For  decades it has been shunned in favour of its full-bodied counterparts from across the Channel. Treated with derision from those in the know and scepticism from nearly everyone else, English sparkling wine has hardly enjoyed the best of reputations.For decades it has been shunned in favour of its full-bodied counterpart from across the parts from across the Channel. Treated with derision from those in the know and scepticism from nearly everyone else, English sparkling wine has hardly enjoyed the best of reputations. But according to a study published today, sparkling wine produced at England's finest vineyards is no longer a joking matter. A panel of professional wine experts have rated English sparkling wine above champagne following an extensive "blind" tasting survey. Three bottles of English sparkling wine were judged to be better than a highly-rated champagne, while four further English brands were graded at the same level as champagne. The findings are poised to cast doubt on the image of the English as a nation being more adept at downing ale than making a decent bottle of wine. "English wine has a bad image but the best sparkling wines we tasted had a depth of flavour to rival champagne, and often for less money," Malcolm Coles, the editor of Which?, said. In the survey, 35 bottles of English wine - 17 still and 18 sparkling - were tested alongside a bottle of Tesco Premier Cru Champagne Brut. While this champagne came top in a blind taste test by Which? two years ago, beating some of the established brands of champ-agne, it was not as successful this time. Instead, the best wine was judged to be Classic Cuvée 1996, from the West Sussex winemaker Nyetimber, praised for its "complexity and elegance". In second place was Pinot Reserve 2000 from the Kent vineyard Chapel Down, followed by Cuvée Merret-Cavendish 2000 from the Ridgeview Estate in East Sussex. The £14.99 champagne, however, was pushed down the ranks behind the English sparkling wines, which cost between £7 and £20. The champagne scored the same ranking as four English bubblies: Ascot Brut from Valley Vineyards, Berkshire; Cuvée Maman Mercier 1996, from the Breaky Bottom vineyard near Lewes, East Sussex; Cuvée Merret Bloomsbury 2000 from Ridgeview; and Premier Cuvée Blanc de Blanc 1995 from Nyetimber. While English still wines fared less successfully than their bubbly counterparts, with none meriting a special mention, one taster noted that they demonstrated "an improvement from the average level 10 years ago". Part of the lack of awareness of English wines was attributed to the fact that the majority produced were available only through specialist wine merchants or from producers, as opposed to in high street shops. The sole exception was the premier-ranking Nyetimber, which is sold by the supermarket chain Waitrose as well as directly from the winemaker. While there are around 350 vineyards in the UK, the majority of sparkling wines are produced in southern counties. The emergence of regions in the South as producers of premier-class sparkling wine has been linked to the fact that the chalky soil and climate is similar to that found in the Champagne region. The winning sparkling wine was produced using the same technique as the Champagne houses, according to Andy Hill, the owner of the Nyetimber vineyard near Pulborough. "Sales are going through the roof," said Mr Hill, the songwriter behind a string of hits for Celine Dion, Cliff Richard and Bucks Fizz's Eurovision Song Contest winning entry in 1981,Making Your Mind Up. "A lot of people are appreciating the quality. There is no longer the stigma that English wine is made by someone in their Wellington boots at the end of their garden with an antiquated grape press." Julia Trustram Eve, from the marketing body English Wine Producers, said: "There has been an image that English wine is inferior and certainly there were some duff bottles around. But there is now dedication to the craft in this country although production is still on a small scale." THE TASTE TEST In a blind tasting on the streets of Glasgow between a bottle of Three Choirs Classic Cuvée from Gloucestershire (£6.96 from Asda) and Asda's own brand champagne (£10.63) produced in France, seven out of eight chose the English wine. Jamie Duffin, 22, a music producer, said: "I thought the champagne was more bitter and less enjoyable." Laura Fraser, 18, a student, said: "You tend to think if it's called champagne and its from France it would be better but it is not so sweet." Andrew Rooney, 23, a security guard, said:"If I had to choose I would take the English sparkling wine as it doesn't seem so heavy and has a smoother taste." James Gould, 39, from Norfolk, was surprised when he chose the English wine:"It just goes to show that the name champagne automatically makes people think it is better." Corinne Sweeny, 26, a student nurse, chose the champagne, saying the wine was "too sour". Susan Forrester, 25, a nurse, said: "I liked the sweetness of the wine rather than the richer, heavier champagne." Tarquin Allerdyce-Lewis, 44, an artist from Edinburgh, described the French champagne as "disgusting." Sonia Pena, 32, a street entertainer from Spain, said: "I would not have thought of trying English sparkling wine before but it is very nice." Paul KelbieMany people like Champagne, but only a few of us, I have observed, actually enjoy Champagne throughout dinner. I love to have Champagne with dinner, and have found that it really complements most of the foods that I enjoy. Granted, if you're having steak, roast beef, lamb, venison, etc., or any dish with acidic ingredients such as tomatoes or tomato sauce, your better choice with dinner would be a bottle of red wine. Apart from those cases, I recommend Champagne with all kinds of fish and seafood; with pasta--other than tomato-based--and risotto, especially risotto with mushrooms; with most poultry dishes, including game birds; with most vegetable dishes; and even with white or pink meat dishes (more on that later). But full-bodied Champagnes are a better choice to accompany these foods than lighter ones--the one exception being that a lighter-bodied Champagne might do well with a light fish entrée. Before I name the full-bodied Champagnes that I suggest to  accompany dinner, I must mention something that will probably annoy many readers: You can really only appreciate good Champagne, especially full-bodied, complex Champagnes, in large, wider glasses, such as the tulip-shaped glass, or even a good white wine glass. Flutes, which I know many of you own--or even worse, the so-called trumpet-shaped glasses--are truly poor glasses for Champagne, especially complex, full-bodied Champagnes. Neither glass allows any room for the development of aromas. I own some flutes, but only use them for inexpensive sparkling wines; their only merit is that they do a decent job keeping your bubbly cold. Other than that, they're not worth a damn.I had dinner a short time ago in a New York City restaurant with Ghislain de Montgolfier, head of the family-owned Champagne Bollinger (Ghislain is a great-nephew of the indomitable Lily Bollinger). I was there to taste all of Bollinger's current releases. But the restaurant had only flutes (a problem in most  restaurants)! Montgolfier stated unequivocally that Bollinger (a very full-bodied Champagne) would not be poured into flutes, and asked for white wine glasses. In a stroke of brilliance, the sommelier recommended glasses that the restaurant uses for Burgundy and Barolo; the glasses were not the typically apple-shaped, wide Burgundy type, but more trapezoidal. All of the Champagnes showed beautifully (review notes on this week's WRO Reviews page)! And, by the way, the sommelier kept the Champagnes perfectly cold (but not ice cold) throughout the dinner, which was a big plus. Now on to my full-bodied, dinner Champagne recommendations: I've composed a group of eight Champagne Houses, plus three Grower-Champagnes. Of the eight houses, only three make all of their Champagnes in the full-bodied style:Now on to my full-bodied, dinner Champagne recommendations: I've composed a group of eight Champagne Houses, plus three Grower-Champagnes. Of the eight houses, only three make all of their Champagnes in the full-bodied style: • Bollinger • Krug • Salon (makes only one Champagne!) Champagne Bollinger's non-vintage Brut, Special Cuvée, is one of the most reliable, consistently fine NV Champagnes produced.  Made with 75% black grapes (Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier), and with reserve wines of up to 15 years of age added to the base wine, it is very dry, full, complex in flavor, and toasty, especially with a little age. And it ages well; you can keep it (in a cool place) for ten years or more without a problem (about $50-$55, average retail price). Bollinger's magnificent 1999 La Grande Année is about double the price of the Special Cuvée, while the 1999 Grande Année Rosé and 1996 R.D. are three times the price. Bollinger is now introducing its first NV Rosé, which will retail for $90.Champagne Krug produces only Prestige Cuvées, and so Krug is more of a special-occasion Champagne. Krug's NV Grande Cuvée--which the house prefers to call 'Multi-Vintage'--needs  aging nowadays when you buy it (I've had several recent bottles which have been too young). With some age, it's incredible: So dry and powerful, so winey! But a good retail price for Krug Grandé Cuvée today would be $160, for a 750 ml bottle, that is. Krug's superb, dry, full-bodied onion skin-colored NV Rosé retails for about $375 (ouch!). Krug's other-worldly 1996 Vintage Brut--best since its 1928--retails in the $340 to $375 range, and don't even ask about Krug's Blanc de Blancs, 1996 Clos du Mesnil (all right, I'll tell you: average retail price, $1300 a bottle, if you can find it. I know it's crazy, but this wine is in demand!). In the realm of 'Completely Nuts,' Krug has released a small-production 1995 Blanc de Noirs called Clos d'Ambonnay, which you can buy for about $4,000. How many bottles do you want? (I've tried it; it's superb; very concentrated. I didn't buy any, needless to say.)Salon is a tiny Champagne House (now owned by Champagne  Laurent-Perrier) in the village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger on Champagne's fabled Côtes des Blancs slope, south of Epernay. Salon produces one magnificent, very full-bodied Vintage Blanc de Blancs Champagne, and only in good vintages. Salon ages extremely well, and in fact needs at least 15 years from the vintage to really develop; a good retail price for Salon 1996, its current vintage, is $300.I recommend five Champagne Houses for some but not all of their Champagnes--in terms of being full-bodied, dinner wines. They are Gosset, Louis Roederer, Veuve Clicquot, Philipponnat, and Pol Roger. Champagne Gosset's better NV Brut, Grande Réserve (not its NV Brut Excellence) is one of the great, full-bodied NV Bruts available. Gosset Grande Réserve, made solely from Grand Cru and Premier Cru grapes, is a dry, robust Champagne with complex flavors, and it ages very well. Grande Réserve is about the same price as Bollinger's NV Special Cuvée, perhaps a few dollars more ($50 to $60), and it certainly rivals the Bollinger in quality, being just a little less toasty. Gosset's Grand Millésimé 1999 Brut, about $88, is also made in the full-bodied, dry style and is perfect with dinner, as is Gosset's NV Rosé (about $70 -$75). Ironically, Gosset's ethereal Prestige Cuvée, Vintage Célébris, is lighter-bodied and elegant, an excellent apéritif Champagne. All of Louis Roederer's Champagnes are made in the full-bodied  style except for its renowned Prestige Cuvée, Cristal, which is medium-bodied and elegant, with exquisite balance, but which really needs a good 15 years to develop. I'm a particular fan of Roederer's Vintage Rosé, a lusty, flavorful Champagne that would really complement salmon or pork entrées; and Roederer's Blanc de Blancs is certainly made in the hefty, Roederer house style (both about $70).Regarding the famed Champagne Veuve Clicquot, I can recommend only its Gold Label Vintage Reserve Brut (current vintage is 1999) and its Rosé Reserve Vintage Brut (current vintage, 2002). Both of these two Clicquot Champagnes are still  excellent, made in the rich, full, traditional Clicquot style. I have been disappointed with Veuve Clicquot's NV 'Yellow Label' Brut for many years now, a victim, I believe, of over-production or not enough aging, or both. Veuve Clicquot's Prestige Cuvée, La Grande Dame, has also left me underwhelmed lately, except in great vintages such as 1988 and 1996. Speaking of 1988, I just recently had a 20-year-old 1988 Veuve Clicquot Rosé Reserve that was totally delicious, which proves that this wine can age well in good vintages.Champagne Philipponnat makes one great, full-bodied, very dry  Champagne, its Prestige Cuvée, Clos des Goisses, a connoisseur's favorite, from an incredibly steep vineyard overlooking the Marne River in the town of Aÿ. The current 1999 vintage costs about $150, a reasonable price for a Champagne of this quality. (The even-better 1996 Clos des Goisses is about $80 more.) Champagne Pol Roger also makes one memorable, full-bodied bubbly, its renowned Pinot Noir-dominated Prestige Cuvée, Sir Winston Churchill. (The current SWC vintage is 1998, about $200, but try to find the incredible, long-lived 1996 Sir Winston Churchill, also $200.)Three Grower Champagnes I recommend that are made in the full-bodied style are Champagne Paul Bara, Champagne Henri Billiot, and Champagne Pierre Peters. Both Paul Bara and Henri Billiot produce powerful, dry, Pinot Noir-dominated Champagnes that age very well. Champagne Pierre Peters makes stunning Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Champagnes from old vines that rival Champagne Salon in quality, at a considerably lower price. A final word about pairing full-bodied Champagnes with some meat entrées. First, with pork or veal dishes, I've had the following Champagnes that have worked wonderfully: Bollinger (NV Special Cuvée or Grande Année Vintage Brut) Gosset (NV Grande Réserve or Grande Millésimé Vintage Brut) Krug NV Grande Cuvée Philipponnat Clos des Goisses (Vintage) Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill (Vintage) Louis Roederer Vintage Brut Salon Le Mesnil (Vintage) Veuve Clicquot Gold Label Vintage Reserve With ham, I recommend a full-flavored Rosé, such as Louis Roederer's Vintage Rosé Brut or Charles Heidsieck's Brut Rosé. Lamb can be tricky, especially if it's gamy. With young lamb, not too well done, try one of Bollinger's Rosés (Vintage or NV), or, for a big splurge, Krug NV Rosé. Just a reminder: two reasonably priced, full-bodied, dinner Champagnes that will not let you down are Bollinger NV Special Cuvée and Gosset NV Grande Réserve. A Santé! • Bollinger • Krug • Salon (makes only one Champ... |
Holiday Champagne & Sparkling Guide for Dummies Producers of Champagne and other sparkling wines love the month of December! And why not? Some of them sell as much as half of their annual production in this one month. Family get-togethers during the Holidays, office parties, annual bonuses and New Year's Eve all combine to push annual sales solidly into the black. The Champagne region in particular has been experiencing a boom in sales during the last several years. The great thing about bubbly wine is that there's something for everyone at every price and quality level. If you don't like dry bubblies or sparkling wines that are too acidic, no problem. Plenty of off-dry to sweet sparkling wines are available, many of which have lower acidity. The André line, made by Gallo, comes in all colors, flavors and levels of sweetness, and will cost you about $5.00 a bottle. Its main competitor at this price level is Cook's, made by the Canandaiga Wine Company of New York State. Gallo also produces slightly more upscale bubblies, such as Tott's and Ballatore Gran Spumante, for $2 or $3 more. I think that Ballatore, with its clean, floral Muscat flavors, is a particularly good buy at this price level. Most inexpensive (under $8) bubblies are produced by the Charmat (closed tank) method, in which the carbon dioxide, the natural by-product of fermenting wine, is trapped in a closed tank and is absorbed by the wine. This method enables producers to process large quantities of sparkling wine, a far less costly method than used in Champagne -- or in most wine regions producing over $8 bubblies -- where the carbon dioxide is actually trapped in the very same bottle that you are buying. The grape varieties used in sparkling wines employing the Charmat method are often far less expensive than Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the two varieties you find in most of the better-quality bubblies, including Champagne. Prosecco and Asti  In the $8 to $25 retail range, a prodigious amount of sparkling wine is produced throughout the world, most of which is made by the classic Champagne method. Two sparkling exceptions in Italy, Prosecco and Asti/Moscato d'Asti, do use the closed tank method. Thanks to its popularity in Italian restaurants, sales for Prosecco -- the dry sparkling wine that goes particularly well with Italian antipasti -- are booming. Most Proseccos retail in the $12 to $20 price range. Prosecco, made from the grape variety of the same name, hails from the Veneto region of Northeast Italy; some leading brands include Adami, Astoria, Canevel, Casalnova, Mionetto, Nino Franco, Valdo, Zardetto, Zefiro and Zonin. Asti (formerly called Asti Spumante) and Moscato d'Asti, its slightly less effervescent cousin, are both made from the Moscato (Muscat) grape variety in the area around the town of Asti in Piedmont, Italy. Asti, with its wonderful aromas and... |
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