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PAGE 2 SPECIAL SPARKLERS There was a reward for crossing the $20 threshold and so there also is a reward for crossing the $40 threshold. Lancelot Royer is a single village (Cramant) estate bottled Champagne from a top grower. Andre Clouet and Forget Brimont are both smaller negociants who work like estate bottlers except they buy in some grapes (not juice and certainly not wine but grapes – it makes a difference). The Jean Laurent is an all Pinot grower Champagne. And so on … At the other end of the list, Taittinger Brut Millesime (vintage) is like that old jacket that you’ve owned for years that feels so good every time you slip it on. In the middle, Bollinger Special Cuvee really is. Special, that is. LANCELOT ROYER “Cuvee RR” Brut Blanc de Blancs, Champagne, NV (12x750ml $40.84 $459.55) ANDRE CLOUET Brut Champagne NV (12x750ml) $41.79 $472.92) FORGET BRIMONT Brut 1er cru, Champagne, NV (12x750ml $42.74 $484.58) JEAN LAURENT Blanc de Noirs, Champagne, NV (12x750ml) $44.64 $503.16) LANCELOT ROYER “Cuvee des Chevaliers” Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Cramant, Champagne, NV (12x750ml $47.99 $540.36) CHARLES HEIDSIECK Brut Reserve, Champagne, NV (6x750ml) $48.79 $274.44) GEOFFROY Cuvee Expression, Champagne, NV (12x750ml $52.79 $594.38) PASCAL DOQUET Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, Champagne, NV (12x750ml $52.99 $596.87) BOLLINGER Special Cuvee Brut, Champagne, NV (6x750ml $55.59 $304.50) PIERRE PETERS Cuvee de Reserve Brut, Champagne, NV (12x750ml $57.39 $638.82) GODME Brut Rose Grand Cru, Champagne, NV (12x750ml $60.79 $688.08) LOUIS de SACY “Grand Soir” Champagne, NV (6x750ml $64.59 $361.20) TAITTINGER Brut Millesime, Champagne, 2005 (6x750ml $80.74 $455.96) LUXE I wrote about Luxe Champagnes a couple of weeks back. You could look it up (http://www.specsonline.com/pdf/LuxeChampagne_1.pdf). I don’t have a lot more to add other than that I LOVE drinking these wines. Here the Delamotte Blanc de Blancs vintage and the Barons Rothschild Brut are the reward for passing $90. For me, Krug Grand Cuvee is the reference standard. And that 1996 Dom Perignon “Oenotheque” is as good as anything I have EVER put in my mouth. DELAMOTTE Blanc de Blancs, Champagne, 2002 (6x750ml $90.79 $499.50) BARONS ROTHSCHILD Brut, Champagne, NV (6x750ml $94.99 $534.36) PIERRE PETERS “Les Chetillions” Brut, Champagne, 2005 (12x750ml $104.49 $1178.52) BARONS ROTHSCHILD Blanc de Blancs, Champagne, NV (6x750ml $118.74 $668.68) BARONS ROTHSCHILD Rosé, Champagne, NV (6x750ml $118.74 $668.68) BOLLINGER Grande Annee Champagne, 2002 (6x750ml $120.64 $680.69) PIERRE PETERS “Les Chetillons” Brut, Champagne, 2004 (12x750ml $124.99 $1409.10) KRUG Grand Cuvee, Champagne, NV (6x750ml $141.89 $777.60) DOM PERIGNON Rosé, Champagne, 2000 (3x750ml $316.79 $867.51) SALON “Le Mesnil” Champagne, 1999 (3x750ml $324.39 $913.17) DOM PERIGNON “Oenotheque” Brut, Champagne, 1996 (6x750ml $347.69 $1905.12) Bubbly Basics The Simple Hows, Whats and Whys of Sparkling Wine My wife told me that last week’s Champagne Primer was too technical and used too much jargon. Here are the basics on bubbly with the tech stuff toned-down and/or more explained and a minimum of jargon … What is Sparkling Wine? Whether it is called Champagne, Cava, or Cremant, whether “bubbles”, “foam”, “sparkles” or “fizz”, sparkling wine is just wine with carbonation (CO2 or carbon-dioxide gas). There are several ways to get carbon dioxide into a wine. It could be as simple as injecting CO2 into a tank full of wine (as is done with soda pop) or as complex as the Champagne process (Méthode Champenoise). Though it is possible, I don’t know of any currently available sparklers that were just carbonated like soda pop; everything currently in the market became carbonated via a second fermentation in a sealed vessel. The very first sparkling wines were products of circumstance. The weather would get cold enough to stop the yeast from working before the fermentation was complete. Once the winemaker had seen that the yeast stopped working for a period of time, he would go ahead and bottle the wine. Once the bottled wine warmed up in the spring, the fermentation would restart as the formerly dormant yeast reactivated and finished converting some or all of the remaining sugar to alcohol, carbon-dioxide, and heat. Since the CO2 is trapped in the bottle, it “dissolves” into the wine and the wine becomes sparkling. As appreciation for the results of these “accidental bubblies” grew (people liked bubbles in their wine), winemakers tried to initiate and control the circumstances that caused them. This lead to the first intentional sparkling wines made using what is now called méthode ancestrale. The key to this and all quality sparkling wines is a second fermentation (or the second stage of an arrested fermentation) happening in a closed vessel with enough structural integrity to withstand the pressure of the CO2 generated. Méthode ancestrale gradually evolved in the Champagne area into the Champagne process which we now call Méthode Champenoise. Well, at least we can call it that in reference to Champagne. The Champenoise (the Champagne producers) are picky about others using their name so the same process is called méthode traditionelle in other parts of France and may be called other things in many other countries. As producers sought to improve or simplify the Méthode Champenoise, other formal processes based on a closed second fermentation evolved. The most common is the Charmat process. The Transfer Method used to have some followers but it seems to be going away. In any case, how the gas gets into the wine and how the wine is treated once it is there both have more than a little bit to do with the quality and flavor of the wine. Here are outlines of the four main techniques in order of their evolution. Méthode Ancestrale Méthode ancestrale, also known as méthode rurale, méthode artisnale, or méthode Gaillacois, replicates what happens when sparkling wine is made naturally by circumstance. To create effervescence using the Méthode ancestrale, fermentation is temporarily stopped by chilling the fermenting juice - called “must” - to a temperature cold enough to make the yeasts inactive. The chilled, partially fermented must is then bottled cold and the fermentation process allowed to resume as the bottled wine warms up. The by-products of this fermentation (and all sugar-to-alcohol fermentations) are heat - which transfers out of the wine and bottle - and carbon dioxide - which cannot escape the sealed bottle and so creates bubbles in the bottled wine. Méthode ancestrale sparkling wines are often cloudy unless they are processed further to remove the sediments left by the fermentation and dead yeasts. Very few wines, mainly those from Limoux and Gaillac, are still made using méthode ancestrale. In general, it has been replaced by Méthode Champenoise for higher-quality bubbly or by the Charmat process for cheaper fizz. CONTINUES ON PAGE 3
PAGE 3 Méthode Champenoise As the name indicates, the Champagne process or Méthode Champenoise evolved in France’s Champagne region. Champagne started off as still wine - sometimes red, sometimes white, sometimes pink - that nature occasionally made fizzy by circumstance. The original attempts to control that circumstance closely approximate the méthode ancestrale described before. Méthode Champenoise as it is today is the evolved process by which the Champagne producers artificially and consistently generate a predictable frothy outcome. What follows is a description of the Champagne process or méthode traditionelle as it is used in Champagne and around the world. Méthode Champenoise starts in the vineyard. The process requires high acid, physiologically mature grapes with low sugar contents. Champagne producers use Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay but the process will work with most any grape varieties. Alsace producers use Pinot Blanc and Loire producers use Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc. In Spain, Cava producers use mostly Parellada, Macabeo, and Xarel-lo, sometimes with some Chardonnay. Picking begins when the grapes reach 18 to 20% sugar and still have very high acid levels. After picking, the better producers practice a hand sorting, or triage, of the clusters to remove any rotten or damaged grapes. Once in the winery, the grapes are pressed in either the traditional basket press or the more modern bladder press. In either case, the object is to remove the juice from the skins as quickly as possible so as to eliminate extraction of color (anthocyans) and tannin. The juice is then allowed to settle and clarify in preparation for the primary fermentation. The initial fermentation is usually carried out in temperature-controlled tanks to insure a fresh, non-oxidized result. A very few producers still barrel-ferment a portion or even all of their wines. After the newly fermented wine falls bright (drops its deposit of cloudy sediments), it is kept in large tanks until needed for a particular blend. Most, but certainly not all of these base wines go through a full malo-lactic fermentation while in tanks or barrels. The result of this first fermentation is a thin, acidic, bone dry, low alcohol, usually white wine. It is the raw material from which sparkling wine is made. Blending the wine that will undergo the second fermentation to make it bubbly requires a special skill. The blender has to predict what a blend of these virtually undrinkable base wines will taste like after another fermentation, aging in the bottle, and the addition of a sweetening dose of sugar. Once the blender decides on the blend, or cuvee, it is assembled in large quantities and bottled. As the cuvee is bottled, a carefully proportioned mixture of sugar and yeast known as the liqueur de tirage is added to it. The yeast ferments the sugar and, as in all fermentations, produces alcohol, carbon-dioxide, and heat. The alcohol brings the alcohol content of the Champagne to the desired level. The heat passes through the glass and out of the bottle without any effect. The carbon dioxide is trapped in the bottle and dissolves into the wine. When this second fermentation is completed, the spent yeast falls to the side of the bottle where it breaks down in a process called autolysis and gives the distinctive yeasty-toasty-bready-doughy character to the wine. In Champagne, this en tirage (on the yeast) aging process must continue for a minimum of one-and-one-half years for the wine to be called Champagne. Some producers will shake the aging bottles to stir-up the yeast sediment and aid extraction. Some producers will continue this aging process for ten or more years to draw out the most yeast character possible. Some will age the wine six months or less. It all depends on the producing area’s regulations – or lack of them. Riddling and disgorgement are the processes by which the yeast and sediments are removed from the bottle to yield a bright, clear wine. Riddling may now be done by hand or machine. Either way the process uses sharp twists and gravity to slide all the sediments into the neck of the bottle. Disgorgement is the way the neck is then cleared of the sediment. The neck of the bottle is dipped into freezing brine which causes the wine in the neck to freeze into a plug of ice containing the sediment. The bottle is then opened and the pressure of the dissolved carbon-dioxide gas causes the sediment-filled ice plug to shoot out. Once the sediment is gone, the liqueur d’expedition containing the dosage is added, the wine is topped up, and the bottle is corked with its final closure. The dosage is a small amount of sugar that is added to the bone dry product of the second fermentation to bring out a little more fruit flavor and balance the crisp acidity. The sugar for the dosage is dissolved in a liquid called the liqueur d’expedition which may consist of a number of different things. Different producers use varying blends of old or young wines sparkling or still (some in oak), unfermented grape must, and even brandy. As this medium for the dosage has an enormous influence on the character of the finished product, the exact mixture of the liqueur d’expedition used by each producer is a closely guarded trade secret. After the dosage is added, the wine is ready to be corked and to have its wire harness, labels, and top dressing applied. The sealed bottle is then shaken to better mix the liqueur d’expedition and dosage with the new Champagne and left to rest for a time to allow the disparate elements to merge. Wines that undergo this full process in the bottle in which they are ultimately sold may be labeled “Naturally Fermented in This Bottle.” The Transfer Process The transfer process follows Methode Champanoise up to the point of riddling and disgorgement. Instead of using those techniques, the transfer process wines are deeply chilled (but not frozen), opened, and filtered under pressure to remove the sediments. After filtering, the wine is bottled, and the dosage is added. The process removes the most labor-intensive part of the Champagne process. Transfer wines are good for shorter term drinking but do not have the longevity of comparable base wines put through the Champagne process. Due to the bottle fermentation and the potential for en triage aging in the bottle, transfer process bubblies can have much of the toasty yeasty-character of Champagne process sparkling wines. The transfer process was widely used in the 1960s and 1970s but is little seen today. From years past, Paul Masson and Taylor New York State have used the transfer process. The wines may be labeled “Naturally Fermented in The Bottle”; note the “the” used instead of “this” used in Methode Champenoise. The Charmat Process The Charmat process (also called cuvee close) mimics the Champagne process in that the base wines undergo a second fermentation in a pressurized sealed container. In this case, that container typically holds hundreds or even thousands of gallons of wine instead of the 750ml or 1.5L in a typical bottle used in the Champagne or transfer processes. Once the second fermentation is over, the now sparkling wine is filtered and bottled with the addition of the dosage. Because of the speed with which Charmat process sparklers are made, there is rarely any yeast character that makes it into the finished wine. The Charmat process is used for the lowest priced US Sparkling wines (Andre, Cook’s, Cribari, Franzia, etc.) as well as for all Italian Prosecco and Asti Spumante. For these Italian specialities, the transfer process can offer an advantage, as the toasty-yeasty flavors of Méthode Champenoise might interfere with the fruit flavors of the wine. CONTINUES ON PAGE 4
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