Champagne
This year we toasted the new year with a bottle of one of our favorites – Perrier Jouet Brut. Every now and then you serve a wine that you’ve had many times but for some unknown reason the bottle you’ve just opened is far better than any of the others. That was our experience on New Year’s Eve.

A few weeks before Christmas Costco had the green gift box that included 2 tulip shaped flutes so I snapped one up – and am I glad I did.

Perfect with lobster or crab. Wonderful with everything else!

Perrier Jouet Grand Brut
Pale gold color with aromas of pear, fresh baked bread, and hazelnut. Flavors of brioche, honey and ripe citrus with hints of roasted nuts. Crisp, well balanced with a nice finish.

Gift box only available during holidays at Costco but you can find it at K & L – without the flutes, for $40.

10 Wines for Your New Year’s Celebration
What’s not to love about Champagne? It goes with every type of food, it’s perfect all by itself and it makes any occasion special. Going into the next decade of the 21st century certainly calls for a drink – of something special! Cheers!

Top 5 Best Selling Champagnes over $30:
1.    Veuve Clicquot Brut Champagne – $40
2.    Ariston Aspasie Brut Rosé Champagne – $33
3.    2002 Perrier-Jouët “Fleur de Champagne Belle Epoque” half-bottle – $40
4.    Krug “Grande Cuvée” Brut Champagne – $120
5.    Marguet Pere et Fils “Cuvee Reserve” Brut Champagne – $33

Top 5 Best Selling Champagnes for $30 or less:
1.    Ariston Aspasie “Carte Blanche” Brut Champagne – $25
2.    Nicholas Feuillatte “Blue Label” Brut Champagne – $25\
3.    Laurent-Perrier Brut Champagne – $30
4.    Michel Loriot “Cuvee Reserve” Brut Champagne -$30
5.    Philippe Gonet “Brut Reserve” Champagne – $30

Serve with Mini Potato Pancake Appetizers

Recipe:

Mini Potato Pancakes

Ingredients:
2 russet (baking) potatoes, peeled
1 small yellow onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 egg beaten
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup Crisco or peanut oil for frying

1. Finely grate the potatoes and onion onto a freshly washed kitchen towel.  When all is grated, wrap the towel around the pieces holding the towel over the sink and wring out all excess liquid.

2. Place the potato pieces into a mixing bowl and add the flour, egg, salt and pepper.  Mix thoroughly.

3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Pan is ready when you splash cold water from your fingers into the pan and it sizzles.

4. Using a tablespoon, drop potato mixture into the pan. Cook about 2 minutes per side, until the surfaces are brown and crispy and the insides are tender and cooked through. If your pan isn’t large enough to cook the pancakes all at once, do them in batches.  Add more oil to the pan if necessary.

5. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and keep warm in 200 degree C oven while you finish cooking the rest. Serve warm with toppings of your choice.

Favorite Toppings:
Sour Cream with a sprinkling of scallions or caviar
A little granulated sugar
Applesauce
Apple/Onion Chutney – homemade or store bought

Enjoy with a glass of your favorite Champagne.

World’s Oldest Champagne
In July, divers began salvaging the wreckage of the two-masted schooner Jönköpin that was sunk by the Germans off the Finnish coast in 1916. (Read about it here)

What was the treasure they were seeking? 4400 bottles of 1907 Heidesieck Champagne “Goût Americain”, 67 large barrels of Cognac and 17 regular barrels of wine that were intended for officers in the Russian army.

A few champagne bottles were brought up and opened. They reportedly, tasted excellent. The corks had withstood the pressure and the dark ice-cold water served as wine cellar.

“Bottles kept at the bottom of the sea are better kept than in the finest wine cellars,” one of the world’s foremost champagne experts, Richard Juhlin, told reporters.

On November 17, 2010 a group of reporters and wine enthusiasts gathered in Mriehamn, Finland for the official tasting.

The champagne brands to be tasted were Veuve Clicquot and the now defunct Juglar. A total of 168 bottles were salvaged in the operation.

After a presentation of the diving operation, an archaeologist wearing white gloves presented one bottle of Juglar and another of Veuve Clicquot to expert Richard Juhlin, who sampled both in front of scores of journalists.

“Great! Wonderful!” he exclaimed. Then he paused. “I think what strikes you the most is that it’s such an intense aroma,” he continued. “It’s so different from anything you’ve tasted before.”

The Juglar: “Flavors of yeast and mushrooms, with sweet undertones of honey.”

The Veuve Clicquot: “Lot of green notes. Among the strongest are linden blossoms and lime peels.”

Just in time for the holidays!

Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label NV
91 PTS WINE SPECTATOR. There’s plenty of finesse in the smooth-textured non-vintage Veuve Clicquot Champagne, whose flavors evoke apricot, peach, vanilla pastry and mineral; racy, with snappy acidity. $28 at BevMo.

Cocktail Time
You may have noticed the shelves of your favorite wine emporium (or big box store) have been stocking their shelves with more champagne to get ready for the holiday season. While the weather is still on the balmy side we don’t have to think about the holidays in order to enjoy some bubbly.

The perfect sunset-on-the-patio drink – a Champagne Mojito.

Champagne Mojito Recipe

Serves: 1

1 1/2 ounces white rum
1/2 ounce simple syrup or Grand Marnier
1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
8-10 mint leaves
Splash or two of Chandon Brut Classic NV
Mint sprig for garnish

Place simple syrup and mint leaves in the bottom of a tall glass. Press gently with a muddler. Fill with cracked ice. Add rum and lime juice. Stir gently and top off with Chandon Brut Classic. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Time to Stock Up on Champagne
According to the New York Times wine critic, Eric Asimov, there are now some pretty good Champagnes in the $30 to $40 range. A panel of experts, including Asimov, set up blind tasting of 20 Champagnes under $40 and found some seriously good wine. This is quite a change from last year.

What has changed? As James Carville said back in 1992, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

When the bottom fell out of the economy, it took the wine industry with it. In 2007 shipments of Champagne were at close to 22 million bottles. In 2008 they fell to 17 million bottles. This year, as previously noted here at Twisting Vines, Champagne shipments dropped more than 41%.

“I think a lot of the importers got very nervous and this fall lowered prices for the big houses, especially in November and December,” said Lorena Ascencios, wine buyer for Astor Wines and Spirits in Greenwich Village.

Asimov said he was the most excited by the smaller producers who make Champagne from grapes they grow themselves. 4 of the top 10 were selections were from small producers.

The Winners:
The Falmet Brut Tradition
The top-rated wine in the tasting. “We found it full of lively energy, with complex flavors of flowers, minerals, citrus and herbs, and with more finesse than you generally find in Champagnes dominated by the pinot noir grape.” $30

Brut Tradition from Christian Etienne
No. 5 bottle in the tasting, was rich, round and full of fruit, yet beautifully balanced. $30

NV Grande Cuvée from Moutard
No. 8 Champagne showed its 100 percent pinot noir character in its rich, full-bodied texture and ripe fruit flavors. $30

Les 7 Crus from Agrapart & Fils
Rated best value was  another grower-producer. Agrapart is in the Côte des Blancs, which is chardonnay country, so naturally this was a blanc de blancs, made entirely out of chardonnay. It is fresh and balanced, with just the sort of finesse you would expect to see in a good blanc de blancs. A great deal at $28.

From Asimov: “Personally, I love the individuality and distinctiveness I find in many grower-producer Champagnes. But I recognize that unless you live near a wine shop with a deep Champagne selection, or have access to one through the Internet, these labels can be hard to find. Fortunately, some of the bigger names did very well, too.”

Louis Roederer Brut Premier
The No. 2 bottle. “It is a perennial favorite of mine, though this is the first time in a few years that I’m seeing it for under $40. It was ripe and rich, yet showed the balance and elegance I’ve come to expect in Roederer Champagnes.” $35

Henriot Brut Souverain
No. 4 bottle was full, rich and creamy, with surprisingly ripe tropical fruit flavors. Yet it was dry and balanced. $34

Taittinger Brut La Française
No. 7 bottle was from Taittinger, an often underrated producer. It was both fine and elegant, if that’s not redundant, with a mellow mineral and citrus flavor. $35

The Nicolas Feuillatte Brut
No. 9 bottle. It’s by no means a complex Champagne, but it was fresh and lively. $30

Pol Roger Brut Réserve NV – White Foil
The No. 10.” It’s a far cry from a vintage Pol Roger, but a decent bottle nonetheless, with lightness and elegance.”
Notes: A cuvée, with gold straw yellow hue, fine bubbles, a bouquet of floral and fruity aromas. Ripe and thirst-quenching on the palate, with a superb taste of brioche. $36

Champagne
The holiday rush, those weeks from November to New Year’s Eve, is when the Champagne houses reap most of their annual profits.

Americans are the second-largest drinkers of Champagne – outside France. Shipments of the bubbly  to the United States plummeted 41.2 % this year – yet sales of cheaper sparkling wines – typically from Spain or Italy – are up 10%.

Bargains are a crass notion for an industry, which carefully cultivates its image of luxury and glamour. The modest discounts that we’ve seen so far aren’t enough to make us want to “buy up” yet.

How the producers respond to the challenge of a changing market will be watched very carefully. Instead of lowering prices, some of the high-end houses are spending more money on marketing ‘glamour’ and ‘indulgence’ – a chancy proposition in this globally shrinking economy.

Moët & Chandon, the leader in the American market, is offering a $447 “Celebration Case” that includes a magnum of Moët Imperial, Champagne flutes and medallions with colored Swarovski crystals encased in gilded bubbles. Marc Jacheet, the global director for Moët & Chandon says, “It’s not a price battle that we want to get into. We do discount, but selectively and reasonably. We believe more in providing rituals.” Rituals?

Rémy Cointreau’s Piper-Heidsieck label is promoting a $500 gift package of a bottle of brut Champagne and a hand-blown, crystal ruby stiletto shoe designed by Christian Louboutin. See: Twisting Vines Oct. 9. The company’s YouTube video is a romantic dream scene of a modern Cinderella who leaves behind a shoe just like it for her distraught lover, who is consoled by the Champagne overflowing from the instep.

Will this be enough to prevent the wineries in northeastern France from being sold? We’ll see. But one thing I would bet on is some wonderful Champagne bargains after January 1st.

Caviar
With the holiday season upon us, many of us will enjoy Thanksgiving feasts, followed by Christmas and New Years parties. Chances are, if it’s a dressy affair, they’ll serve caviar. This has always been one my favorite little indulgences.

Big, Old Fish
The majority of the world’s caviar comes from the Caspian Sea. Russia, Iran and Turkey have over-fished the sturgeon to the point where it is at great risk of extinction. In addition, polluted water and poaching have added to the problem.

Sturgeon are huge fish – up to 18 feet long. The female can take up to 25 years to reach sexual maturity where they can produce eggs. (They can live to be over 100 years old!) Some species reproduce only once every three to four years. Once the population is over-fished, it’s difficult for the population to recover to a healthy level, particularly while overfishing continues. Since 2006, the UN has banned the exporting of most caviar.

Fortunately, sturgeon farming is beginning to boom. Here in California the meat, as well as the caviar is used. The quality is there and prices are starting to come down – a bit. California white sturgeon is going for about $110+ for a 2 ounce tin.

Serving suggestion: Toast points with a dollop of sour cream topped by the caviar. The beverage of choice is either frozen vodka or very dry Champagne.

Note: Caviar tastes metallic when eaten off stainless or silver spoons. If you are making hors d’oeuvres and you don’t have an enamel or bone caviar spoon, go ahead and use a plastic spoon.

What to Serve With Turkey Dinner
We are having our traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and all the trimmings. The challenge is finding just the right wine that will go with everything. This year I decided to simplify life. When in doubt, Champagne or sparkling wine will go with just about everything and it seems like everyone enjoys it. Finding a good bubbly under $25 is a challenge. Finding a good bubbly under $100 not so much.

Suggestions:
Gloria Ferrer’s 2004 Blanc de Blanc
100% Chardonnay. Pale color. Lemon and pear with a hint of brioche on the nose. Flavors of citrus, pear and apple with a hint of vanilla. Lively acidity for a clean finish.
We found this at Bevmo for $17

Bollinger Special Cuvee Brut NV
Pale gold color. Aromas of apple, toasted nuts and a hint of butterscotch. Flavors of grapefruit and green apple, toast and a hint of vanilla. Good balance with a dry finish. $25

2001 J Schram Brut Sparkling Wine
I love this wine. It’s a little pricey, but if it’s a special celebration you won’t be disappointed.

Pale color, with aromas of green apple, pineapple and a hint of lime. flavors of peach, honey, brioche and hazelnut with a hint of lime. Good acid and minerality with a long finish. Mmmmm. Wonderful. $89

Christian Louboutin and Piper-Heidsieck Team Up
Wine Spectator – October 8, 2009

Market watchers, take heart: The continuing world economic crisis hasn’t dampened some Champagne houses’ enthusiasm for over-the-top displays of decadence.

Case in point: “Le Rituel,” Piper-Heidsieck’s collaboration with famed haute couture shoe designer Christian Louboutin, who has created a crystal stiletto heel-shaped “Champagne flute” that Piper-Heidsieck is selling, for about $500, in a fancy shoebox along with a special Louboutin-edition bottle of Champagne Piper Heidsieck Cuvée Brut.

The designer was inspired by the female cabaret dancers of Belle Epoque Paris, who would serve sips of Champagne to gentleman admirers from the inside of their dancing shoes, a ritual that was itself inspired by the ballerinas of the Bolshoi Ballet in the 1880s.

You may recall that Piper-Heidsieck was also behind the upside-down Champagne bottle, ice bucket and flutes designed by Dutch fashion duo Viktor & Rolf, and before that, a bottle dressed in a red leather corset by Jean-Paul Gaultier. Finally, a sophisticated French answer to Germany’s Oktoberfest “Das Boot” tradition: Vive La Shoe Flute!

Champagne Grapes Will Rot as Producers Protect Prices
By Adam Sage – TimesOnline

Hopes of a glut of cheap champagne are set to be dashed when vineyards meet next week to agree on a big cut in production to prop up prices.

With sales falling, producers may be ordered to leave up to half their grapes to wither on the vine in an attempt to squeeze the market.

Merchants are pushing for an historic reduction in yield as they seek to ensure that champagne remains an expensive luxury. “Everyone agrees that production has to be cut because no one here wants to see prices fall,” an industry insider said. “The only disagreement is on the scale of the cut.”

The backdrop to the debate is a slump in sales for champagne makers, from 338 million bottles in 2007 to 322 million last year and a predicted 270 million this year. The fall stems in part from a slide in demand, estimated at about 10 per cent, and in part from destocking by distributors, notably in Britain and the United States.

The result is miles of shelves of unsold champagne in producers’ caves in the Champagne region of northeastern France. They had 1.2 billion bottles in stock this time last year and the figure has almost certainly risen since then.

“Ideally, there should be three years’ production in stock, but we’re now well over four years,” the insider said.

Drinkers looking forward to a price collapse are likely to be disappointed. Famous houses such as Taittinger and LVMH, owner of Moët & Chandon, are determined to avoid what, to them, would be a catastrophe. They are demanding a grape yield of only 7,500kg per hectare when the harvest begins next month for champagne that will come on to the market from 2011. This compares to 13,000kg last year. With this year’s vines producing enough bunches to provide 14,500kg per hectare, the move would in effect involve abandoning almost 50 per cent of Champagne’s grapes.

Ghislain de Montgolfier, chairman of the Union of Champagne Houses, said: “We don’t have any choice other than to adapt to the economic climate.” Jocelyne Dravigny, chairman of the Federation of Champagne Wine Co-operatives, added: “For us, the stabilising of prices is a priority.”

Yet there is fierce controversy over the scale of the drop in yield, with producers calling for 10,400kg per hectare. “That would correspond to a 35 per cent reduction in revenue for vineyards,” Patrick Le Brun, chairman of the General Union of Champagne Wine Makers, said. He accused champagne houses of harming the region’s reputation through excessively pessimistic talk.

“Champagne is the drink of dreams and of parties,” Mr Le Brun wrote in La Champagne Viticole, the trade magazine. “Its image, its universe are endangered when the term ‘crisis’ is associated too often with it.”

Many producers say that they would fail to break even at a yield of 7,500kg per hectare. “I’d be working for nothing,” said one, declining to be named. “We’d be on our knees.”

Under a system similar to Opec’s regulation of oil production, merchants and vineyards will hold a meeting on Wednesday to set the maximum yield. If they fail to agree, the figure will be established by the regional prefect, who represents the French Government. The decision is binding and vineyards that exceed the limit would face legal action.