Wine Column

December 31, 2003

by Bob Senn

New Years Quaffs
Hope your Christmas was cheery and bright!
Some sparkling suggestions for tonight and for celebrating-in-general:

Roederer Estate Brut methode champenoise sparkling wine from Mendocino County retails for about $20. I don't think a good California sparkling wine gets much better than this! It's complex and yeasty and froths like crazy in a nice champagne flute.

The winery is owned and operated by the highly regarded French Champagne house, Louis Roederer, that produces Cristal, the legendary champagne that was bottled in Baccarat crystal bottles for the Russian czars before the Soviet revolution of 1917.

Veuve Clicqout is pretty much the standard bearer for fine champagne, I think. You can usually find the Brut (orange label) for around $32 to $35dollars in California. A real palate pleaser, you can never go wrong drinking or giving this champagne.

Champagne and methode champenoise sparking wines are usually made from pinot noir or chardonnay. Frequently the wine is a blend and can also include a grape called pinot meunier. Sparklers that are made from pinot noir (a red grape) are sometimes called "blanc de noirs." Likewise, sparklers made from chardonnay or white grapes are sometimes called "Blanc de blancs."
Rose champagnes (a special class of "blanc de noirs"), usually made from 100 percent pinot noir, can oftentimes be the most sensational!

Nicolas Feuillatte premier cru Rose champagne sells for around $35. This is one of the most spectacular champagnes (especially for its price) I've ever tasted. And if you are a pinot noir lover like I am, the aroma and bouquet of this wine will knock your socks off. A great splurge for seeing in the new year.

For me, on a night like tonight, I'd rather spend time-safe and sound-in my own abode, drinking a bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte with a few friends than getting "ripped off" for the same amount of money or more at some nightclub or casino, drinking something grossly inferior.
The government has always viewed champagne as a luxury and has taxed it accordingly, going back to the repeal of Prohibition. For years the federal tax on still wine was 17 cents a gallon. During the administration of George Bush, Sr., the tax on still wine jumped to $1.09 a gallon. Federal tax on champagne and sparkling wine has remained $3.40 a gallon since 1934, whether it's a two dollar bottle of "Chateau de Swill" or a bottle of Cristal, or Feuillatte rose. The moral, I think, is the cheapest of sparkling wines are wretched and you should avoid them. On a two to four dollar bottle of sparkling wine, what can the caliber of the wine be? The lion's share of what you're paying is covering that hefty chunk of federal excise tax!
A glossary of champagne terms that make buying easy (or easier):

Methode Champenoise, according to Schoonmaker's Encyclopedia of Wine, is the French term for making sparkling wines by the classic method, first perfected in the Champagne region of France. In a nutshell, still wine is bottled and a measured amount of sugar and yeast are added, thereby inducing a second fermentation in the bottle. Methode Champenoise sparkling wines are marketed in the bottle in which the second fermentation occurred.

Champagne can only be called champagne if it was made in the Champagne region, an appellation of origin in France, and made by the Methode Champenoise method.

If the label says "Charmat" process, the second fermentation occurs in large tanks rather than in individual bottles. These wines are not as good and much less expensive. This transfer method is not permitted in Champagne, but it's widely used elsewhere in France and here in the United States. Wines produced in this way may be labeled "Fermented in the Bottle," but never "Fermented in this bottle."

Dry to sweet designations: With few exceptions, the driest champagnes are labeled "brut," according to Schoonmaker's Encyclopedia. They contain no more than 1.5 percent sugar; in practice most contain .8 to 1.2 percent. "Extra dry," of course is sweeter! These wines contain 1.2 to 2 percent sugar. "Sec" is 1.7 to 3.5 percent. "Demi-sec" is 3.3 to 5 percent. "Doux" is more than five percent.

Bon appetit!

Wine lover and Santa Maria Times Wine columnist, Bob Senn, lives in the Los Alamos Valley and owns the Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium.

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