DAN'S WINE BLOG- THIS WEEK'S WINE REVIEW
Dan Traucki MWCC
WINE ASSIST P/L Freelance Wine Journalist. Also facilitating the export of Australian Wines to the world.
BUBBLING ALONG:?With Christmas fast approaching it is time to start thinking about celebratory bubbly, rather than leaving it to the last minute. The approach to this all important subject will of course depend on your sparkling penchant and your budget.
?Did you know that most of the Aussie commercial sparkling wines that are consumed over the festive season are bottled between September and November, so that they hardly have time to settle into the bottle before they are consumed? What’s the big deal? Well, the problem is that they do not have enough time to soften off and round out at all and therefore are very sharp and acidic. This in itself is not a big issue if you are just enjoying one celebratory glass, but if you have a few, or a “Champagne Breakfast”, the significant acidity in the bubbles can cause considerable indigestion problems.
?One easy way to overcome this potential issue is to purchase your commercial sparkling wine just after the current Christmas and put it away ready for the next Christmas. This gives it some time to soften off and round out a tad. As it is short-term storage the bottles can simply sit in a corner until next Christmas. You will be very pleasantly surprised at how much better, smoother and more elegant it tastes compared to a freshly bottled example of the same commercial sparkler.
?Another benefit of acquiring your bubbles just after Christmas is that quite often retailers have “specials” on sparkling wines early in the New Year, in order to clear any over-ordered stocks. So by adopting this simple plan you can save money on your bubbles and get a better tasting bubbles for next Christmas.
?This “masterplan” of letting your commercial sparklers age so as to taste better also works for longer periods of time. My bestest drinking buddy, buys a case of Jacobs Creek Sparkling wine each year, writes the (purchase) year on the box and then tucks it away in the cellar for ten years – yep, 10 years! When we open a bottle, the wine is a magnificent light golden in colour, still has plenty of effervescence and is rich, well rounded and opulent in flavour. To put it mildly, bloody magnificent!!
?From memory, out of the last decade he has had one flat bottle and one corked bottle, so the “survival” rate is excellent. FOOD FOR THOUGHT!!
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?If you are into vintage bubbly or champagne this is not as big an issue as they were bottled much earlier, often several years earlier. However, it is still worthwhile keeping an eye out on the specials during the year and thereby saving money on your Christmas/New Year celebrations.
?Also, if you live in the (slightly damp) Eastern seaboard and have a licensed Aldi Supermarket nearby, I would strongly suggest you have a crack at their Champagne Veuve Monsigny Premier Cru Brut ($34.99). It is an awesome value (actual) French Champagne and a great drink. It has a superbly elegant bouquet of green apples and yeast autolysis. An excellent zippy mousse and a degree of complexity on the very appealing palate with lashings of green/red apple, citrus flavours with a dollop of brioche to boot. OH, SO DRINKABLE and AMAZING VALUE!! An affordable Christmas Champagne!!!
?Have a great week, be grateful we aren’t living in the UK and get your Xmas bubbles organised.
?Psst, I already have a bottle of Veuve Monsigny sitting in the cellar – smuggled into South Australia from Mildura for me by a great mate! Cheers, Dan T.