Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
NV Prosecco ‘Jeio’ Valdobbiadene Brut, Bisol, Veneto, Italy 211RMB
Available from East Meets West, contact: Wendy Jiang. Email: wendy@emw-wines.com
Prosecco is an easy sparkling wine to enjoy and to remember! Prosecco is both the grape name and place from which this famous Veneto sparkler comes. Bisol is a highly reliable producer too, this wine originating from the Valdobbiadene heartland of the Treviso region.
Light to medium green in colour with a persistent mousse, this Prosecco has delicate apple and pear fruit, refreshing high acidity and good length. Try as an aperitif or with many Chinese light dishes (Prosecco is very food-friendly).
NV Pol Roger Champagne Brut, France 826RMB
Available from Summergate, contact: Jim Yang. Email: jim.yang@summergate.com
Telephone 86.10. 6562.1800 ext 16.
Although one of the famous Grande Marque Champagne houses – like Moët & Chandon or Veuve Cliquot – Pol Roger is relatively small. It boasts very high quality wines indeed. This classic non-vintage Brut – known popularly as ‘White Foil’ on account of its distinctive white packaging – is a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier (exactly a third of each).
Lovely medium gold colour with a fine, delicate mousse, the nose has complex citrus and slight redcurrant fruit with typical yeasty, bread-like and biscuit aromas. The palate is effectively dry with amazing depth of flavour, very well-balanced high acidity and considerable length. Winston Churchill once described Pol Roger as ‘the most drinkable address in Europe’. Now we can enjoy this top-flight Champagne in China!
Saturday, October 17th, 2009
(Photo: the late Bill Baker with Fongyee Walker, 2004 Pol Roger Champagne Oxford-Cambridge Varsity Wine Tasting Match)
The Real Thing: Champagne
Did you know that there is an office in Beijing whose specific remit is to protect the name and reputation of ‘Champagne’ in China? Why does Champagne require such special attention?
Champagne is a protected area and name (in France, for wine, we call this ‘Appellation Controlee‘ or a controlled name of origin). Only sparkling wine produced within the Champagne region according to the traditional method can be labelled Champagne. All other wines with bubbles that come from other areas must be called ‘Sparkling Wine’ only or, if made by the traditional method but in other French regions, ‘Cremant‘. Of course, some of these other wines can be as delicious as Champagne, but cannot be labelled as such.
Apart from the legal and commercial considerations of protecting the name, what quantitavely supports maintaining Champagne as Champagne? The Champagne area, a marginal one for ripening grapes, is relatively distinctive: it has a very cool climate by viticultural standards and very chalky soil. This combination produces advantageous flavours and especially high acidity - ideal for sparkling wine production - and is only found in Champagne (and in parts of England - but don’t tell the French that! Watch this space…).
Regulations also pertain to ageing requirements for non-vintage and vintage Champagne. Although a lot of average quality Champagne nonetheless exists, this is still the region capable of producing some of the most distinctive sparkling wines in the world and - despite recent attempts to expand the AC area - one worthy of a protected name.
NV Prosecco ‘Jeio’ Valdobbiadene Brut, Bisol, Veneto, Italy 211RMB
