For a long time, I didn’t quite get Champagne.
A glass of Taittinger.
I certainly understood its place in the wine world: the long history, the meticulous production, the reverence. But every time I found myself at a party where a bottle was opened, I couldn’t understand why people were willing to shell out several hundred dollars for something that never quite lived up to the fuss. The bubbles were fine, the wine was pleasant, but it rarely left a mark.
What I didn’t realize then was that what I’d been drinking often wasn’t Champagne at all. More often than not, it was sparkling wine passed off in the same broad category—a prosecco here, a cava there—festive, fizzy, and fun, but not the same thing. I knew enough about wine to know Champagne had pedigree, but not enough to know I hadn’t really met the real deal yet.
That changed one day on the California coast.
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Pierre Peters Rosé Champagne
In light of ‘National Rosé Day’, we’re going in a slightly different direction for our annual article by focusing on the very best of the bubbly kind: Rosé Champagne.
Rosé Champagne is that wonderful looking pink variety of sparkling wine that comes from the Champagne region in northeastern France. Its popularity is taking off and here are the things you will want to know about buying and drinking rosé Champagne.
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Examples of Tête de Cuvée
This series of articles will focus on the top wines from a number of Champagne Houses. In Champagne these top wines are referred to as that house’s “Tête de Cuvée”. The Tête de Cuvée will be made from a strict selection of the best barrels from the best vineyard parcels. The Tête de Cuvée is very limited in production, but it is very important to the Champagne house as it represents the best of the best, the crowning achievement that defines what the house is capable of.
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Dom on ice.
We recently cruised through the Baltics on the sumptuous Oceania Marina, a 1250-passenger luxury cruise liner. A fabulous cruise with many memorable meals and wines, but from a gastronomic point of view, the Dom Perignon Experience was easily the highlight.
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