Champagne

News December 18, 2013

Tasting the Holidays: Bubbles for any Budget

Just another short article I wrote for Jacksonville Magazine… Mumm Napa Brut Rose Sparkling – $18.99 For bubbles on a budget – without compromising quality – it’s hard to go wrong with Mumm Napa. The winery’s history began in 1979, when French Champagne house Mumm began looking for a location to make American sparling wine. Made in the “Champagne-style,” although not true Champagne (since it hails from California), the Mumm Napa Brut Rose is a…

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News February 2, 2013

A Sommelier’s Guide to Picking the Right Wine for Your Valentine.

Jacksonville Magazine recently asked to write an article for their February Valentine’s issue, and so I thought I’d share it with you all, mainly just to prove that I have indeed been keeping myself busy away from this website! Below is their published version, and below that is the original article I submitted. I really don’t care that they edited it down the published version, but personally I prefer the original. :) New Relationship It’s…

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News January 15, 2013

French Winemakers in a Tizzy over Obama Inauguration “Champagne California”

In a move COMPLETELY UNCHARACTERISTIC of their nation, French winemakers have once again screamed “SACRE BLEU!!!” over a U.S. wine. This time, it’s the wine that Mr. Barack Hussein Obama II plans to serve at his upcoming inauguration. The problem all stems from the name of the wine and the order of its wording: “Korbel Natural, Special Inaugural Cuvée Champagne, California.” Just so you know, I’ve actually seen another name for this wine in similar…

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News January 3, 2013

Amazing Champagne Cork Chairs.

The story goes that Rob Forbes (founder of Design Within Reach, a furniture company which aims to bring high design to the general public) was given an intricate miniature chair made out of a champagne cork, complete with the wire cage and metal medallion. The chair sat on his desk for long enough that it attracted a large amount of compliments…enough to make a light bulb illuminate inside Forbes’ head! From there, the DWR Champagne…

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News August 31, 2012

Dom Perignon Sues Armand de Brignac Champagne.

Dom Perignon has filed a false-advertising lawsuit suit, seeking to end a competitor’s claim that its Champagne is: “The No. 1 Rated Champagne in the World.”Moët Hennessy USA (the makers of Dom) say Armand de Brignac “is intentionally misleading consumers” about the quality of its bubbly, a champagne highly favored by hip-hop star Jay-Z, and also allegedly helped spark the notorious SoHo club brawl between Chris Brown and Drake earlier this year. The lawsuit by…

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Reviews August 16, 2012

Champagne De Venoge Grand Vin des Princes, 1993.

Grapes 100% Chardonnay   Facts The opening of this bottle of De Venoge 1993 Grand Vin des Princes was a last minute decision i.e. 30 minutes before I popped the cork. Usually, you would reserve opening a wine of this magnitude for the birth of your first-born child; instead, I/we decided that my wife’s “half-birthday” (August 7th) was a good enough reason! She’s an only child, and so she celebrates things like that… De Venoge…

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News July 20, 2012

Krug Champagne Withdrawn After Label Error.

Moet Hennessy have been forced to withdraw five batches of its Krug Champagne after they were incorrectly labeled, and do not indicate any mention of their sulfite content, an item required by law in the EU. The products withdrawn are: all sizes of Krug Grande Cuvee; and 75cl bottles of Krug Rose, Krug Vintage 2000, Krug Clos du Mesnil 2000 and Krug Clos d’Ambonnay 1998. The most expensive of the affected products is the Krug…

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News May 25, 2012

5 Million Bottles of English Bubbly to be Sold by 2015.

According to reports, sales of English sparkling wine are set to hit 5 million bottles by 2015.There are almost 400 vineyards in the UK now, almost twice that of 10 years ago. “We have a unique terroir that makes English sparkling wine special. It’s more expensive to produce than Champagne, the cost of land is higher and yields are lower.” said Ridgeview winemaker Charlie Holland. “It’s a fallacy to say you can’t ripen grapes in…

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News May 16, 2012

170 Year Old Shipwrecked Champagne up for Auction.

Paris auction firm Artcurial Briest–Poulain–F.Tajan has been selected to sell-off Champagne bottles that have spent the last 170 years in a shipwreck at the bottom of the Baltic sea. The shipwreck and its cargo are the property of the Åland Islands (NB: don’t worry, I had to Google them as well). The origin and name of the schooner remains a mystery, although the Åland government is carrying out extensive research in order to piece together…

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