Beyond bubbles: the essence of Champagne

Sparkling wines are on the crest of a wave in the UK. In a shrinking market for wine consumption overall here between 2009 and 2013, sparkling wines have been the only growth category; and they are forecast to continue the positive trend in future.

Prosecco has been the fizz making all the noise in recent years, but, perhaps surprisingly, in tough economic times, Champagne has managed to hold its ground against its rivals, and the UK remains its number one export market.

Sparkling wine can be made anywhere in the world, in a variety of ways. Just what is it about Champagne in particular that keeps us so loyal and fascinated?

First of all is the location of Champagne, the furthest north of France’s quality winemaking regions. The climate here is most definitely marginal for wine production – a potential disadvantage which has been turned into a virtue, as barely ripe, high acid and fairly neutral wines make perfect raw material for turning into high quality sparkling wine.

The chalk bedrock of Champagne also plays a key role. Chalk makes for poor soils - often an environment in which vines give the best quality grapes; chalk won’t hold onto too much moisture in this rather rainy part of France – vines hate having wet feet; yet it does provide nicely regulated access to moisture to help prevent vine stress in times of drought. Finally, chalk makes for easily dug, ideally humid underground cellars – the perfect dark and cool environment in which wines can evolve and mature slowly.

Most Champagne is made from a blend of three grape varieties, two of them black-skinned: Pinot Noir, which gives power, structure and longevity; and Pinot Meunier, an earlier-ripening variety which gives expressive fruitiness, especially early in a Champagne’s life. They are joined by the white variety Chardonnay, which provides elegance and finesse. Together they complement each other to make a harmonious whole.

The Champagne region also has a particular structure in terms of the people who make it. Most vines are owned by one of the more than 15,000 individual growers across the region – but we rarely see their names on the bottles, as most sell their grapes to one of the “grandes marques”, the Champagne household names.

The houses can therefore draw on a variety of wines from vines from across the region in order to make up their final Champagne blend. As well as varying the proportion of the grape varieties used, the same variety will have a different flavour profile when grown in different soil, with a different aspect and so on.

Champagne gets its sparkle from a second fermentation of those light, high acid base wines, which occurs in each bottle. Before it can be released and sold as Champagne, though, the wine has to stay in bottle, where the wine interacts with the sediment of dead yeast cells (or lees) which, over time, contribute complex, toasty flavours which are typical of Champagne.

And we can’t forget the historical perspective. The people who make Champagne today are carrying on a tradition which goes back hundreds of years, during which time the region has dedicated itself to this single style of wine. It has also built up a powerful mythology; associations with famous historical figures which help to set Champagne apart from other “mere wines”.

So there is no single “magic bullet” which sets Champagne apart from all other sparkling wines.

Other parts of the world can make sparkling wine using the same traditional method, with the same blend of grape varieties. They can even, like right here in Southeast England, have the same chalky soils and marginal climate. But Champagne itself can never be replicated: the unique combination of factors, both natural and manmade, which exists there, is, in the end, what creates the essence of Champagne. 

Dom Pérignon 2003 - a phoenix from the flames?

As a member of the wine trade I am fully used to and unembarrassed about hopping on a tube train reeking of booze and sporting Bride of Dracula-style black teeth. Let them think “God what a lush, and only lunchtime too, tut tut.”

Today, however, as I rode the Victoria line I wanted to shout out - “Yes, I've been drinking already, but it was Dom Pérignon! Dom Pérignon, everyone!” I have been treated to, not just a tasting, but an “experience”, a “dark revelation” even, of Dom Pérignon's latest release, 2003. 
 

For those in the know, skip this paragraph, but if you're less than fully au fait with luxury Champagnes, read on. Dom Pérignon is a vintage-only luxury cuvée that is part of the Moët et Chandon stable (and, by extension, the LVMH luxury goods empire). There is no non-vintage version and it is only produced in years that they feel are capable of living up to its illustrious forebears. Today it was the turn of the latest addition to this select band, the 2003 vintage.

It might seem contrary even to attempt to make Dom Pérignon in such a difficult and certainly atypical year as 2003. It was incredibly hot and dry – difficult conditions to make any fine wine, but well nigh impossible, you might think, for a luxury Champagne, which relies on high acidity to give it drive, structure and ageing ability. In the UK we probably remember 2003 as one of the few hot, sunny summers we enjoyed in the last decade and perhaps think back fondly on those blistering days and balmy evenings. In France, however, recollections are more painful – 2003 was also marked by numerous deaths of mostly old people in France, due to the extreme heat.

Dom Pérignon Chef de Cave, Richard Geoffroy, described how 2003 was a challenge and how low the expectation was that they would succeed in making a commercial release that year. Yet, as he pointed out, great vintages of the 20^th century, such as 1947, 1959 and 1976 were also a result of hot, dry conditions. 2003 may yet surprise us with its quality and longevity.

I asked Richard what happens in the years when there is no Dom Pérignon and it seems they get as far as assembling the final blend and only then make a go/no go decision. So, contrary to popular belief, the Chef de Cave doesn't get a holiday, even if there is no Dom Pérignon to show for it. In reply to the question of what happens to the wines earmarked for DP, when no vintage ends up being made, Richard said only “Nothing is wasted.”

The wine itself is a muscular, vinous mouthful, marked not by the usual high acidity, but by what Richard calls “a wall of minerality” which holds it together and gives it structure. It certainly has a very physical presence and makes a great Champagne to drink over an entire meal – if your budget stretches to it!

We tested its gastronomic capabilities with a range of dishes – a sweet-savoury eggy, mousse-y concoction was least successful for me. But the saffron infused risotto and the foie gras (no escaping foie gras with the French around) dishes were wonderfully harmonious. Most interesting was a caviar and hibiscus jelly combination. On its own it's a challenge to the palate, with the sharp astringency of the jelly fighting with the salty caviar – but good old DP managed to smooth out all those sharp points to create a harmonious and enjoyable sensation in a way that probably no other wine could do.

While I enjoyed tasting (alright drinking) the 2003 today, it feels as though this monumental wine has barely begun its evolution. Perhaps we will be looking back in 20 years' time to say what a great vintage of DP it was – and is. And I'll be able to say, “I was there”.

A conversion on the road to Reims

There are two big problems with spending time in Champagne, sampling the best of what the region has to offer.

1. It has spoilt my ability to appreciate cut price fizz – having spent three days sipping nothing but the finest Champagne, I found a glass of Lindauer Blanc de Blancs Brut decidedly below my now elevated standards.
2. I'm going to have to spend more on my wine glasses. Having finally decided on some classic flutes with nice fine rims, I now find that this shape does not do good Champagne justice, especially if you're serving it with food.

Looks like either my standards are going to have to drop, or I'm going to have to up the drinks budget.

My recent trip was the usual jam-packed whirl of contrasting experiences: early start, touring cold cellars and trying to take notes with numb fingers; lavish lunch involving Champagne with every course; more cellars and tasting; another assemblage of food and Champagne for dinner; late to bed, up early, a quick, strong coffee at the hotel before piling into the minibus. Repeat for 3 days, then decant yourself onto Eurostar before returning to reality. Over the course of the week, my liquid intake was so dominated by Champagne I'm sure my wee must have been at least 80% wine, predominantly from grand and premier cru vineyards.

Our visits included mammoth houses, pint-sized growers and much in between. By luck or good planning, each managed to highlight a different facet of the Champagne experience, so I never felt that I was going over the same ground.

Here's a taste:

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  Veuve Clicquot's newly-opened Hotel du Marc in Reims, where invited guests can play the biggest table football I've ever seen, while enjoying a vertical tasting of Veuve Vintages – in magnum, natch. The serious bling side of Champagne. The food is pretty impressive too and Veuve Yellow Label was so much more expressive served in magnum and in these glasses.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The illustration by Violaine at the CIVC of how Champagnes can achieve their vinosity either through long ageing on the lees (De Saint Gall Premier Cru Brut 2002, disgorged 2011), or by barrel maturation (Alfred Gratien Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut NV, also disgorged 2011). 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Tasting, nay drinking, Bollinger Grande Année 2002, which has perfect weight, balance and development, at Bollinger with dinner.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• From the jaws of defeat – a tasting that turned out to be the most memorable of all, for good reasons. Biodynamic grower Francis Boulard was clearly not expecting a group of 10 people to pitch up at 8.30am, but came round to the idea and treated us to some of the most individual and lively Champagnes of the trip.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Bruno Paillard guiding us through a tasting of his multi-vintage Brut Première Cuvée – four bottles of the same cuvée, all aged for 3 years on their lees, but at varying years since disgorgement. Paillard's is not my favourite style of Champagne in its youth, but tracing the development from 6 months since disgorgement, when it is lean, salty and mineral; to the same wine aged for 14 years post-disgorgement, when the spicy, Christmas pudding fruit, and toasty creaminess, wild mushroom and Comté cheese flavours are beautifully expressive, was fascinating.
  
  
  
  
• A single glass of Pol Roger Brut Reserve NV with dinner – such lively fruit, depth of flavour and elegance – witchcraft surely! 
  
  
  
  
   
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  The 109 steps down (and then up again) to the deep cellars at Gosset. Our reward: a tasting of their stylish Grande Reserve, elegant Grand Rosé and newly-released Grand Blanc de Blancs.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Champagne and smoked salmon is hardly an original food match, I grant you, but the transformation of a Mailly Grand Cru Extra Brut NV from an admirable but rather austere Champagne, to something with much more fruit ripeness when drunk with a smoked salmon mousse, was a neat illustration of a great food and wine match.

My own personal epiphany on this trip: I tended to think that I wasn't much of a fan of Blanc de Blancs, but now I realise that I just hadn't tasted the right ones.  Oh, and the urban myth that Champagne never gives you a hangover may just be true.....

Last minute wines for Valentine's Day

A shortlist of wines to accompany your celebration, from recommendations for the fiscally-challenged to the bank bonus flush, there is something for every romantically inclined wine drinker.

Saint Amour 2009, Domaine le Carjot - £10.99, Adnams

Saint Amour is one of the Beaujolais “crus”. Beaujolais, despite its many qualities, is not a favourite with UK wine drinkers – too many bubblegummy Beaujolais Nouveau perhaps. Saint Amour may languish on the shelves for 51 weeks of the year, but, courtesy of that name, this is its time – you'd have to be hard-hearted indeed to resist the name. Inside it's all lip-smacking, cool cranberry fruit that you can enjoy on its own, or sip alongside some salami.

If you want to make a statement, then nothing says “celebration” like fizz - and this is one occasion where pink is definitely called for.

Moscato Freisa Vino Spumante NV - £7.99, M&S - 2012 update, sadly out of stock at M&S.  Peter Lehman Princess Moscato is in the same fun, frothy and sweet vein and a 50cl bottle is £9.50 from slurp.co.uk

It's pink, it's sweet, it's fizzy, it's cheap. Something of a guilty pleasure, this will tick a lot of boxes for some and I for one am a sucker for this featherlight, grapey, sherbetty fizz, which would go down a treat with a fruity dessert.

If only the real thing will do, then Champagne it is. For reasons I still do not fully understand, you always pay a premium for the rosé version of Champagne. However, there are occasions where it isn't becoming to come over all Scrooge-like and this is one, so hang the expense and splash out a little.

Champagne Oudinot Rosé NV - £28, M&S

Around this price point there are some rather unpleasant pink Champagnes, but this got my vote for its delicate pale salmon colour and elegant, redcurrant fruit.

Bollinger Grande Année Rosé 2002 – £85,Majestic Fine Wine

If only the best will do, then I would have to recommend this, the best pink Champagne I've tasted. It's definitely a pale salmon rather than pink and invites you in with lively strawberry fruit and hints of rose petals. But as you savour this delightful drink you begin to appreciate the depth of flavour, courtesy of the pinot noir grapes that dominate the blend. It has a certain “grip” which makes it a great food wine as well as one to sip on its own – so no need to serve anything else when you eat. And frankly, how could you possibly top this?

What's love got to do with it? Fizz for Valentine's Day

I seem to recall from my younger days that St Valentine’s Day was all about getting a card (or not, in which case cue moodiness and feelings of desolation) from a mystery admirer on 14th February. In other words, it was a day for the free and single, whether young or not. Now, however, it seems to have turned into something that involves couples celebrating their togetherness, to the exclusion of all the singletons. It’s one of the busiest nights of the year for the restaurant trade (not to mention the rose sellers), as couples across the land pay through the nose to eat a special “valentine’s menu”, surrounded by other couples all doing the same.

Frankly I’d rather stick needles in my eyes, so, as usual, I’ll be marking the event by staying home. With more and more of us having to count the pennies, maybe you will be joining me – so to speak.

One of the joys of staying in for Valentine’s Day is that you can splash out on special food – and wine of course – and know that you’ll still be hard-pressed to spend a fraction of what it would cost you to go out.

If you want to make someone feel special, then what can say it better that something sparkling? Champagne is top of the list, if your budget stretches to it – and pink champagne seems to have become de rigueur in recent years.

Laurent-Perrier Rosé NV (£79.99 for a single bottle from Wine Rack, or £59.99 if you buy 3; £62.99 from Oddbins, or check on-line at www.wine-searcher.com for independent stockists from around £44)
This is the classic pink fizz lover’s fizz. Unlike many rosé champagnes its pink colour comes from letting the skins of the pinot noir and pinot meunier grapes stay in contact with the grape juice – rather than just mixing in a little red wine to a regular champagne. It’s got delicious, crisp, aromatic red fruit – and it’s not cheap.

For cash-strapped romantics you can’t do better than Lindauer Brut Special Reserve NV (£11.99 each or £7.99 if you buy 3 from Wine Rack; £9.99 from Waitrose and Oddbins; £9.99 at Majestic, down to £7.49 if you buy two). Technically not a rosé, but it does have a delicious hint of salmon pink from the high proportion of pinot noir in the blend. The quality of the New Zealand fruit shines through, giving strawberry and cream hints to the nose, but a thoroughly grown-up, savoury palate to follow – great as an aperitif or with smoked salmon and the like.

Of course fizz doesn’t have to be pink, so here are a couple of recommendations that I find give reliable value for money.

Taittinger Brut Réserve NV has a higher than normal amount of chardonnay in its blend, which gives it extra elegance and poise. This champagne is fairly widely available, but for the best prices at the moment head to Majestic, who have it for £36.65 or £27.49 if you buy two bottles; or Waitrose, where you can buy a single bottle for £25.59.

If you’re looking for a sparkling bargain, it’s probably best to avoid the very cheapest champagne, which you can pick up for say £11-12. While it may live up to “cheap”, it is likely to throw in “nasty” for good measure. It’s better to spend your money on a decent New World interpretation of champagne, or a French crémant – made in the same way as champagne, but outside the Champagne region.

Green Point Brut Vintage 2004 gives a hint of champagne style and substance – it is Moet & Chandon’s Australian operation after all. Pick it up at Majestic for £19.49 a bottle, or just £12.99 if you buy two.

From France you could give Cuvée Royale Crémant de Limoux Brut NV a whirl. At £6.36 on offer from Waitrose, it’s money well-spent.

Champagne: king of wines and wine of kings

“Champagne: in victory I deserve it; in defeat I need it.”, attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte.

Champagne is the most mythologized of wines: the wine of celebration and a byword for luxury. Imagine Napoleon’s quote applied to any other drink and it doesn’t have quite the same ring: “Lager: in victory I deserve it…” See what I mean?

Just what makes Champagne so special, so deserving of its unique status among wines? In the end it all boils down to where it’s made: the northern French region of Champagne which gives the wine its name. Other wines may use the same grapes, the same production methods and maturation, but no other wine can use the name Champagne. Everything else is simply sparkling wine, no matter how high quality.

Champagne the region is the most northerly wine-production area in France, not far from Paris and atop an all-important outcrop of chalk. We don’t fully understand all the ways in which chalk is important for grape-growing, but it seems to play a vital role of water-regulation for the vines, as well as providing a material which can easily be excavated to make cellars ideal for maturing wines.

Champagne the wine can be made only within this region and is usually a blend of three grape varieties: pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay. Of these, pinot noir and chardonnay have built their own considerable reputations as the varieties responsible for the great red and white wines, respectively, of Burgundy. Pinot meunier, little known outside Champagne, is more of a workhorse, useful sort of grape. According to accepted wisdom, Chardonnay gives finesse to the blend, while pinot noir provides structure and power; pinot meunier is responsible for an attractive fruitiness early in a Champagne’s life: useful for giving some early drinking appeal, where chardonnay and pinot noir take time to develop their full array of aromas and flavours.


What to look for on the label
Most Champagnes are, therefore, a blend of these three grapes. Each house or marque will have their preferred blend, which forms a large part of their distinctive house style. Veuve Clicquot and Bollinger are classic examples of Champagnes with a higher than average proportion of pinot noir. Taittinger, on the other hand, is proud of the high proportion of chardonnay in its Champagnes. You can even find 100% chardonnay Champagnes, which will be labelled blanc de blancs. Blanc de noirs, logically then, is made only from pinot noir and/or pinot meunier.

Most of what we see in this country – and we are Champagne’s number one export market, accounting for over a quarter of exports – is labelled Brut. In the somewhat arcane labelling laws of Champagne this is what dry Champagne is called. The other style that you’ll find, if you go looking, is Demi-sec: not semi-dry as the name suggests, but pretty sweet and something to serve with dessert. In between these two styles are various grades of sweetness, so the full and rather confusingly named, range begins with the driest Brut, moving through Extra dry, Sec, Demi-sec then sweet.

In addition to the level of sweetness in a Champagne, the other terms to look out for are vintage or non-vintage. Most Champagnes are non-vintage, ie they are made from a blend of wines from a number of different years. Champagne houses wanting to deliver their house style use this multi-year blending to maintain this style from year to year, ironing out differences in ripeness, acidity levels and so on. If a particular growing season is deemed to have produced a wine of sufficient quality and harmony, then growers will make a vintage Champagne, 100% of which will be from the named year. So vintage Champagnes are not made every year: in practice probably three or four times each decade.


Think pink
So much of Champagne is wrapped up in tradition and myth that it’s something of a novelty to see the region catching the pink fever that has swept through the whole wine world. Rosé Champagnes used to be a relative rarity, but now everyone seems to be having a go at making one and you can’t move for them. If Champagne denotes something to celebrate, then pink Champagnes seem to notch up the special occasion rate even further. As Michael Caine might say, not a lot of people know that most pink Champagne is made in a way positively forbidden for still rosé wine: a small amount of red wine is added to achieve the desired colour and flavour. Of course the Champenois have a suitably elegant term for it, rosé d’assemblage, but it can still seem like a surprisingly cheap method for a wine with a fancy price tag.

What to eat with Champagne?
The obvious answer is whatever you like! Champagne is supposed to go with anything and there is something in the cliché – whatever you’re eating, from fish and chips to haute cuisine, it tastes better with Champagne. Lily Bollinger put it best: “I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and I drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it, unless I'm thirsty.”


If this has whet your appetite to find out more about Champagne, then come along to one of my upcoming Champagne appreciation evenings. Taste a range of six different, high quality Champagnes and discover for yourself the difference between blanc de blancs, vintage, non-vintage, demi-sec and a range of “grandes marques”. Evenings run on Monday 17th November at East Horsley Village Hall or Wednesday 26th November at the Guildford Institute. They start at 7.30pm and cost £25 per person, including all of the Champagnes and glasses. More details are available on www.redwhiteandrose.co.uk/courses