‘When will France learn…that champagne should be drunk with roast meat and not introduced as an incubus after dinner’ demanded a letter in The Times in September 1860. (the header and text of this write up is sourced from this article https://bit.ly/2HvQ2TZ) The above mid 19th century excerpt essentially espouses the current trend of drinkingContinue reading “When will France learn…?”
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Belle Epoque
The period of about three decades after the end of Franco Prussian war in 1871 was a time of peace and prosperity in France. This was, as brought in previous post, “The Belle Epoque”. And champagne, which had already established itself as a celebration drink, further flourished during this time. As author Henry Vizetelly inContinue reading “Belle Epoque”
VINTAGE PAINTED CHAMPAGNE ADVERTISEMENT got sold at live auction at $1300 (source https://bit.ly/2EbZCJE) DESCRIPTION : “Perrier-Jouet Champagne”, oil on canvas laid to panel, in the style of 1920s Parisian outdoor ads, depicting a woman emerging from the neck of an enormous champagne bottle, which is displayed in an equally huge ice bucket in the midstContinue reading
How phylloxera indirectly helped champagne
Anyone who follows wine is certain to be aware to the dreaded word ‘Phylloxera’. It is a disease which once threatened to wipe out almost the entire vine population in European vineyards, and France being a major producer of wine was naturally severely affected. But as goes the proverb that every dark cloud has aContinue reading “How phylloxera indirectly helped champagne”
Champagne – a taste of contradictions
“It takes poor soil to make good Champagne; black grapes to make white wine; a blind man saw stars; the man accredited with putting bubbles in Champagne actually worked most of his life to keep them out” (Excerpts from the book titled ‘Champagne’) These are ironies which prompted a writer to call Champagne as ‘aContinue reading “Champagne – a taste of contradictions”
Decoding a Wine Dinner Menu
A ‘Wine Dinner’, especially the formal, sit down kind, often falls in the realm of ‘fine dining’ where although the wines take the center stage, but the accompanied food also commands equal attention – both of the Chef as well as of the guests. The Menu for such an event often includes gourmet dishes, (curatedContinue reading “Decoding a Wine Dinner Menu”
Alexa, open the wine finder
So you shelled out a couple of grands to buy that bottle of wine and its already in your refrigerator. The day to open it has arrived, but hey wait a minute, what about the food to go with the wine? Now, you have always heard about the complex rules of food and wine pairing.Continue reading “Alexa, open the wine finder”
Buy on bread, sell on cheese
“Buy on Bread, Sell on Cheese” is an old saying among wine merchants. The experienced wine buyers frequently use bread as the food of choice when they are selecting wines for purchase. The reason is that a good crusty bread will cleanse your palate and prepare you to taste the next wine with an openContinue reading “Buy on bread, sell on cheese”
National Vintage Report: Wine Australia
Wine Australia’s annual vintage report 2018 has been released. The report is produced on behalf of the wine sector based on survey data collected across all winegrowing regions in Australia. Quantity As per the report, Australia’s winegrape crush in 2018 has been 1.79 million tonnes. This is lower than previous year’s figure which stood atContinue reading “National Vintage Report: Wine Australia”
Calici di Stelle
Sometime around mid-August each year, Italy witnesses a prolific meteor shower in its skies (it is called as the Perseids Meteor Shower). Over the years the wineries started organizing wine tastings during this period. The event came to be known as ‘Calici di Stelle’ which literally means “Wine Under the Stars”. This soon turned intoContinue reading “Calici di Stelle”