Please The Palate |

Bubbles! Bubbles! Bubbles!

This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register. The holidays are approaching which means it is the perfect time for bubbles. OK, let me be clear. Every day and any day is a good day for bubbles but with the pending holidays, ‘tis the busiest season for purchasing Champagne. From gift giving to holiday parties, there is no shortage of reasons to drink bubbles. So, what are you going to drink this year?

There are wonderful sparkling wines from around the world but Champagne is the king. And with the increasing popularity of Grower Champagne in the market, there are so many brands and styles to choose from. Want to please your palates or impress your friends with your selections? Hopefully I can help you find some new wines to try this year!

Champagne is a wine region that for last half of 20th century has been consistent is self-identity, messaging and marketing. But according to Peter Liem, Champagne expert and author of ChampagneGuide.net, an award-winning and highly acclaimed online guide to the wines and wine producers of Champagne, today Champagne is in flux. Wines are more diverse than ever before. Medium-standard quality is higher than formerly. The land itself, the idea of vineyards and place, is being explored more today than previously.

“Like all great wines of the world,” Liem explained, “Champagne is about terroir.” The wines are from a specific place and express their origins.

09 November, 2016

A new Champagne comes to the West Coast: Champagne Palmer

Champagne Palmer is likely an unfamiliar Champagne name. It is actually a new brand to the United States. But it is not a new brand. The Champagne house was started in 1947. It came to the East Coast of the United States in January 2015 and now it is available on the West Coast as well.

In Champagne, the three main types of producers are négociant, grower and cooperative. Négociant Champagne, with names such as Möet and Veuve Clicquot, are the most familiar types of Champagne. These Champagne houses buy their grapes from all over the region and blend them together to produce a consistent style each year.

Grower Champagne is produced by the winemaker who typically owns small parcels of vineyards. The wines are made with estate fruit and will vary year to year. Co-operative Champagne houses are made up of a group of growers who supply their grapes to the co-op to be made into wine.

Champagne Palmer was founded as a co-operative. Instead of focusing on their specific terroirs, seven Grand Cru growers decided to blend them and created Champagne Palmer. Today there are 320 growers who are all shareholders, committed to a minimum of 10-year contracts and are committed to producing excellent quality grapes.

03 August, 2016

Toast the new year with a glass of Champagne Baron de Rothschild

This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register. Every day is a good day for Champagne, and with New Year’s Eve approaching, it is especially time to make sure that the bottles are being chilled. What Champagne will you be drinking this year? Perhaps try Champagne Baron de Rothschild.

Champagne Baron de Rothschild is a relatively new Champagne house. While most Champagne houses date back to the 1880s, Baron de Rothschild started in 2003, with their first harvest in 2005 and their first release in 2009. While less than 10 years old, this young house comes with 250 years of history and experience. It was created by three branches of the Rothschild family, each with established wineries in Bordeaux — Mouton Rothschild, Lafite Rothschild and Chateau Clarke. With many wine families around the world famous for tension and splitting alliances, the alliance of these three iconic Bordeaux producers is impressive. They united and, using all of their networks, have created a Champagne that shows what they are capable of. Champagne Barons de Rothschild is not a grower Champagne but rather a Champagne by the growers. While they own their own vineyards, they also source fruit from top Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards in the region. Out of approximately 400 vineyards in Champagne, there are 17 Grand Cru villages. Baron de Rothschild works with 72 hectares of this Grand Cru classified fruit.

31 December, 2015