A Little Bit About Bubbles, Beer, and the Business

Twice a month Wine Affairs hosts a tasting. Last weeks was Champagne. I frequently credit sparkling wine as what began my love affair with wine, but rarely have the occasion to drink true champagne, mainly because of the price tag. We tried four Champagnes ranging in price from $55-$70. My favorite was the 2002 Chartogne Taillet, Cuvee Fiacre.

Rarer then drinking true Champagne, is to drink vintage Champagne. Most people are looking for consistency in their choice of sparkling wine, so most are blended from the best juice of multiple harvests. Champagne is made from the grapes of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. Blanc de Blanc's are Champagnes made only from white grapes (Chardonnay).

Then there is the level of dryness. Extra Brut will be a bone dry Champagne. Brut will be dry, but with some residual sugar. Extra Dry, will have just the slightest hint of sweetness. Sec will be lightly sweet. Demi-Sec will be sweet, and Finally Doux will be very sweet, like dessert wine.

Also true Champagne, from the region in France, must be made in the Methode Champenoise. This refers to creating CO2 by putting sugar and yeast into the bottle with the juice, and allowing the yeast to consume the sugar and give off the delightful bubbles we so love. Versus sparkling wine, which while can be made in this natural method, is more often tank fermented, and pumped full of CO2. What's the difference? The natural method produces a much finer effervescence, as well as the delicious yeasty character. The other is going to taste like carbonated Chardonnay.

Back to my favorite from that evening the 2002 Chartogne Taillet, Cuvee Fiacre. A Brut, full of floral and spice notes that was crisp and clean with bubbles that lingered on your tongue. I loved it, and it would pair really nicely with food. Unfortunately it retails at $65, well above my price range.



Now on to beer. Something I rarely, if ever, choose to drink. Alas Wine Affairs, has a HUGE cult beer following. On the top of their list is the Russian River Brewing "Pliny the Elder" Double IPA.

You may find yourself asking, What the hell is IPA? I know I did. Apparently it stands for India Pale Ale. Light in color, frequently high in alcohol, and full of hops. People are obsessed with it. I have been reluctant to try it. To me beer, tastes like beer. I know, I know, some connoisseur I'm turning out to be. My regular, beer aficionado customers however, have taken me under their wing and I am learning. My choice beer of the moment is Kronenbourg 1664, basically it's one step up from water, and we have it on draft for $4. Pliny on the other hand, is on our menu at $10.50 a bottle, a price our customers are willing to spend, as it is apparently and extreme rarity. We are trying(more like begging) to get it on draft, in which case our customers may give themselves excitement induced heart attacks. So I finally tried it a few days ago, when a customer would not let up about it. It was better then expected, much smoother then a lot of IPA's I've tried. It didn't have that usual high hop bitterness. Overall, it tasted like beer. Hey, I'm trying! If you, yourself are a beer lover, you should check out this website, Beer Advocate, it's pretty cool and my devotees are all about it.


Finally, to finish this extremely long post, a bit about the business. I love it, and the further in I get, the more I realize there's no going back, this is the thing for me. I start my winery job at Testarossa today, and in anticipation I did a little winery touring yesterday. First of all it was a beyond beautiful day, and my first day off in a while. My room mate and I went first to Byington, a winery where some of my regular customers are getting married at in Los Gatos. Gorgeous. The tasting room attendant was very friendly, and knowledgeable about the wineries in the area. The wine was delicious, and the scenery made it all the better. Plus they have a hospitality room with couches where you can take in not only the view but look down on the fermentation tanks and barrels. I also learned some AMAZING NEWS! Because I work at a winery, I don't have to pay the tasting fee, AND I get 30% off any bottles I buy! That's a better discount then if I was a wine club member, AWESOME. From there we went to Cinnabar's tasting room, which is in the town of Saratoga, CA. Which is named after Saratoga Springs, NY because of the hot spring which used to be there (they have since dried up.) Cute town, nice wine. Next came Cooper-Garrod which is on a horse farm, cue Laura's illogical fear of horses. Not bad wine, super nice people(even if they did try to get me to pet a horse.) Apparently this is where PCI students come for a winery tour, so I guess I'll be back. Finally, the best for last, Savannah Chanelle really nice Pinot Noir, and the best view of the day. If I were getting married at an area winery this would be it.