Hi,

As we draw nearer to the New Year, I am carrying on with the series on sparkling wine. Today, I am giving credits to a Spanish sparkling wine that deserves more attention than it is getting in Singapore. For those of you who had traveled to Europe, you might have tasted or heard of this wine. I am telling you that this is a real gem. I borrowed a write up from a Spanish tourism web site that gives a very good explanation of Cava.

http://spainforvisitors.com/archive/features/cava.htm

A toast, in Spain, is practically always drunk with cava, the Spanish sparkling wine made by the champagne method. This is especially true when the New Year is brought in with the twelve grapes swallowed in time to the chimes of the clock in the town square or in the Puerta del Sol, Madrid.

Cava, made by the Champagne method, is a very acceptable alternative to French champagne and, it should be said, much better value for money. Almost all cava is produced in Catalonia, especially the Penedés region, although eight different provinces are included in the production area. Literary references show that wine with a certain amount of effervescence has been made in Catalonia since at least the fourteenth century. But it was not until the 1850s that serious attempts began to produce a wine with the same characteristics as champagne and production did not begin until the 1870s. Since then, cava has become tremendously popular and vast amounts, over two hundred million bottles, are now made for both domestic consumption and export. The best-known makes, Codorniu and Freixenet, have been involved in a full-scale trade war for years. Cava is not the only sparkling wine made in Spain and sometimes consumers are fooled into accepting something inferior. You can distinguish cava by the cork, which should be marked with a four-pointed star. Like champagne, cava comes in different degrees of sweetness. The following are the categories according to sugar content, although the characteristics of different wines may mean one manufacturer's seco tastes as sweet as another's semi-seco: Brut Nature - (no added sugar) up to 3 g per litre Extra Brut - up to 6 g per litre Brut - up to 15 g per litre Extra seco - between 12 and 20 g per litre Seco - between 17 and 35 g per litre Semi-seco - between 33 and 50 g per litre Dulce - more than 50 g per litre You will also see terms like Brut de Brut (very dry), Brut Gran Reserva Vintage... It is often thought that brut cava is somehow superior to the others, which is not true, although it may be more versatile. Because of the custom of saving the cava for the toast at weddings and other social occasions, it is also thought that cava is only suitable for the end of the meal, which is emphatically not the case. Cava, according to the wine critic Carlos Delgado, is "one of the few wines which can be drunk throughout a meal, simply by moving from brut to dulce, as long as there is no strong-flavoured meat dish." Delgado, somewhat snobbishly, also considers that "cava is always preferable towards the beginning of the meal," an elitist opinion perhaps related with the association between cava and (expensive) seafood. Cava is usually made by the coupage method, whereby must (grape juice) from different varieties of grape is subjected to the first fermentation, then mixed until the blend is consistent with the wine to be produced. The advantage of this is that a particular brand of cava will taste the same every year. It also means that most cava does not carry a year on the bottle, as must from different years is often used. Some are always made using the same grape variety, in which case the year will be indicated on the bottle: these are superior and evidently more expensive cavas. After the coupage, the wine is put into bottles and yeast and sugar added. It is then left for the second fermentation and aging. This lasts a minimum of nine months and may be up to three or four years, for a very special cava. A process called "riddling and disgorging" is then carried out. The bottles are stored nearly upside down so that the sediment settles on the corks and riddled, turned, for a period of thirty days. "Disgorging" is when the corks are removed, together with the sediment (usually with the help of a freezing process). Expedición, "passing liquor," a blend of the same wine as that in the bottle and others, together with the required amount of sugar, is then added in order to replace the lost wine and make the final flavour. Evidently, this process needs to be carried out very quickly. New corks are then put in and fastened on with the wire clasp before the bottles are labelled. Cava is sold ready for drinking and the "riddling and disgorging" process means that the fermentation process is halted. Cava does not improve with being kept, indeed it deteriorates with age: buy it, store upright in a cool, not cold, place, for as little time as possible, and drink it, preferably in the same week. Remember that the sweeter the cava, the cooler it needs to be served: a brut nature can be served practically at room temperature, but a semi-seco should be well chilled.

Hi guys,

I am still writing about about Lindauer but this is a special reserve rose ( it is pronounced as 'roh-zay'). The ladies will love it simply because of the colour - it's pink. Just in case the guys think that this is a sissy wine, it is far from being a sissy. In fact, I my taste buds are so activated every time I drink this. It is crisp, complex and robust. A lot has to do with the large amount of pinot noir that is used in this wine.

For those who don't know much about sparkling wine, most good sparkling (Champagne) is a blend of pinot noir and chardonay grapes. Pinot noir is a type of red grapes and chardonay is a type of white grapes. The reason why most Champagne appears light gold in colour is because the wine makers remove pinot noir grapes from the juice quickly so that it does not take on the colour of the pinot noir. However, in making rose, winemakers allow the pinot noir grapes' skin to soak for a short while so that the juice takes on a pretty pink and richer flavours from the pinot noir grapes.

This rose not only takes on the colour of pinot noir, the larger proportion of pinot noir imparts the nuttiness and robustness. Not many winemakers amke this kind of sparkling wines anymore.I was told even in Champagne, France, there are very of this kind of wine. Of course, this is a special reserve so it costs more than the Lindauer Brut (Brut means dry in French). If I am not wrong, it is selling at $42 in Cold Storage.

Anyway, if you don't mind spending a little bit to get something very much better, try this. I recommended this wine to my friend to use this as the aperitif below he propose to his girl friend. I believe this will work. :-)

Cheers

This wine is a more special version of Lindauer and since its launch has received high acclaim from wine critics and commentators for its uniqueness and elegance.

Winemaker's Notes

Initial release date: 1996
Varieties: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
Regions: Hawke's Bay and Marlborough

Description

Colour: Bright gold with coppery tones.

Aromas: Yeasty and toasty bouquet show excellent maturity from prolonged bottle maturation.

Palate: The wine is full on the palate with a pleasant, steady mousse and elegant aroma. The palate is crisp, complex and well balanced, with a predominance of Pinot Noir for full flavour and lasting taste.

Harvest

A portion of the grapes are hand-picked, then whole-bunch pressed through the gentle action of the traditional Coquard press. The remainder are machine harvested. Only the highest quality free-run juice has been used to produce this wine. New clones of Pinot Noir from Hawke's Bay have given a much richer and full style of wine.

Winemaking

Winemaker: Julia O'Connell

The wine is fermented in the bottle and spends two years ageing on lees. Use of controlled temperature storage has ensured optimum development, allowing the expression of the fruit and desirable yeast flavours.

Analysis

Alcohol: 12.0% by volume
pH: 3.25
Total Acidity: 7.5g/L as tartaric
Residual Sugar: 12.0g/L

Hi guys,

Today I want to talk about a very good sparkling wine from New Zealand. Some of you may not know that NZ produces excellent wines and they are getting better each year.


Lindauer is probably NZ's best kept secret. In fact, not many people knows about this except for those who are familiar with NZ wine. I found out about this wine when I was desparately trying to get a good sparkling white at a reasonable price for a wine lunch at my place. I found my first bottle of Lindauer in the Cold Storage at King Albert Park. It was collecting dust and the retail assistants were too busy stocking the better selling wines than to pay attention to this under-appreciated bottle. I realized that I had stumbled on a bottle of NZ wine and my philosophy is that NZ seldom produce bad wines so I gave it a try. Lo and behold! In Keng Hsin's words, Lindauer is the best sparkling white he had ever tasted. I have to agree with Keng Hsin that it is indeed a very unique bottle of wine. Crisps, clean and smooth. You can even taste the fantastic base-wine that made the bottle.

I served this bottle when I hosted a dinner two weeks ago. My friends were very amazed at how good this bottle is. If you have read this blog. Go and get a bottle for yourself. It is selling in Cold Storage at $33 now. The usual price is $43.

The only problem I have with this wine or more precisely, its local distributor is that the marked up is too high. My friend Brian just came back from NZ told me that he bought Lindauer in NZ at S$8.99! A quarter of the price we are paying! He must have enjoyed himself very much.

Anyway, just enjoy it. It is a better bet than any other branded sparkling white I have tried so far. In fact, I bet it will beat some champagnes. I dare say it can rival Moet & Chandon.

The following are some technical details of the wine

Cheers!

Varieties: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc
Regions: Marlborough, Hawke's Bay and Gisborne

Description

This wine is full on the palate with a pleasant, steady mousse and elegant aroma.

Yeasty and toasty bouquet show excellent maturity from prolonged bottle maturation on lees.

The palate is crisp, complex and well balanced, with a full flavour and lasting taste.

Food Matching Suggestions

Lindauer Brut is a dry style, versatile bottle-fermented sparkling wine that can be served as an aperitif or with any style of food.

Winemaking

Winemaker: Julia O'Connell

The grapes are harvested at an optimum balance between fruit flavour, acidity and sweetness. The juice is fermented quickly under strictly controlled conditions followed by total malolactic fermentation.

The blended base cuvée has sugar and yeast added and is then bottled. The bottles are laid on their sides in bins, inside temperature controlled cellars to undergo a secondary fermentation in the bottle. The fermentation lasts six to eight weeks, during which time the sugar is converted to alcohol and CO₂. The CO₂ pressurises the bottle and gives the Lindauer its bubbles.

The cuvée stays on lees an average of 15 months and when the cuvée is considered to have aged on lees sufficiently, the yeast is removed and the wine sweetened.

Analysis

Alcohol: 11.5% by volume
Total Acidity: 7.3 g/L as tartaric
Residual Sugar: 12.0 g/l

Dear Frens,

Christmas is round the corner. I think this is the best period in a year. Of course, those of us who are more discerning knows that Christmas is about Jesus Christ and not Santa.

Keeping with the party atmosphere I see no harm in talking about the bubbly drink that is served i many Christmas parties - Champagne or more accurately, sparkling white.

So many of my friends have been asking me about what is the difference between a Champagne and a sparkling white wine. So I think it is time to talk about this topic of Champagne.

Champagne is a sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of wine to effect carbonation. It is produced exclusively within the Champagne region of France, from which it takes its name. While the term "champagne" is used by some makers of sparkling wine in other parts of the world, numerous countries limit the use of the term to only those wines that come from the Champagne appellation. In Europe, this principle is enshrined in the European Union by Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. Other countries, such as the United States have recognized the exclusive nature of this name, yet maintain a legal structure that allows longtime domestic producers of sparkling wine to continue to use the term "Champagne" under specific circumstances. So the term Champagne is protected for those sparkling wine made in the region Champagne according to a strict specifications.

I hope that clears up the confusion about what is Champagne. I think we have enough talks about Champage for the moment. What are the Champagnes for this Christmas? The most agressive promotion comes from Charles Heidsieck. This is selling about $50 in most supermarket. The ever popular Moet & Chandon is selling at $81.50 in major supermarkets. However, my friend Peter Dumortier, a Belgian swears by Veuve Clicquot. He said that people who really know Champagne in Europe always go for Veuve Clicquot. . After he treated us to a bottle, I am totally convince. This Champagne producer has an excellent story to tell but that will for another time. I think it is going at $90+

Cheers,

Sam

Hi All,

I have found a website that aims at bringing out the best of French food, beverage and agricultural products.



As the official marketing and promotions arm for French food and wine, Sopexa has been active in Singapore and Asia's food and wine scene for over a decade. Its overriding mission is to raise awareness about French agricultural products, and to ultimately help increase market share. It does so with passion, conviction and a whole lot of creativity.

I have linked this website at the "Links" section of my blog under the label of "Salut".

Check it out!


Sam