Riddling

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2006-06-02T03:52:29Z

Looks like I'm going to have to get a new topic to talk about.

80% of France's energy comes from nuclear energy. Well, according to Greenpeace, the Soulaine waste dump is leaking radioactive waste. The Soulaine waste dump is pretty darn close to the champagne region. Greenpeace says that there is no actual proof of vineyard contamination, but that sure does sound unsettling. Awesome.

Damn,that is one sparkly bottle.

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2006-06-02T03:36:55Z

France is keeping it real. Who knows how many shady deals the country had to block before 'encouraging' the French bank, Credit Agricole SA, to step in and sweep up the champagne house Taittinger. The popular Californian Domaine Carneros was also purchased, in my opinion, to make the deal more seem legit. Starwood Capital, the former owner, earned a cool $850 million. There is no shame in that.

I'm not going to go too far into the drama of the next closest bid by the Indian United Breweries Group and the subsequent hissy fit thrown by the Champagne region's wine growers. But basically, the local wine growers threatened to refuse to sell grapes to an Indian owned Taittinger. The Champagne Winemakers Council even expressed its 'concern.' UBG later withdrew its 770 million dollar offer saying it was "unable to match the 'unjustifiably high' leading bid from the French bank." Haha, nice.

For the record, Starwood denies that there was any preference for a French bidder. Um, yes. Of course they didn't have a 'preference' for a French bidder; they had a preference for cash.

Champagne Selections For the New Year

2005-12-31T18:23:46Z

It's that time of year again. Break out your swords and let the sabrage begin. Now, what to buy?

I should preface this by saying that the champagne you choose for your festivities must pair well with your evening ambiance. Dinner may very well be over, but matching your champagne to your atmosphere is incredibly important. That being said, I will now try to offer some well rounded top picks that will help you ring in the new year in style.

Here are the top champagne selections for New Years 2005 in no particular order.

* Demi Sec Champagnes: This is one of the few times of year that Demi Sec's emerge. These are sweet champagnes, which will help those who don't like the bone dry essence of most champagnes appreciate a nice drink this evening. The French make fun of us for liking these sweet champagnes because Americans are clearly not sophisticated enough to appreciate how the depth of dry champagne. This is total crap; grab a demi sec if you see it. I'm going with Veuve Clicquot Demi Sec for it's warmth, effervescence, and charming clarity. ~$40.00

* Deutz: If you can find it, I'd go with this mellow, full bodied bottle with a crisp finish. Also, the name is hot, so you really can't go wrong. It's a largely unrecognized brand, but it's worth taking a chance on, I promise. ~$50.00

* Asti Spumante: While too sweet for some, and not really champagne at all (it's sparkling wine) it would be a good choice for someone who is already drunk and looking to drink a lot more. Hey, sometimes you just want to keep going, and this will go down easily. Martini and Rossi does a good job with their asti. ~$6.99

* Nicholas Feuillatte: I'd actually recommend any of his bottles. The rose runs about ~$35.00. Don't make the mistake of drinking the rose with strawberries and cream. This is best paired with a dark, smoky cheese. The special is also a good bottle, but it will run you a little bit more, ~45.00. Good old Nicholas is popping up in more and more stores, so even if you don't recognize it, you might be able to find it.

* Champagne when money is not an option: One word. Salon. Put the Dom, Cristal, and Krug down, and get yourself a bottle of Salon. I happened to cross paths with the last bottle of 1988 Salon in the state of Pennsylvania yesterday and I did not take it home with me. Do not be like me. Salon is a special blend that is not made every year, and is made by people who know what they are doing, which makes it better than any other fancy champagne you can name, hands down. ~$120.00 and up

* Champagne on a budget: Great Western. I think it brings more to the table than other sparkling wines in its class. ~$8.99

best of luck, have a great time.

oh, and if you're really interested in opening your bottle with a sword:
http://www.champagneclub.org/sabrage.html

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2005-12-18T05:03:07Z

Out of the champagne rooms and back to the champagne.

An interesting union is being proposed. Heavy player Lanson, (yes, a champagne that is not too difficult to pronounce) is talking about selling itself to Boizel, a lesser known, not remarkable, not unremarkable competitor.

Lanson is a rather out of the ordinary combination cuvee. The company does not own many vineyards, so it instead buys grapes from different small producers and cooperatives. I think this gives it more diversity and depth than many of the other market players. However, this is the reason it is going under. Not very many other large champagne houses purchase grapes on the scale that Lanson does. And that can seriously cut into your profits (i.e. Lanson had a net loss of 10 million eruros last year).

This could change the playing field in a number of ways. Lanson is still remotely family owned. Not many people know this, but Louis Vuitton owns most of the champagne sector. The crazy luxury goods conglomerate LVMH or Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, owns Krug, Moet & Chandon, Dom Perignon, Ruinart, and Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin. Once you get past these four major leaders (and well Ruinart, who’s ever heard of Ruinart), you’re left with Perrier Jouet and Mumm, both of which are owned by Allied-Domecq. Gosset and Piper Heidsieck, fall in line somewhere after that, and they are both owned by Remy Cointreau. Starwood Capital owns Taittinger.

Lanson, Louis Roederer (read:Cristal), Bollinger and Pol Roger are the current top sellers who are still partially family owned. I wonder if Boizel owning Lanson will take the brand equity down a notch, and open up the market for even more concentrated corporate domination. Boizel also focuses its sales on France, so I wonder if Lanson distribution will change. I’m clearly avoiding the obvious….if Lanson has access to Boizel’s vineyards, forget about the taste. It’ll probably be long gone. Time to order a nice case of Lanson just in time for the New Year. Hmm…maybe this is a marketing ploy to get my to stock up on Lanson, right when sales matter the most.

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2005-12-18T04:15:45Z

Looks like Green Bay Packer Al Harris can't keep himself out of the champagne room. Al Harris was accused of allegedly assaulting an exotic dancer at the Cheetah Pompano in Pompano beach.

But he is not getting prosecuted; the case has been dropped and the state is not pressing charges. Hmmm. Well anyway, regardless of whether he is not getting prosecuted because he is a professional football player, a few of the details that have been discussed about the case are very sketchy.

Not only did the prosecutor attack the alleged victim’s credibility because of her alleged “sexual activities” in the club, but he went as far as to comment on her “history of prostitution within the club.” Well that sure is interesting.

To top things off, the woman, a native Brazilian, has returned to Brazil.
Hmm…Sounds like some money changed hands to me.

These are the only kind of champagne related events that leave a bad taste in your mouth.

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2005-10-23T04:38:42Z

this time it's 241k.

robert mccormick, ceo of savvis communications, was out celebrating a huge new business win. and of course he was celebrating at the infamous scores.

so the big question is, what in the hell does scores sell that is worth $241,000? i'm pretty sure that lap dances aren't more than $700 a pop. so then there's champagne, right? but that would certainly be a lot of champagne. hmm...what else could it be?

well from what i know, chris rock is the authority on the champagne room at scores, and i think he's pretty clear about what is and isn't for sale in that room. so since it must have been champagne, i hope he was at least tasting the champagne he would have had to have been guzzling. whatever items mccormick actually purchased, let's hope they were worth a quarter of a million dollars.

update: mccormick resigned.

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2005-10-15T03:59:19Z

The writer whose name is basically an adjective, the Pinteresque Henry Pinter recently won the nobel prize.

This is the man that once said he regretted having ever introduced pause into stage directions.

The same man who says that the United States is a monster out of control.

But basically, I'm not really sure how he's saying these things or how he's going to make his speech, since he's been fighting a long battle with cancer...cancer of the esophagus. That speech will be interesting.

In celebration "Harold Pinter's said to be drinking champagne with his wife and friends, the biggest prize in literature won just two days after his 75th birthday."

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2005-09-22T03:56:44Z

Before Lil’ Kim went away on vacation to a Philadelphia jail, she had one last night out on the town with some good friends. The party - including her mother, Ruby Jones, Mary J. Blige, boxer Zab Judah, music exec Craig Kallman, and producer Swizz Beatz began at the popular restaurant Mr. Chow.

All guests sipped on champagne and cocktails. Lil’ kim reportedly ordered shrimp, chicken, and fried rice. The group then headed over to Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ restaurant Justin for dessert and some more champagne.

After dessert, the group trekked over to PM Lounge, where the DJ played Lil’ Kim’s greatest hits and some songs from her new album all night. No one has any reports on whether or not there was any champagne at the lounge.

But the real reason for this post is that for the next 363 days, Lil’ Kim will be in a Philly Jail.

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2005-09-22T03:44:30Z

If you’re French and you’ve got the cash folks, [insert bell hooks’ voice for the folks part], Taittinger is for sale. Yes that’s right. Taittinger, perhaps one of the sexiest champagnes, is looking for a new owner. Well, there certainly must be a lot of excited buyers out there, which is exactly what the French government is worried about.

Belgian financier Albert Frere (why are rich people you’ve never heard of always financiers?) is interested in purchasing the company, much to Frances’ dismay. Although the French government officially denies having any involvement with lobbying for a French buyer instead of a foreign buyer, it’s not really very French of them to have one of their top brands fall into foreign hands, now is it?

Also, the elusive financiers normally buy things in cash and not many things are purchased in cash anymore. Mix 10 billion parts cash with one part Taittinger is currently owned by Starwood Capital, an investment group, and you’ve clearly got a Belgian Taittinger.

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2005-09-22T03:27:56Z

Who knew this fight would ever come to an end, but it has.

History of the fight:
The U.S and the E.U have reached an agreement about what companies are allowed to call their wines. The E.U. has always had a problem with California sparklers being called Champagne. The argument is that Champagne is something uniquely French….more than just a region....more than just a drink. Champagne cannot be made outside of France, and everything else is simply sparkling wine. The French are fiercely protective of the name Champagne. The E.U also isn’t fond of the United States slapping labels onto their wines that say Chablis and Burgundy; both of which again, can only come from Europe.
In return, the E.U. has treated U.S. wines with a bit of snobbery. When Napa Valley attempted to carve out its own unique type of wine, like Merlot, it was met with a loud reception of laughter in Europe. Moreover, wines that are made in the U.S. that use even a small amount of oak chips or malic acid (both of which help balance the low acidity of California wines) currently have crazy importing restrictions and actually need special approval to be imported into the E.U.
How is that for passive aggressive?

The Solution to the fight:
U.S. winemakers have agreed to slowly phase out the use of the names Champagne, Chablis, and Burgundy. In exchange, European countries will experiment with hiding their public laughter and pretend to recognize places and names like Napa Valley as protected terms. The extra paperwork for oak chip and malic acid wines will no longer be required for wines entering the E.U.

While at face value this looks like a better deal for the E.U. than the U.S., at least U.S. wines have the opportunity to be taken more seriously abroad. That opportunity may very well be worth it. I wonder if all of the brands will comply. What are you if you are not allowed to be a Burgundy? A Napa Valley? Hmm, sales may very well dip for awhile. The E.U. is getting smart about the U.S. though, by 2008, the U.S. is expected to become the world’s largest consumer of wine. I’m game.

riddling @ 2005-09-09T20:53:00

2005-09-10T01:57:53Z

It's a big day in the champagne world.

The recently held London International Wine Challenge has selected a winner. The IWC claims to be the biggest blind tasting competition in the world. This year, there were more than 9,000 entries, which works out to be approximately 40,000 bottles. Damn. I know right, how do we get on that judging board. No dice. The tasting panel consisted of 41 Masters of Wine and 424 wine makers, merchants and writers. Anyway, like every competition, there are a few rounds of judging. In the end, all of the gold medal winners are blind tasted against each other. Only the most superior bottle wins the trophy.

This is the best part. A supermarket brand, Tesco, won the non-vintage champagne trophy. From what I hear, Tesco is like Costco. Tesco, which is less than $20 a bottle, competed against major brands like Taittinger, Lanson and Mumm. For the entire 22 year history of the IWC, a supermarket Champagne has never won the trophy.

Actually, I’m not surprised. Even though Tesco is still a fairly new champagne (started in 1995), it gets is grapes from Premier Cru vineyards in the in the Cote des Blancs, south of Epernay in France. There are a lot of stupid politics around which vineyards are designated as Premier Cru, so I’m not going to chalk it up to that. But the area...let’s just say that Cote des Blancs isn’t you’re regular old shabby locale. That is one sweet spot. Congrats Tesco! Way to take those snobby brands and show them how it’s done.

riddling @ 2005-09-09T20:04:00

2005-09-10T00:07:57Z

You know you want to spread this everywhere:

.......
Champagne Jelly

1 3/4 cups Champagne
3 cups sugar
1/2 bottle liquid fruit pectin

In 3-quart casserole, stir together Champagne and sugar. Cover. Microwave at high for 7 to 9 minutes, stirring after 4 minutes, until mixture begins to boil. Then, boil for exactly 1 minute more. Stir. Gradually stir pectin into hot mixture, mixing well. Ladle into hot, sterilized jars and seal with rings and lids. Process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes. Remove, cool and check to make sure lids have sealed.

.......
But hey, I'll be serious. Who has canning jars anymore? Just boil it, let it cool, and use it all right away. Oh, and use way more than 1 3/4 cups of Champagne.

What would you do with $74,050.10?

2005-08-19T02:54:30Z

One man wasted every last drop of it. And when I say every last drop, I mean every last drop. From BBC:

LONDON - An investment banker has been landed a £41,000 bill after ordering more than 70 bottles of champagne and spraying it around the VIP room of a nightclub.

The financier spent more than £26,000 on the champagne at the members-only Mo*vida Club in Argyll Street, Soho and was given a £15,000 cleaning-up bill. He ordered 49 bottles and six magnums of Cristal champagne and 13 bottles and two magnums of Dom Perignon. The man is from Monaco where "champagne spraying" is said to be more common.

What the? Are we serious?

Now I should highlight the fact that these were not all regular bottles he was spraying. Some of these were magnums. A magnum is essentially the equivalent of two regular sized (75cl) bottles. This also doesn’t just mean that he was spewing out twice the alcohol; this means a whole lot more. A magnum is the ideal size for ageing Champagne, which means these were very tasty bottles. As sophisticated as I am, I would have considered licking the walls. It sucks that I wasn’t there.

This is also Dom & Cristal we’re talking about here, and everyone has heard about these two beverages. According Champagne expert Tom Stevenson, “Cristal has become nothing less than a license to print money (particularly in the US).” Too bad it wasn’t printing money for this guy.

The club spokesman said: "It might seem a tremendous waste but if someone is willing to pay the bill for any damage they are free to do what they want, as long as it's legal."

I’m speechless. Not to mention thirsty.

Transdermal Drinking

2005-08-18T05:40:57Z

Has anyone heard of this transdermal drinking phenomenon going on in high end spas across the country? Actually, let me rephrase. Not surprisingly, this is Southern California. Now I am not going to talk smack about So Cal, since it is where I grew up. But I can say that this alcoholic spa treatment thing is something that wouldn’t have this kind of rage behind it in any other part of the nation, except NYC. Ok, back to the transdermal drinking. Here is an excerpt from the LA Times:

The B2V salon in West Hollywood spikes hair conditioner with Kahlúa coffee liqueur. The Pasadena hand and foot spa Can Can Parleur swirls rosé sparkling wine and rose petals into a pedicure. Guys are going for the Corona Beer Face Lift at the spa at the Esperanza Resort in Mexico's Cabo San Lucas, where the $166 facial (no, it has nothing to do with a drunk plastic surgeon) allegedly tightens the pores.

Transdermal drinking is a rage up and down the coast.

Invoking wine or alcohol in beauty treatments is groundbreaking within the usually rigid conventions of the spa experience. Studio City's LushSpa, [….] with a menu of treatments named for cocktails (the Screwdriver facial, the Merlot massage), comes off as more fancy sorority house than temple. As you enter the two-story faux-Victorian manse, a hostess offers you a complimentary drink. Why, thank you!

Wow. I’m thinking my extended vacation/relocation to Philadelphia was seriously misguided. Not that I want a $166 dollar facial or anything (who does that?).

In any case, I think any way to creatively use champagne a good move. A Champagne pedicure, ha. Except, despite their obvious connection, I’d strongly advise against pairing rose champagne and rose petals. Their aromas are totally mismatched. With rose petals, I’d go with an asti over a rose or blush champagne any day.