Debate a Bubble - Champagne News and Reviews

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

 

Champagne Labels - It's All Back To Front (short version)

Lots of people have written, blogged and videoed (is that a word?) about how to ‘read’a champagne label, but they’re all talking about the label on the FRONT of the bottle.

Here are a few thoughts on why what’s on the BACK label is potentially much more important....

By the way, there’s a lot that could be said on this and I didn’t want to overdo it for those who just want a fairly quick run-through of the main points, but if you want to read a more detailed version go to

http://bit.ly/Champagnelabels

It’s odd to me that people so often speak of “wine and champagne” as if they are two totally different things. They’re not of course.

I ‘m not suggesting that champagne isn’t a bit special – I love champagne and for me it has an extra magic that is hard to put your finger on - but when all is said and done champagne is only a wine with bubbles in it.

Yet some of things that you’d normally expect from a wine seem not to apply to champagne; take the labels for example.

The front label of a champagne bottle is always reasonably standard.

No matter what shape, or colour or size it is there are certain bits of information that must be there:

the word ‘Champagne’ for starters,
then the name of the producer and his registration code,
 the content (usually 75cl / 750ml),
the strength in abv ( alcohol by volume, usually 12%),
the degree of sweetness, (brut, demi-sec or whatever)
and there are a few more things besides which can appear on the front label.

If you ask me, a lot of this stuff is there more to satisfy the regulatory authorities than to give any really useful information to the consumer, but there you go. The point is that there’s little or nothing, in all this lot that tells you what the champagne tastes like, which is really what you want to know in the first place.

That leaves you hoping that there’ll be a back label with some more detailed stuff to help you understand what’s inside the bottle and what it tastes like, but have you ever looked at the back label on a champagne bottle?

Actually it would be more accurate to ask ‘ Have  you ever looked FOR the back label on a champagne bottle? The chances are there’s no back label at all.

This is a real shame and a missed opportunity for champagne makers because these days people want to know more about their wine (same with food and all sorts of things too) and they expect some sensible information.

Most wine makers seem to have cottoned on to this and put some helpful stuff on their labels, but not so when it comes to the big champagne brands.

Fortunately some makers are doing something a bit more switched on and I have to say that’s it’s often the smaller champagne makers who are leading the way- the so-called Grower Champagnes.

So what should the label tell you?

Recently I came across a back label that’s one the best I’ve ever seen so I thought I’d share it with you. It’s from Champagne Laherte Frères which has really caught my attention recently, but if they can do it, so can everyone else.

Don’t worry if you don’t get all the significance of what follows or if it some things seem a bit detailed – if you follow my blogs and especially if you join our champagne club then all will gradually become clear

The Blend :  85% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier
 
The type of grapes and more importantly, the proportion in which they have been blended, is very good indication of the style and so it’s one of the key things to know about a champagne.

The Ageing: 6 months in oak barrels followed by at least 42 months in the bottle in the cellars.

You need to know how long the champagne has been aged for, but very few makers tell you.

The yeasty, toasty aromas that many people associate with great champagne, only develop after a good few years ageing on the lees.

At the other end of the scale, a champagne that’s aged for the minmum time and no more will be what they call ‘Green’: sharp, thin and too acidic.

The quality of the grapes

Another good pointer to the quality of the champagne.

If the words Grand Cru or Premier Cru appear on the label, it means that the grapes used were top-notch.This is not an absolute guarantee that the champagne will be great too, but it’s definitely a plus point.

On the label of the bottle I am talking about, neither wording appears. That’s because there is 15% Pinot Meunier in the blend and no champagne with Pinot Meunier in it can be either Grand or Premier Cru *

The Dosage: 5 grams / litre

The Dosage is the small amount of liquid sugar added just before the bottle leaves the cellars so as to adjust the level of sweetness.

Most champagne is in the Brut category, but anything under 15 grams of sugar/litre can still be called Brut – that’s quite a variation, so you could buy a brut and find it’s not quite what you expected at all and worse, you wouldn’t understand why not.

So Yes. Brut is a good starting point, but something more precise is needed.

In the case of the champagne I’m refering to the dosage is only 5 gr/litre. That’s low, so you know that the champagne is going to be pretty dry with a distinct edge to it.

Wow, all that information packed into just a few short lines.

If only more makers did that we’d be so much better informed and have a better experience in my view. So far there are only a few makers who do this, but the trickle is getting bigger and from your point of view that can only be a good thing

Champagne Labels - It's All Back To Front

Lots of people have written, blogged and videoed (is that a word?) about how to ‘read’ a champagne label, but they’re all talking about the label on the FRONT of the bottle.

Here are a few thoughts on why what’s on the BACK label is potentially much more important....

It’s odd to me that people so often speak of “wine and champagne” as if they are two totally different things. They’re not of course.

I‘m not suggesting that champagne isn’t a bit special – I love champagne and for me it has an extra magic that is hard to put your finger on - but when all is said and done champagne is only a wine with bubbles in it.

Yet some of things that you’d normally expect from a wine seem not to apply to champagne; take the labels for example.

The front label of a champagne bottle is always reasonably standard.

No matter what shape, or colour or size it is there are certain bits of information that must be there:

the word ‘Champagne’ for starters,

then the name of the producer and his registration code,

the content (usually 75cl / 750ml),

the strength in abv ( alcohol by volume, usually 12%),

the degree of sweetness, (brut, demi-sec or whatever)

and there are a few more things besides which can appear on the front label.

If you ask me, a lot of this stuff is there more to satisfy the regulatory authorities than to give any really useful information to the consumer, but there you go. The point is that there’s little or nothing, in all this lot that tells you what the champagne tastes like, which is really what you want to know in the first place.

That leaves you hoping that there’ll be a back label with some more detailed stuff to help you understand what’s inside the bottle and what it tastes like, but have you ever looked at the back label on a champagne bottle?

Actually it would be more accurate to ask ‘ Have  you ever looked FOR the back label on a champagne bottle? The chances are there’s no back label at all.

Even when there is, it’s rare to find one that’s any help.

Yes, I know that part of the appeal of champagne is all about mystique, prestige and all that, but all too often what you see on a champagne back label is nothing more than marketing speak.

It might go something like this...

Champagne XXX is a blend of the 3 classic champagne grapes made with the utmost respect for nature and for tradition. Carefully blended by our Chef de Cave before being slowly aged in our cellars. Enjoy on any occasion especially as an aperitif.

Sounds sort of warm and fuzzy I agree, but what does this actually tell you about the champagne and how is it any different from say 75% of all the other champagnes that are made ?

On a school report this sort of woolly nonsense wouldn’t deserve any more than a ‘Could do Better’.

This is a real shame and a missed opportunity for champagne makers because these days people want to know more about their wine (same with food and all sorts of things too) and they expect some sensible information.

Most wine makers seem to have cottoned on to this and put some helpful stuff on their labels, but not so when it comes to most of the big champagne brands.

Fortunately some makers are doing something a bit more switched on and I have to say that’s it’s often the smaller champagne makers who are leading the way- the so-called Grower Champagnes.

So what should the label tell you?

Recently I came across a back label that’s one the best I’ve ever seen so I thought I’d share it with you. It’s from Champagne Laherte Frères which has really caught my attention recently, but if they can do it, so can everyone else.

Don’t worry if you don’t get all the significance of what follows or if it some things seem a bit detailed – if you follow my blogs and especially if you join our champagne club, then all will gradually become clear


The Blend:  85% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier

The type of grapes and more importantly, the proportion in which they have been blended, is very good indication of the style and so it’s one of the key things to know about a champagne.

The Ageing: 6 months in oak barrels followed by at least 42 months in the bottle in the cellars.

This is another crucial piece of the jigsaw
The yeasty, toasty aromas that many people associate with great champagne, only develop after a good few years ageing on the lees.

At the other end of the scale, a champagne that’s aged for the minimum time and no more may be what’s called ‘Green’: sharp, thin and too acidic.

So you need to know how long the champagne has been aged for, but very few makers tell you.

The quality of the grapes
Another good pointer to the quality of the champagne.

If the words Grand Cru or Premier Cru appear on the label, it means that the grapes used were top-notch. This is not an absolute guarantee that the champagne will be great too, but it’s definitely a plus point.

On the label of the bottle I am talking about, neither wording appears. That’s because there is 15% Pinot Meunier in the blend and no champagne with Pinot Meunier in it can be either Grand or Premier Cru ( champagne afficionados please don’t shoot me down on this one; I know there are some exceptions but the rule still holds true and this is only a short blog, not a book)

The dosage: 5 grams / litre
The Dosage is the small amount of liquid sugar added just before the bottle leaves the cellars so as to adjust the level of sweetness.

Most champagne is in the Brut category, but anything under 15 grams of sugar/litre can still be called Brut – that’s quite a variation, so you could buy a brut and find it’s not quite what you expected at all and worse, you wouldn’t understand why not.

So Yes. Brut is a good starting point, but something more precise is needed.

In the case of the champagne I’m refering to the dosage is only 5 gr/litre. That’s low, in fact it’s just into the extra brut category (<6gr/l) )  so you know that the champagne is going to be pretty dry with a distinct edge to it.

To add even more confusion, if you can bear it, 0-6 gr/litre can be Extra Brut as well Brut. Work out the logic of that if you can,

So all that information was conveyed in just 3 lines of short text and if there were nothing more than that on the back label, that would still be amazing and far more than most champagne makers tell us, but  Laherte Frères are nothing if not perfectionists and for real champagne enthusiasts they add a little more:

Origin of the Grapes
The grapes come from vineyards in 3 villages in the area called Les Coteaux Sud d’Epernay.
This relates to the quality of the grapes mentioned above and, after a while, you get to know what grapes from different locations can bring to a champagne.

No malolactic fermentation
 A bit techie this one, but it means that the champagne may tend to have a slightly more fresh acidic bite to it.
Each champagne maker has the choice whether or not, to carry out the malo-lactic fermentation. Most do, which means the champagne may feel a little softer and rounder in the mouth, but some, including big names like Lanson and Krug, don’t; so it’s a question of style and has nothing to do with quality.

Age of the Vines
Vines aged 40 years or more.

Usually a vine is productive for no more than about 30 years before it is uprooted and a new vine planted. The older it gets the fewer grapes a vine will produce, so that’s not always the best thing from a strictly commercial point of view. But.... fewer grapes usually means more concentrated flavours and that comes through in the champagne, so there’s a real bonus in having old vines.

Wow, a whole story in a few lines and you’re beginning to feel a little bit as if you know the land, the wine and the maker.

 If only more makers did that we’d be so much better informed and have a better experience too in my view. So far there are only a few makers who do this, but the trickle is getting bigger and from your point of view that can only be a good thing.

Stay Bubbly

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

Grower Champagnes

What are Grower Champagnes and why you should try them.

There’s something stirring in champagne. Perhaps not a full blown revolution just yet, but an irresistable trend nevertheless: the rise and rise of what are called Grower Champagnes.

If you haven’t come across them yet and have never tasted them, then give yourself a treat and try them out. Here’s what they're all about and what you need to look out for....

The change is happening everywhere if you take the time to look around you –

• Micro breweries producing local beers that are more than a match, flavour-wise at least, for the giants of the industry;

• Farmers’ markets where you can discover some fabulous produce and meet the fascinating ‘real’ people who produce or grow it, instead of struggling round the same old supermarkets shelves every week for mass-produced produce.

Well, the same thing’s happening in champagne and that’s where grower champagne comes in....

It’s the return of the small man, or woman, because more and more people are looking for something that gives them not just good value, but a sense of being.... what’s the best word? Perhaps ‘honest’ or ‘ authentic’.

The champagne industry is structured in a really weird way and a quick look at some revealing facts and figures will show you what I mean.

At the top of the ‘glamour ratings’ there are a couple of hundred maisons or champagne houses and amongst these there are a few fabulously famous brands which are sometimes referred to as Les Grandes Maisons – you know the names already: Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Krug, Roederer etc etc...

The houses are officially classified as NM or Négociants-Manipulants ( literally dealers and handlers ).

What these two little words mean is that the maisons rely for the majority of their grape supplies on the deals they strike to buy grapes from other grape growers.

In fact the maisons only own about 12% of the vineyards in Champagne, but amazingly sales of their brands represent over 70% of all the champagne that is sold – actually when you’re talking about sales outside France then the percentage is even higher.

So who owns the other vineyards?

Well, there are about 20,000 people who own a few hectares, or acres, each and grow grapes. These are called Récoltants ( Harvesters). 3/4 of these don’t make any champagne at all; they just harvest their grapes and sell them to other people to make champagne.

In most cases it’s the maisons they sell to, but there are around 5,000 of those Récoltants who keep their grapes to make their own champagne. They are then classified as RM or Récoltants-Manipulants and it’s the champagnes made by these small operators that have become known as ‘ Grower Champagnes’

The first and most obvious difference between the large maisons ( NM ) and the grower champagnes ( RM ) is the scale of the operations.

The big houses count their production in tens of millions of bottles – the largest of all, Moët & Chandon, produces over 30 million bottles per year if you count in all the different types of champagne they make. At the other end of the scale, some of the smallest producers may make only around 50,000 bottles.

I don’t want to say anything bad about the big brands, or about the many dedicated and professional people who work for them, I worked right alongside them for 10 years, but no matter how skilful they are, they are nevertheless employees and it’s difficult to see how they can really have the same point of view as the small growers.

For the small producers making champagne is not a job, it’s a way of life and it’s very common for the entire family to be involved and for the vineyards and know-how to be passed from one generation to another.

It’s exactly this type of passion and link to the soil that more and more consumers are looking for these days.

Another major difference between the best of the RM champagnes and the champagnes from the large NM is the price.

To maintain the buzz and glamour around a successful champagne brand takes a lot of investment and it’s obvious that this is reflected in the price the consumer – that’s you and me – pays in the shops.

The small growers don’t have huge marketing machines and don’t have the same costs to bear, so inevitably their champagnes are less expensive.

That’s not to say that all grower champagnes are dirt cheap, they’re not. In fact, if you're looking for a really good champagne for the price of a Cava or Prosecco then I think you're going to be looking for a long time.

What's important though is that the price should be reasonable and should reflect the quality. That’s where the leaders amongst the smaller producers really score, so if you’re looking for value for money then the grower champagnes offer a far better deal.

You can spot grower champagnes by the letters RM that you can find in small letters somewhere on the front label of the champagne bottle, so do keep your eyes open and see if you can find a few in your local wine store.

The next thing will be to discover the names of the better grower champagnes and believe me there are plenty, so many in fact that it will need a second article to deal with them all, so watch this space or better still take a look at our champagne club which is coming soon.

Stay Bubbly

Please Dont Let Kate Moss Choose Your Champagne

If you've read my last post you'll know that I was listening to Women's Hour on the radio today and heard a review of supermarket champagne bargains.

At the end of the programme they just sneaked in a reference to a much more expensive champagne made by one of the big name champagne houses that is apparently the favourite bubbly of Kate Moss and the reason it's so popular with the Queen of Fashion is because it contains very little sugar and consequently, according to the radio programme, has 1/3 fewer calories than other champagnes.

Sounds great, and if you enjoy Ultra Brut, that's great, but let's take another look at this before you go off to buy a case of the stuff thinking that it can be the latest addition to your calorie controlled diet.

I suspect that the brand in question was Laurent Perrier's Ultra Brut, although they're not allowed to mention any brand names on the BBC

LP Ultra Brut has become very popular in recent years. It is extremely dry having no sugar added to it at all, unlike most other champagnes on the market which are Brut meaning they contain between 6 - 14 grams of sugar per litre.

So, if you were to drink a full bottle of regular brut you'd take in... shall we say around 10 grams of sugar, that's  less than 2 grams per glass.

Now I'm not a nutritionist, but it seems to me that you'd have to drink a heck of a lot of champagne for the miniscule difference in sugar content between Ultra Brut and Brut to make any difference to your weight.

In fact if you were drinking that much champagne on a regular basis you'd have an alcohol problem, not a weight problem.

It all goes to shown that you really shouldn't listen to what the news or the celebs say, or do. Just make up your own mind what you like and what you don't like.

Stay Bubbly

Jiles

Fabulous champagnes at great prices - join now

http://bit.ly/champagneclub

Supermarket Champagne Bargains Are Rubbish- It's Official!

For those of you who don't live in the U.K. let me tell you that Women's Hour is a long running radio programme broadcast daily at around 10.00 a.m.

How come I know this? Well if I'm in the car at that time of day I'll often listen to whatever's on - Hey that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it - and today it turned out to be worth it.

To my suprise there was a feature on champagne and more specifically about the supposed champagne bargains on offer in British supermarkets at the moment.

The expert guest  was a well known wine writer and critic with one of the major newspapers and she was pretty scathing about the quality of the cut-price champagnes on offer in every supermarket at prices around £10 - £12 a bottle

'It's all rubbish; it's grim; I wouldn't clean my toilet  with some of this stuff ' and more in the same vein.

In fact the message of the review was loud and clear. If you only want to spend  £15 or less, you're far better off getting 2 bottles of cave or prosecco than one of the cheap supermarket champagnes.

They are not bargains at all, they're rubbish.  

In fact, according to the 'expert' the cheapest champagne that was worth drinking was priced at £18.99

Am I disturbed by this? Not a bit. I entirely agree. In fact it's what I've been saying for ages.

Apart from the fact that the quality of the cheap stuff is indeed grim and the taste acidic, I just can't see the point of buying cheap champagne.

Champagne is supposed to make you feel special for goodness sake - not like a cheapskate - and how can  spending only £10 on your champagne make you feel affluent and good about yourself?

Having said this, I  don't like to waste my money and I know that you don't  have to spend an absolute fortune on a bottle of champagne.

I'm convinced that the big brand names rarely offer you the best value for money and what I really love is to find some great champagnes from the smaller unknown makers, of which there are dozens.. You'll have to spend  somewhere in the mid £20s and perhaps a little more for some of their cuvées, but wow, are they worth it!

If you'd like to discover some of these 'hidden gems' why not join our new champagne club. Check it out here

http://bit.ly/champagneclub

Stay Bubbly,

Jiles

The Oldest Champagne in The World?

I was in Champagne a couple of weeks ago and organised a tasting  with Thierry Laherte and his son Aurélien.

The Lahertes practice bio-dynamic viticulture and they are about half way into an 11 years process that will see all their vineyards certified as bio-dynamic, but already the results are outstanding. To say their champagnes are superb would be an understatement - they are quite simply some of the best I've ever tasted. The non-vintage we started with was a revelation in terms of the power of the aromas and depth of flavour, but this was only the first of 8 champagnes we tasted that night.

The one I really wanted to tell you about is Le Clos...

Is it the oldest champagne in the world? Well in one sense NO, but in another YES

Many of you know that there are 3 grape varieties used in Champagne : Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier and most people believe that these are the only three varieties that can be used, but that's not quite right. You see there were originally several more grape varieties approved in Champagne, it's just that the others have fallen out of favour and  haven't been used to make champagne for decades, even centuries.

Back in 2003 Thierry  decided to see if he could replant some of these old varieties and make a champagne the way it used to taste 250 or more years ago .

The result is a stunning champagne called Le Clos the first bottles of which were released earlier this year- that in itself is an interesting insight into the time scales involved in making champagne: 3 years to produce a decent crop of grapes, then several more years to make the champagne and let it age before you can sell a single bottle. It's not a job for the impatient and those chasing a quick return.

Le Clos is named after a small plot of vineyard , a parcelle, near the village of Chavot where the Laherte family lives. The plot is planted with

14% Pinot Noir

18% Chardonnay

18% Pinot Meunier and

17% Pinot Blanc

15% Petit Meslier

10% Fromenteau

8% Arbanne

I brought home a single precious bottle which I'll be opening and sharing with friends very soon, so after a second tasting, I'll be able to tell you more about this exceptional champagne  and more about these old grapes varieties and lots more too.

I just love discovering people like the Laherte family and their superb champagnes - they don't have the glitz and glamour of the big international brands it's true, but they have something else : a quiet passion and a determination to produce champagnes that are the absolute best they they can achieve- it's real privilege to get to know them and their champagnes.

If this sort of thing gives you a buzz too then let me tell you that Laherte will be just one of the champagnes featured in the new Champagne Club that I will be launching in early 2010. If you'd like to discover this and more superb champagnes from small growers, then register your interest by going here.

http://bit.ly/champagneclub

There's no commitment involved in just registering, but places will be limited so, if this is for you, go there now.

That's it for now, so have a wonderful Christmas holiday and

Stay Bubbly

Jiles

'

The Latest Champagne Tasting Fair in Paris

I was in Champagne earlier this month visiting some of the wonderful small champagne houses that I'll be introducing you to in the coming weeks and months. One of them gave me an invitation to the inaugural event of the Salon des Vins de Champagne in Paris on December 12th & 13th.

Unfortunately I couldnt make it, but it's exciting to see these fabulous champagne makers organising themselves to make sure they get the attention they so richly deserve.

I certainly intend to put this event in my diary for next year and I suggest you do too - it could be the champagne tasting event of the year. The emphasis is very much on the small growers who produce such wonderful and, as yet, largely undiscovered champagnes. Some of them I know already :

Pascal Doquet,

Laherte Frères,

Franck Pascal,

René Geoffroy,

and Pierre Peters to name just a few, but there are many more intriguing names to discover :

Henri Billiot,

Olivier Horiot,

Georges Laval , the list goes on...

Hope to see you there next year, and in the meantime I plan to visit some of these great little champagne makers in the coming months. I'll tell you all about them after each visit, so watch this space.

Have a wonderful holiday season wherever you are and be sure to enjoy a few glasses of champagne.

Stay Bubbly,

Jiles

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