The Publican Wine Report: Bubble vs. Bubble

by Lauren Mote
The Publican Magazine, Winter 2010 Issue

These days, it seems that my perception on the sparkling wine industry is a bit of a child’s teeter-totter; do I go up on the left, and embrace the single vineyard, single variety champagne, or do I go down on the right, and follow my instincts? As one of several “avant-garde” mixologists, can I create something similar to “bubble” using contemporary methods? I choose to have my cake and eat it too.

Up on the Left:
I did some research on Cédric Bouchard, a talented innovator in the Champagne region – a region that seldom embraces altercations to its winemaking traditions. As the award-winning grower and winemaker, Bouchard’s namesake in the wine-making world is about creating boutique style sparkling wines, made using the ”méthode champenoise”, but relying on grapes grown on his own estate, rather than buying from local “négociants”. For over a decade now Bouchard has been producing note-worthy wines of extreme calibre. Upon the inception of Bouchard’s “Roses de Jeanne” Champagne label in 2000, his estate grown grapes were part of a viticultural area of a little more than one hectare/10,000 square meters – about the size of a standard rugby field, just to put things into perspective. Starting with miniscule space and production, the philosophy behind his wines garnered instant attention throughout the wine world. Today his vines are covering a larger area, and each of Bouchard’s new vintage releases are as highly anticipated as the last.

Just a bit of regional history: a large percentage of the Champagne industry relies on the outside sales of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. Much the same as past land divisions in Burgundy, the properties in Champagne were passed down through the generations, slicing smaller and smaller chunks of vineyard area for winemakers and growers to work with. This vary division of land makes it exceedingly difficult to produce large quantities of quality sparkling wines that are not blends of “neighbourhood grapes”. Similar to the school of thought over in Bordeaux, the Champagne region can consider it easier to blend high quality varieties together from both estate grown and neighbourhood grapes to produce consistent, high quality wines vintage to vintage, rather than skipping vintages in between or waiting for the perfect crop year after year. This short history lesson shows why Bouchard’s wines are accelerating in popularity.

So, what makes Bouchard’s wines “boutique”? Simply this: he moves against grain of his regional predecessors. Bouchard uses little to no dosage during second fermentation – this promotes terroir character; grape juice used is solely from the first pressing of high quality estate grown grapes, especially that of pinot noir, where a careful pressing with slight skin contact is used to produce a classic “rosé”. “Boutique” style also suggests rarity. At a rather small production each year, critics are referring to Bouchard’s bottled result as magic: “… it is highly, highly recommended to snap them up immediately when they become available. We cannot recommend these magical wines highly enough” Antonio Galloni, Polaner Selections, May 2010. As Bouchard continues to sway bubble-sippers, he has become well recognized by connoisseurs and his professional peers. This is the trend in the sparkling world. With every bottle released, Bouchard is revealing characteristics of Champagne regional terroir that has never been experienced before; wine masked only by the natural nose and palate from indigenous yeast cultivation. Here’s another interesting eccentricity – Bouchard recommends gently decanting and enjoying the fruits of his labour in wide-mouth wine glasses to accentuate the wine’s fresh and unique character; Bouchard feels the character is otherwise dimmed in the tall tapered traditional glass flute.

Although you must be speedy and strike while iron’s hot, Bouchard’s wines are available worldwide, especially through Cédric Bouchard’s website www.champagne-rosesdejeanne.com (I hope you can read French) or through several international wine sales sites – my favourite is www.wine-searcher.com the largest customer driven site, with auctions, wine store comparisons and prices. Keep in mind, most well made Champagnes are pricy, and Bouchard’s are no different – but sipping on his bubble is like sipping on a part of contemporary wine “pop” culture.

Down on the Right:
Being the mixologist that loves to deconstruct tasting notes and reinvent the wheel in contemporary mixology, here’s what I propose: Recreating Non-Vintage Champagne.
Required Equipment: Soda siphon; bottle of good quality Chardonnay (French Oak rather than American Oak) or Ugni Blanc, Carbon Dioxide (Co2) chargers, lemon peel, super yeasty beer (not hoppy), angostura bitters, cinnamon, white pepper, nutmeg.
So here’s the method: using a large container, measure out 1/4 cup of yeasty beer, entire bottle of wine, 20g of lemon peel (without pith), 2 dashes angostura bitters, 2 cinnamon sticks, 5 white peppercorns, 1 whole nutmeg. Let rest covered at room temperature for 24 hours. Following day, remove solid debris, pour into a 32oz soda siphon, leaving 2 inches of room at the top. Tightly close the rubber seals and top. Carefully, launch two carbon dioxide chargers into the siphon, shake, and place on its side in the refrigerator. After 24 hours, with a giant smile, remove siphon from the fridge, shake well, and gently invert and pull trigger over a glass. Sip as is, or use in a refreshing sparkling wine cocktail like a French 75 – 1 oz Gin, 1/2 oz each of lemon juice and simple syrup, top with sparkling wine and a lemon twist.