Wine writer Jonathan Ray explores the many mysteries of champagne, from how it is made to why it has become an essential ingredient in every celebration.
Fine champagne has a knack of making one feel good about oneself in a way that no other drink can – with the possible exception, I suppose, of a perfectly made dry martini. It is all about glamour, and R S Surtees’ hunting hero John Jorrocks was spot on when he declared in Jorrocks’ Jaunts and Jollities that, ‘…champagne certainly gives one werry gentlemanly ideas’.
No birthday, wedding, anniversary, christening, victory celebration or Valentine’s Day seduction is complete without it. Sparkling wine, however good, just doesn’t have quite the same panache. After all, one talks of a ‘champagne lifestyle’ and ‘champagne bars’ – a sparkling wine lifestyle doesn’t have quite the same allure.
After all, one talks of a ‘champagne lifestyle’ and ‘champagne bars’ – a sparkling wine lifestyle doesn’t have quite the same allure.
Mixed with orange juice, champagne is even acceptable at breakfast, which is a marvellous state of affairs. (Sir Noel Coward once replied, having been quizzed as to why he drank champagne at breakfast: ‘Doesn’t everyone?’)
But above all it is a drink for celebrating. Release some fizz and immediately you lift the spirits and elevate a gathering into a party. Books and films have done their bit to seal champagne’s reputation as the drink of celebration and indulgence. Think of Breakfast at Tiffany’s and you’ll picture Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, sipping a glass of bubbly before breakfast – the epitome of reckless hedonism. Jay Gatsby of The Great Gatsby was known for his extravagant parties, where champagne flowed like water.
Tough guys’ tipple
But it’s not just confined to social butterflies; tough guys drink it too. The Bellini (champagne with peach purée) was invented for Ernest Hemingway who also named an absinthe and champagne cocktail after his book Death in the Afternoon. Bogart and company drank champagne cocktails all through Casablanca, and even James Bond, the ultimate tough guy, was partial to Bollinger. In GoldenEye, he has a bottle of Bollinger Grande Année 1988 and two champagne glasses secreted in the armrest of his Aston Martin in case a beautiful girl should drop by (which, of course, she does).
Quality and quantity
Poet and wit Dorothy Parker once said: ‘Three be the things I shall never attain; envy, content and sufficient champagne.’
And it seems we Brits agree. At the last count, we spent £870m on champagne, importing almost 35 million bottles of the stuff. Sales here have increased year on year, with the UK now the world’s biggest consumer after France itself.
It may be that we love champagne because so much time and effort goes into making it. Only Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir grapes may be used, and to be called champagne the wine can only come from the region of the same name in northern France.
The grapes are pressed and the resulting juice undergoes an initial fermentation. Once fermented, the wines are blended together and yeast, sugar and wine are added, causing a second fermentation in the bottle which produces the bubbles. Sealed, the bottles mature on their sides for up to three years, after which they are regularly turned and tilted until they lie vertically in the racks. Finally, before corking and labelling, a mixture of wine and sugar is introduced to the bottle. The precious bubbles pack quite a punch; the pressure inside a bottle of bubbly is about the same as the tyre pressure needed for a double-decker bus. It is little wonder that the cork pops out so easily, the longest recorded flight being 177 feet 9 inches.
‘I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty.’
Of course, the word ‘champagne’ on a label doesn’t guarantee its quality and there are some very poor champagnes on sale. Happily no such bottles are found at Fortnum’s, where buyer Tim French has acquired a range of superb champagnes for all budgets. ‘I am a real champagne enthusiast,’ he says. ‘It breaks my heart when something doesn’t live up to its provenance, so I have selected our range very carefully. Alongside the Grandes Marques we have many modestly priced bottles, some mouthwatering examples from smaller, lesser-known growers, and several exceptional champagnes that are exclusive to Fortnum’s.’ He offered me a few to taste and the delicious results (below) proved his point.
The last word, though, must go to Madame Lily Bollinger, who famously said of her precious product: ‘I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty.’
COCKTAILS
While purists may blanch at the idea of mixing champagne with anything, a good champagne cocktail will pick you up out of the worst kind of mood – or add extra sunshine to the best day of your life. here are some of the classics…
Classic Champagne Cocktail
Place one sugar lump in the base of a champagne flute. Add a teaspoon of brandy, two drops of Angostura bitters, then fill the glass with champagne. The bite of the brandy overrides the sugar and gives the whole thing a marvellous kick. Add a twist of lemon peel for decoration if the glass looks a little plain.
Bellini
Take one part white peach purée to three parts champagne. Pour the peach purée into a flute and top up with chilled champagne. As drunk by Ernest Hemingway, for whom the cocktail was invented, in the legendary Harry’s Bar in Venice. Other fruit purées can be used in place of the white peach, if you prefer.
French 75
Take about 2/3 fl oz gin, two dashes of sugar syrup and the juice of half a lemon. Shake with ice, strain into a champagne flute and top up with champagne. Named after a powerful French field gun used in the First World War, presumably in recognition of its explosive effect.
Ritz Fizz
Shake together a dash of blue curaçao, a dash of amaretto and a dash of fresh lemon juice. Pour into a flute, top up with champagne and garnish with a twist of lemon peel. This was invented by a barman at the Ritz, though no one is quite sure which Ritz – several are still laying claim to this delicious drink.
Kir Royale
Pour 1/3 fl oz crème de cassis into the bottom of a glass, then fill slowly with champagne. Kir was invented by farm workers in France, and was originally called ‘pig rinse’. Fortunately it was renamed in honour of a Resistance fighter who became the mayor of Dijon, Canon Felix Kir, and when champagne was used instead of wine, it became called Kir Royale.
TASTING NOTES
Fortnum & Mason Vintage Louis Roederer 2002, £37.50 > Owned by its better-known cousin, Louis Roederer, this is one of Tim’s favourites. ‘It has lovely ripe fruit and fine acidity and is ideal to drink while eating,’ he says. Lovely with oysters.
Fortnum & Mason Rosé Champagne, £32.50 > Produced exclusively for Fortnum’s by Billecart-Salmon, this is pale, pale pink but with a nice weight of wild strawberries. No picnic should be without it.
Larmandier-Bernier, Vieille Vigne de Cremant Grand Cru 2004, £55.00 > With lots of toast on the nose and buckets of complex fruit character, this is a champagne
to savour.
Ruinart Blanc de Blancs NV, £55.00 ‘This would be one of my desert island champagnes,’ says Tim. Ruinart has been making champagne since 1729, its reputation resting on peaches like this. Ideal for a lazy summer afternoon playing croquet.
Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 1996, £145 ‘Class in a glass!’ says Tim. It is indeed an absolute cracker, one of the finest fizzes money can buy. A vital aid to any marriage proposal, bound to ensure a resounding ‘yes!’
Dom Ruinart Rosé 1996, £230 > ‘Summer pudding in a bottle,’ is how Tim French describes this beguiling beauty. It’s just the job for an evening of self-indulgence at Glyndebourne or Garsington.