Champagne

French scientists have discovered the secret to keeping the fizz in a glass of Champagne: pour it like a beer.

A new study reports the best way to pour Champagne is in a ‘beer-like way’ with the glass held at an angle.

It reveals the sparkling wine remains bubbly longer when poured in this way rather than pouring straight into the glass and waiting for the mousse to settle before topping up.

However, Tom Stevenson, chairman of the Decanter World Wine Awards’ Champagne panel, said: ‘Pouring Champagne like a lager is a seen as a really naff way to serve it. You would not see a sommelier doing it in a million years.’

‘Pouring it like the sommeliers do, does you a favour by letting the free CO2 escape from the glass so the bubbles don’t get up your nose,’ he added.

The research also discovered that Champagne served at lower temperatures retains its fizz. At higher temperatures, carbon dioxide is lost more quickly.

‘The beer-like way of serving champagne has much less of impact on its dissolved CO2 concentration than the champagne-like way of serving, especially at low champagne temperatures (4 and 12 °C). The beer-like way of serving champagne is much softer than the champagne-like one,’ the study said.

The report published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry was led by Gerard Liger-Belair, a professor at the University of Reims and author of Uncorked: the Science of Champagne.

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This beautiful wine is selling for only R59.95 per bottle at Woolworths Blue Route right now.

Allan Mullins does it again.

Chateau Les Traverses 2006

As a Cape Wine Master and the wine selector for the major South African retailer, Woolworths, he is able to offer a range of wines across all pricing points, from the easy-drinking to the complex and sophisticated special wines. Apart from the local wines available, Allan has procured international wines like Barolo classic Piedmont reds,  Lambrusco Rosso Perle Wine,  and Vignavecchia Chianti Classico from Tuscany,  Cotes Du Rhone Red Wine, several from Bordeaux and wines from Portugal and Spain.

We were thrilled to pick up Chateau Les Traverses 2006 from the Medoc, Bordeaux for the extraordinary price of only R100.00 ($13) Most of the international wines in the range cost less than R100.00.

On the nose this wine did not make me think that it is old world in style at all and reminded me of some of the premium South African wines that we enjoy. Is this an indication of the high standard of  Cape Town wines? There are leather and blackberry notes. On the palate the wine is dry to begin with but tastes of ripe plum after a bit. We found it be elegant and smooth.

If you are a lover of French wine but only have a South African budget, bust the bank and stock up while you can.

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Razvan Macici, Nederburg Cellar Master

This week we had a wake-up call spent in the company of the charming Romanian, Nederburg cellar master since 2001, Razvan Macici. We were privileged to taste (and consume) some of Nederburg’s most exclusive wines which, in our opinion are right up there with South Africa’s best.

The evening’s Wine and Food Pairing was hosted by Andrea Foulkes’ Sidedish restaurant in Rose Street, Cape Town.

To mention a few recent achievements, Nederburg was the most successful producer at the Trophy Wine Show 2009 for two succesive years. And also achieved the highest score in the 2009 Syrah du Monde for the 2006 vintage of the Private Bin R121 Shiraz, sold exclusively for the Nederburg Auction. The wine was one of only two from South Africa on the top ten list, dominated by the French. Shiraz has won for Nederburg the 2008 Lexus WINE Challenge. The Manor House Collection maiden Shiraz 2005 took the IWSC Rosemount Trophy in 2007 for the World’s Best Shiraz.
Since 1975 the annual Nederburg Auction presents some of Cape Town’s finest wines from a host of various producers. Renowned are the Private Bin wines made especially for this event. It was a real thrill for us to enjoy two of the yet to be auctioned Private Bin creations in the tasting line Up.

Razvan grew up in the vineyards of Dealu Mare, about 70 kms from Bucharest where his father, Mihai, made his award-winning noble late harvest wines on the famous Pietroasa Estate in the area. This all made sense when we sipped the Nederburg Winemaster’s Reserve Noble Late Harvest 2009 which has to be the finest desert wine that I personally have enjoyed.
The wines in the line-up were:

2010 FIFA World Cup Sauvignon Blanc 2010 – an instant goal scorer.
Nederburg Private Bin D252 Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon
Nederburg Ingenuity White 2008 – a five star wine in Platter’s South African Wines 2010
Nederburg Ingenuity Red 2007
Nederberg Private Bin R181 Merlot 2001
Nederberg Wine Master’s Reserve Noble Late Harvest 2009

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