It is Champagne Day, Everybody!
My favorite thing: champagne.
All over the world today there are events planned of people getting together to drink wines from that special chalky region of France that makes such lovely bubbles.
Ever wonder how they do it? Here’s a comic that goes over the basic steps of Methode Traditionnelle, or Champenoise.
click on comic to enlarge
There are also various requirements regarding time spent on lees to add richness of texture and flavor (residual yeast left after fermentation), and overall aging. But the comic gets at the big steps of the production process.
Following are a few graphic tasting notes of some favored champagnes.
Champagne Reviews
Plans tonight?
Remarkably, I’ve never drawn reviews for some of my very favorite champagnes. I’ve made a point of drinking grower’s champagnes often (the wine itself is done by the person that also grows the grapes, something not all that common in the region, as most grapes are sold for wine made at a higher production level than grower’s champagne implies). My sister and I started the project years ago, and sharing in it with her has added to the rich sweetness of the experience.
Plans for tonight? If I had my way I’d share each of the Egly-Ouriet champagnes tonight with friends and loved ones.
I hope you enjoy your Champagne day!
Cheers!
***
Want to learn more about champagne–the region and the wine? You couldn’t do better than Peter Liem’s Champagne Guide. The site is well worth visiting, and subscribing to. Check it out here: http://www.champagneguide.net/
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Love the pics, once again. I hope life is treating you well!
Thank you, Randy. Miss you. Hope you’re well!
Happy Champagne Day to you too! Will toast you from our Champagne Day event at the Ventura State Beach with the Jolly Oyster! Next year, I am hoping to get my hands on some grower champagne!
Have a wonderful time! Oh what a fortunate way to celebrate–on the beach, and with oysters too. Sounds fantastic. Hope your good friends are there with you.
[…] The approach differs from how wines like Champagne, Franciacorta, or Cava are made in that, with those examples, the secondary fermentation (which gets the bubbles in the bottle) occurs within the bottle in which the wine is later sold. This approach is called Methode Traditionelle. […]
[…] far less intervention, little equipment, and far less time to get those bubbles in the bottle than methode traditionnelle style wines. You can turn around a pet-nat wine in as little as a year, versus the several years […]
[…] For some great reviews and graphics go here. […]
[…] Wine (MW) hosted their annual Champagne Tasting event this week featuring over 100 cuvées from top Champagne houses. Prior to the walk-around tasting, three Masters of Wine led a panel discussion of 24 […]
[…] Wine (MW) hosted their annual Champagne Tasting event this week featuring over 100 cuvées from top Champagne houses. Prior to the walk-around tasting, three Masters of Wine led a panel discussion of 24 […]