeds’ into the juice)

It’s really tricky to get this process just right. Unless you know exactly what you’re doing you can leave the grapes the grapes too long in the juice and end up with too much colour and worse, an unpleasant bitter taste in the wine that comes from the skins and stalks – not what you want at all!

When you get it right, mind you, you’ll end up with a lovely, rich-coloured rosé champagne, full of those luscious red fruit flavours that you can find in good red wines: raspberries, cherries and blackcurrants with none of that bitterness.

Laurent Perrier Rosé is made like this, so that gives you a benchmark, but there are many others to choose from.

A favourite of mine is Soutiran Rosé Grand Cru.

It's not only a rosé de saignée, it's made entirely with Pinot Noir grapes and has absolutely bags of colour and flavour plus, of course, it's a Grand Cru which is always a good indicator of quality.

Not everyone likes this style. Some people find rosé de saignée just too fruity and ‘full-on’, but if you’re tempted to try some then next time you’re about to buy a bottle of rosé champagne make sure to ask your wine retailer if it’s a rosé de saignée. He/she should be able to tell you.

By the way, big, bold rosé champagne like this goes really well with a whole range of foods, even quite strong-flavoured red meats that you’d probably never think of eating with champagne.Try a rosé de saignée with pigeon, or duck, or lamb – it’s terrrific and also that little bit special!

Next up is ‘Rosé d’Assemblage’ which is by far the more common way to make pink champagne and I'll explain more about that in another blog post tomorrow, so watch this space and...

Stay Bubbly

CHAMPAGNE CLUB

If you're champagne-lover, perhaps you’d like to learn a little more about it and discover some champagnes you’ve never tried before instead of stcking with just a few brands whose names you know?

If that sounds good to you then our new champagne club is just the thing for you. Find out more by clicking here

More Answers To Your Champagne Questions

First things first...

A Merry Christmas to you and may 2010 be a fabulous year for you all!

Next.

This is a long blog post for all those people who entered our recent competition and are waiting to answers to their champagne questions. Even if you didn't enter the  competition you're welcome to read on and see if you like what you read. If you want to be on our e-mail list just leave your first name and e-mail address at www.madaboutbubbly.com or in the box on the right.

Now, on to our news...

Beware of your tumble dryer! (We'll get around to champagne in a sec - promise) 

Sorry I haven’t been in touch for too long. Here’s what happened…

We had a fire at the end of September. It started when the tumble dryer in the kitchen caught fire and pretty much destroyed our home. We found out later from the fire brigade us that tumble dryers are the single biggest cause of home fires. I don’t want to panic you, but don’t leave your tumble dryer on when you go to bed or when you go out!

To begin with we thought that we could sort everything out in a couple of weeks and get back to normal, but were we ever wrong!!

First we had to find a new office – that was the easy part – but then...... our telephone lines were down and we had to get them back up fast.

We had a problem. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to get a telephone company to mocve fast, well …..it’s not what they normally do. In fact I don’t think it’s what they ever do. To cut a long story short, the whole thing took another 4 weeks. 4 weeks!!! Unbelievable!.

Anyway, once we got the lines back up we obviously needed broadband and on and on it went... Anyway, a good few glasses of champagne were needed to keep the spirits up and this worked wonders! Now I’m happy to tell you that we back to normal – as normal as we ever get, that is.

A New Year and A New Champagne Club

Now, I can finally catch up with answers to the many questions you submitted to our champagne competition a few weeks back. You asked questions from the USA, Canada, the U.K. and several other countries, so thank you to everyone for taking part.. We’ll get to the answers in a minute.

There were loads of great questions but what struck us most of all is that many of you are asking the same sort of thing – Here’s how Louisa put it:

My greatest challenge is ignorance! I am sure some of the lesser known labels would taste just as great as the better known brands and I would like to be able to select great champagne at a great price

Sarah wrote to say that her challenges is

Balancing price against quality, i.e. finding a good value champagne that still tastes fab!

Nick said

For me,it’s the decision between an established name I can trust, or trying the unknown

And Lynn said

Deciding between those I know and like, and others which ''look'' or ''sound'' good, but which I''ve never tried.

These are all great questions, and rather than just do a one-off answering session, we’ve been racking our brains to come up with something that will help all of you and others who are confused about champagne. And here’s where we’d like your help

In the New Year we’ll be launching The Grand Crew Club

and these are some of the ideas we’ve been playing around with.

• Every month we’ll introduce you to one or two wonderful champagnes from lesser-known makers that you’d never find yourself.

• We’ll tell you where you can buy them in the U.K. and elsewhere if there’s an importer.

• We’ll arrange a discount for you off the normal price.

• You can make your own decisions about whether or not to buy (no obligation)

• Plus we’ll send you lots more champagne offers and info. throughout the year.

We’d like this club to give you exactly what you are looking for, so what we’d like you to tell us now is

What other features and benefits would you like to have from the club? 

AND

What do you feel is the right price to join the club? Annually, monthly, quarterly?

We’re waiting to hear from you, so email me directly at jiles@madaboutbubbly.com

I promise to respond to all your feedback.

---

Now to the answers to more of your champagne questions – see if you can spot yours

Finding a champagne that doesn’t contain Chardonnay (John)

Most champagnes are made by blending together the three grapes used in the Champagne region - Chardonnay (a white grape) Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier (both black grapes), so most champagnes contain at least some Chardonnay. If you don’t like Chardonnay look for a bottle that says Blanc de Noirs on the label – made only with black grapes.

  

As an introduction to this style why not start with Sainsbury’s Blanc de Noirs? I tasted it last week in Champagne at the company that produces it for Sainsbury’s. It’s well worth trying.

 

 

 

 

Finding a champagne that appeals to both red and white wine drinkers (Lesley)

The Blanc de Noirs might do the trick – after all it is made with black grapes only

Am I paying too much for the ‘label’? (Craig)

Knowing what is good value for money (Jean)

Affording the good stuff (Jo)

Don’t be fooled into thinking that a high price necessarily means high quality. There are plenty of expensive champagnes that are, in my opinion, over-priced. On the other hand there are some fabulous champagnes that cost a lot less.

How do I know I’ll enjoy it? (Margaret)

Knowing the quality without tasting (Alison)

Identifying the flavour profile I like (Richard)

When you’re choosing wine 9 times out of 10 the type of grape is shown on the label so you’ve always got a good idea of the taste of what’s in the bottle.

The problem with champagne is that almost none of the makers tells you which grapes have been used and even when they do, they usually do so in such general terms that it‘s not very helpful, so what do you do?

There are sometimes a few clues on the label: Blanc de Blancs is 100 % Chardonnay and has a light style, Blanc de Noirs is all black grapes and has fuller, deeper flavours which are more obviously fruity than Chardonnay-based champagnes

The label will tell you how sweet it is. Champagnes range from ultra dry to fairly dry (brut) to fairly sweet (demi-sec) and on to very sweet (doux) although this is not common.

If your automatic reaction is to say you don’t like demi-sec champagnes, do think again; they can be fabulous with the right food.

Serve at the start of a meal or with dessert? (Lori)

Understanding what food it is best drunk with (Jakki)

You can serve champagne as an aperitif, with dessert and with all courses in between and I’m not saying that just because I’m a champagne fan.

Yes, I know that most people think of champagne as being an aperitif, and lovely though that is, there’s much more to it than just that.

You can find a champagne to match just about every type of food you can think of, with the possible exception of really rich meat dishes such as Boeuf Bourgignon.

Is vintage champagne all it’s cracked up to be and what vintage would you recommend? ( Sue )

There are two main differences between vintage champagne and non-vintage, which accounts for about 80% of all champagne that is made.

First vintage, champagne is made from grapes harvested in one single year, and non-vintage is a blend of wine made from grapes harvested in different years. The objective with non-vintage champagne is to produce the same tase and quality year in, year out – that’s why you need to use wines from several years because each year’s grapes used on their own will produce a slightly different result due to differences in the weather from year to year. You probably guessed then, that vintage champagne does vary slightly from year to year.

The second major difference is that vintage champagne has to be aged longer than non-vintage and this means that the flavours and aromas are richer, deeper and more powerful. So if you like this style of champagne, then Yes you can tell the difference between non-vintage and vintage.

Many people will tell you that such and such a year is the best vintage for decades, or that another year’s vintage is especially good and of course, they charge a higher price for those champagnes. BUT remember..... in Champagne, the makers don’t have to declare a vintage every year. Their main product is non-vintage. It follows that if they do decide to declare a vintage it’s because they believe they have made something special and, in this sense, every vintage is a good one, so once again, don’t take too much notice of the marketing hype about any particular year.

I’m never sure how long it keeps (Sue)

Finding champagne with enough bottle age (David)

Champagne is ready to drink when it leaves the maker’s cellars. After all, the maker has aged the champagne for years already so that you don’t have to. ( This is exactly the opposite aproach to most other good wines that you buy young and have to store until they are ready to drink).

Having said this, storing champagne for a few months will help the flavours and aromas develop, provided that the place where you store the champagne is suited to the job: a constant temperature, relatively humid and preferably, dark.. In short, a proper cellar. The period the champagne spends ageing, after it’s left the champagne cellars, is called ‘bottle age’.

So if you have a cellar do keep the champagne for a few weeks or months, but if you put your champagne in the kitchen, in the garage, under the stairs, or anywhere like that, drink it within a few weeks, so you won’t be disappointed when you do finally open it.

The choice is huge and despite many years trying, I still haven''t found THE ONE! (Al)

Keep trying Al – a tough job but someone’s got to do it

Limiting myself to just 1 case ( Martyn)

Spoken like a true champagne lover!

Buying a case at a time is a good way to buy any wine because you tend to get better prices than for single bottles and, unless champagne is a once in a blue moon type of enjoyment, you’ll drink all 6 bottles in a case anyway.

Knowing which of the ''non-big-brand'' champagnes are actually as nice, if not nicer, than the ''names'' when spending a modest amount on a bottle. (Grant)

Knowing what to pick - what is a good champagne and what is a ''bad'' champagne and knowing how to tell the difference!! (Chris)

How can a novice acquire a broad, but simple, understanding of the brands/purchasing options open to us? (Steve)

Here’s a quick guide to what you need to know before you buy the bottle

1) The quality of the grapes used

2) The blend of grapes used

3) The length of ageing

You need to start with good quality grapes. Look for the words Grand Cru or Premier Cru on the label. This is an indication that what is in the bottle will be good.

The proportion in which the grapes have been blended will dictate the style of the champagne.

The length of ageing has a major influence on the final result and allows the champagne to develop the biscuity, toasty and exotic aromas that many people adore.

If you can’t find this info on the label, (and the chances are you won’t) ask your wine merchant – he should know. If not, buy my e-book

http://www.maboffers.com/insiders-guide-to-champagne.html

(sorry, just had to get that plug in!)

Not knowing any specialist suppliers and having to rely on supermarkets (Matthew)

A fate worse than death Matthew, although as mentioned above, there are some good supermarket champagnes around - the trick is knowing which ones. Anyway Matthew, stay tuned for the launch of our new Grand Crew Club in the New Year

Finding the little bitty letters that specify whether or not it's a grower champagne. If it is a grower producer, I’m usually game to try! (Paul)

Paul, take a look at this blog post. I think you’ll find it helpful

http://bit.ly/Growerchampagnes

That’s it for this now. I think I’ve covered just about all the questions you sent in, but if not e-mail me and tell me.

Thanks for reading this far and don’t forget to let me have your thoughts about the Grand Crew Club and feel free to e-mail me about anything else as well. Looking forward to hearing from you soon

Stay Bubbly,

Jiles

Now That's What I Call A Champagne Bar

I was in London for a few meetings the other day and took the chance to pop in to the St. Pancras Grand Champagne Bar that I’d heard so much about.

For those readers who are not from the U.K., St. Pancras is one of London’s major railway stations. It’s a huge building dating from the Victorian era and the architecture is stunning in it’s own right, but the recent refurbishment has transformed the place into a shopping and tourist destination as well.

The selection of champagne was impressive to say the least, I counted 15 champagnes available by the glass ( not to mention one English sparkling wine ), 25 champagne houses and no less than 104 different champagnes available by the bottle and in many cases, by the magum, jeroboam (4 bottles) and even balthasar (16 bottles). Just reading the champagne list was a treat in itself.

Just about all the major champagne houses were represented and what I particularly liked is the fact that there isn’t just a single champagne from each house, but at least one other champagne to discover. The strange exception to this was Charles Heidsieck –just one champagne from this great maker - the Blancs des Millenaires 1995 - but none of the excellent non-vintage.

Still it would be  a bit mean to find fault with such a wonderfully comprehensive champagne list, although I wonder how many people actually take advantage of the chance to try something out of the ordinary instead of opting for the usual brut NV? Mind you that’s their loss, especially since the bar is running several offers that allow you to do just that:

•    how about Taittinger Nocturne by the glass as a change from the standard Brut Réserve ? If you haven’t tried Nocturne yet, this luscious, sec champagne is slightly sweeter than brut and it's one I heartily recommend.

•    if sec is not your style, then you could try a flute of Deutz Brut Classic served with a portion of smoked salmon for only £12.95

Deutz is a first class champagne house in all respects. Taken over by Louis Roederer in 1993 it received a lot of investment and now it’s one of those houses that doesn’t immediately spring to mind, but once tried, will always impress

•    there again you might go for a tasting tray of 4 different champagnes from Pommery for only £16. A great way to sample champagnes you may not have tasted before without spending a lot of money.

•    and if you still haven’t found what you are looking for then there’s always Gosset, Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, Dom Pérignon 2000 and Laurent Perrier Grand Siècle , all available by the glass, to name a few

Prices are not bad either I thought. There’s Jean Paul Deville at only £8 a glass and quite a number of champagnes at between £10 - £14, even a flute of the Dom Pérignon 2000 is only £26.50  That’s a lot for one drink I know, but not disproportionly expensive compared with the other champagnes on offer.

If you are with a party and buying by the bottle, or something even larger, then obviously you’ll be forking out a much larger sum, but the prices are still not exorbitant:

£150 for Belle Epoque 1996, £197 for Krug Grand Cuvée, £300 for Cristal 2002  - not exactly cheap, but I’ve seen higher prices elsewhere many a time.

At the top of the range in price you have Bollinger Vielles Vignes Françaises 1999 and Dom Pérignon Oenothèque 1985, both at at £750 and Krug Clos du Mesnil 1996 at £880 bottle but there’s no doubt in my mind which is the best value....

If you have a spare £450 then I’d go for a magnum of Moët & Chandon 1964.
This is a fabulous champagne that will really open your eyes, and taste buds, to the amazing depth and power that champagnes can reveal. It’s the oldest champagne on the list at the St. Pancras Grand Champagne Bar and will be a memorable experience

Will I be going back to the bar? Well, not soon I don’t think....

 it’s not exactly a cosy venue being in the open concourse next to the platforms. The waitresses are smartly dressed in coats and scarves to keep them warm, but if they need to keep warm then you can imagine that it’s not a place where I can imagine settling down with a bunch of friends and whiling away a couple of hours.

In fact it reminded me of an airport waiting lounge in both style and atmosphere: sharp and modern but a little austere.

I imagine that the typical clients for The St. Pancras Grand Champagne Bar are business people who grab a glass or two before catching their train and if they’ve just sealed a lucrative deal, perhaps they’ll splash out on one of the undoubtedbly fabulous champagnes.

I do hope that lots of these people do just that because the bar is doing a great job in bringing champagne lovers the chance to discover a whole range of super champagnes they might not otherwise find.

 The bar deserves to succeed and I’ll certainly pop in again, it just won’t be until the next time I happen to be catching a train from St. Pancras.

Champagne Video

Just a quickkie

I'm off to our home in Champagne this weekend for a few days and whilst I'm there I plan to shoot a video all about champagne. It will be available in a few weeks probably as a free gift for anyone who buys my e-book The Insider's Guide to Champagne which, incidentally, has had some great feedback, so if you haven't grabbed your copy yet then you can do so here

www.madaboutbubbly.com

and by the way, I promise to send you a copy of the video once it's ready. 

Here are a few comments about The Insider's Guide To Champagne:

I learned more about champagne from your book, The Insider’s Guide To Champagne, than any other book, tasting or chateau visit I have had the pleasure of attending. Your personable style of writing made for an enjoyable read and the book is now handily placed as a permanent reference point. Thanks

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I was fascinated with every page – just wanted to read on and on until tiredness overcame me and I fell asleep. Your book is MUST for anyone who wants to know about champagne

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Your book is so informative and brilliantly written giving all the information in an exceptionally readable style which is so rare these days. It was so enjoyable that when I reached the end I wanted to start all over again! I did, and if possible it was even more enjoyable. The pleasure of reading it and the knowledge I gained was unsurpassable. I now feel I can now enjoy buying a bottle of bubbly - as I know more about it. Reading a champagne label now means something. I know what to look for and can recognise meaningless jargon. I feel that if I ever have to put up with a "champagne expert – so called – in a restaurant I can sift through the bullshit and know what questions to ask to see if he knows what he is talking about.

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Having read Tom Stevenson's book 'Champagne and Sparkling
Wine' I found that there was too much of his own opinion involved,
which leant heavily towards the Grandes Marques.
Your book is refreshingly informative and much less focussed on
yourself, so I would recommend it above Tom Stevenson, ( I know,
unbelievable isn't it).

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I was really chuffed by that last one because Tom Stevenson has been around for years and was considered to be the MAN on champagne.

That's it for now. More when I get back from Champagne

Stay Bubbly,

Jiles

Win A Week In Champagne

http://bit.ly/champers