| Celebrating Life ... With Champagne | | | | By: Subhash Arora |  Page 1 of 2 next >> |
Indian Wine Academy and Promosalons, Delhi launched VinExpo’05 at the French Embassy on April 1, 2005 and raised a toast to the Bi-annual wine show, champagne among all such shows. Subhash Arora, President of Indian Wine Academy reflects on a few practiccal aspects of the lovers of bubbly at large and Indians in particular to enjoy the world’s most loved and elegant bubbly.
A London reporter once asked Mdme. Lilly Bollinger, owner of a famous Champagne House why she drank Champagne. Her reply was:
I drink champagne when I am happy,
And when I am sad.
Sometimes I drink it when I am alone,
When I am in company I consider it obligatory.
I trifle with it when I am not hungry,
And I drink it when I am.
Otherwise I never touch it,
Unless I am thirsty.
This in essence is the romance and legend of Champagne. Let me share a few basics about Champagne to help you enjoy drinking to the maximum.
FACTS: Champagne is sparkling wine made with a specific process, from specified grapes only (Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay) in the north-east of Paris. Due to the very cold climate and marginal weather conditions combined with a very chalky soil the wine produced here is typical of this terroir, full of vibrant acidity. There are five Appellations (Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne, Cote des Blancs, Cote de Sézanne and Cote des Bar) making 300million bottles every year (about 60 times the total wine consumed in India!).
There is a very interesting, invisible system of grading the vineyards with 17 designated as the top Grand crus and 43 Premiers crus (villages). The quality-rated system known as E`chelle des Crus (ladder of growths) grades the former at 100 percent and the lator at 90-99% while the rest are graded between 80-89%. Growers are paid as a percentage of the price fixed collectively through a complex process.
LONGEVITY: Champagne is usually made with blending of wines from various vintages known as reserve wines while the current year’s vintage is known as the base wine. There is no mention of vintage on the label. These are known as non vintage (NV) champagnes and form 80% of the total production The winemaker tries to blend different crus (up to 100 crus, at times) to maintain the house style. Due to weather conditions being uncertain, it is an extremely tricky and skillful job.
T he NVs are ready to drink on release though they may improve slightly for 2-3 years. They should be consumed within 3 years. Vintage Champagnes on the other hand are produced during exceptionally good harvests, usually thrice in a decade. They take a long time to mature and most are finished before they reach their prime. For instance Dom Perignon 1995 released a couple of years ago has been practically consumed when in fact though it has still not matured fully. Moet Hennessey releases its Vintage Dom Perignon 8 years after the harvest and they age well for a further period of up to 15 years to bring out the best. Some can go on improving for even up to 60-80 years. Charles Heidsieck 1990 has yet to reach its peak. In a recent tasting of Vintage Krug (owned now by LVMH) 1981 was the youngest vintage found to have matured Its Clos de Mesnil from exceptional years can mature for 100 years. Pol Rogers 1988 has still not matured.
Champagne styles: Essence of champagne is that it is a blended wine known by the name of the producer and not by the vineyards. Role of a negociant is very important. Champagnes are also made in different styles known as House Styles. A few of the styles imbibed by producers are:
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