Champagne, Sparkling Wine And Cheese Appreciation Course - The Smelly Cheese Shop

Learning to appreciate champagne - or any wine for that matter - goes beyond what is in the glass. My enjoyment is increased exponentially when I know where it comes from, its history, its production processes and any interesting or quirky stories that go with it.

 
But this is just the beginning of the appreciation journey. When it comes to champagne, our love and appreciation of it can be taken to a whole other level when paired with complementing or contrasting food.

Champagne and wine with cheese are perhaps two of the best bedfellows you can find because they often share the same terrior - the climate, soil and typography of a given geographical space.
 
Last night I went along to a champagne, sparkling wine and cheese appreciation course by The Smelly Cheese Shop from Adelaide's Central Markets. The Smelly Cheese Shop is Adelaide's best known and highly regarded suppliers and connoisseurs of cheese from the international market. Fresh cheeses are air-freighted direct from the producers in France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom weekly, arriving in Adelaide after only a few short days of transport. And it shows. I find their cheeses to be the absolute freshest in town.

Adelaide Champagne Masterclass - The Apothecary

Adelaide's an unassuming place. Underneath the subdued and relaxed surface, there are hundreds of micro-communities buzzing about food and wine.

On any given hour of any day, South Australians can be found partaking in wine courses, rolling up to cellar doors, writing wine and food blogs, ambling along to wine festivals or simply sitting in the sun with a bottle of our local plonk on the table. It's all about supporting our wine producers and enjoying our high quality, delicious wine.


(l-r) Jim Smith, Jane Bromley and Dr Patrick Iland.

Scratch the surface deeper again and you will find an almost clandestine group of people who are not only die-hard champagne enthusiasts, they are Australia's finest champagne palates.

A week ago I was privileged to attend a champagne masterclass with all of them in a room at the same time. It wasn't a publicly advertised event - purely word of mouth circulated amongst those in the local champagne 'know'.

One Of My Top Three Non-Vintage Champagnes - Bollinger Special Cuvée Non-Vintage

Generally when I ask people in Australia if they like Bollinger, they either erupt into displays of overwhelming joy or look at me like they've been sucking on a lemon.

Bollinger is perhaps the most polarising champagne I have come across.

To be honest, I used to be one of those people that screwed up their face when presented with the same question - or even the thought - of drinking a glass of Bolly. That is, of course, until recently.

In February I blogged my tasting notes on Bollinger Special Cuvée Non-Vintage. I used words like 'pow' and 'it feels like a meal in itself' and 'heavy'. I can still recall the flavours in my mouth; overly yeasty, caramel, subdued acidity, and overly-ripe fruit.

In the end, I concluded that 'I wasn't a Bollinger kind of gal'. What I didn't realise then was how stale the bottle was. I naturally thought this was the champagne's style - and of course it wasn't.

Learning To Appreciate Pinot Meunier - Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut Non-Vintage

Pinot meunier is one of three key grape varieties commonly used in champagne making but is unfortunately considered the poorer cousin.

Whilst the minerality, creaminess and finesse of chardonnay is spruiked and celebrated and the backbone, weight and fleshiness of pinot noir is praised by the more serious, pinot meunier often gets no mention at all in tasting notes, or worse - picked on for various failings.

Which brings me to my latest champagne tasting of Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut Non-Vintage - an interesting foray into the world of pinot meunier as it applies to champagne. The blend's starring act is pinot meunier comprising 40 percent of the grape as well as 40 percent pinot noir and 20 percent chardonnay.

Perrier-Jouët has a long history with pinot meunier, having purchased 65 hectares of land around Epernay shortly after the house was founded in 1811. Epernay is situated in the Vallée de la Marne where most Pinot Meunier is grown in the Champagne region.

The Symbol Of A Family's Passion And Legacy - Taittinger Brut Réserve Non-Vintage

I really love reading about the history of champagne houses. It enriches my tasting experience so much so that I find drinking champagne without understanding where it comes from only half the pleasure.

When it comes to Taittinger, the exceptionally high quality experience makes even more sense when you know the story behind the house. The story features a common thread of wine, business and politics that has continued to weave its way through each generation. This almighty combination has earned the house a reputation for being very savvy, with each generation having demonstrated their sense of family enterprise and honour in the harsh world of modern business - which sometimes struggles to be compatible with the ancient tradition of champagne-making.

Established in 1734, the house itself (but not its namesake) is the third oldest champagne house in the world. Jacques Fourneaux established the original house, working with Benedictine Abbeys who originally owned all the vineyards, to make still wines and then sparkling.

Why Champagne Producers Should Be Doing More To Protect Consumers From Bad Champagne

A few blogs ago I professed my love affair with Ruinart. It's been a dizzy romance; I have fallen hard, head-over-heels in love for the euphoric highs of their expressive R de Ruinart Non-Vintage and Ruinart Brut Rosé Non-Vintage cuvées.

But like all love affairs, the lows can be as devastating as the highs can be euphoric. Unfortunately the bottle of Ruinart Blanc de Blancs Non-Vintage I recently chose was less than perfect - flabby in fact. Damn this heart-crushing romance.

So in fairness to Ruinart, this will not a be a review of their Blanc de Blancs Non-Vintage.

It's quite ironic really because only last week, I blogged about Ruinart's Brut Rosé Non-Vintage and how my wonderful experience contrasted with The Champagne Guide's Tyson Stelzer's experience who went through several bottles until he struck one that wasn't stale. I discussed the importance of publishing base vintage years (for non-vintages) and disgorgement dates so that the consumer could be empowered to make a more educated assessment of the champagne they were considering buying.

The Delights Of Freshness, Balance and Expression - Ruinart Brut Rosé Non-Vintage

I am so glad that I had a wonderful first experience with Ruinart's Brut Rosé Non-Vintage recently. Afterall, it had a lot to live up to; the R de Ruinart I had tasted a week before was sublime - so I had big expectations. However after reading Tyson Stelzer's write-up about his misfortune with this cuvée, I consider myself fairly lucky.

I use the word 'luck' very deliberately because after reading Tyson's tasting entry in The Champagne Guide 2012, it really seems to be 'pot luck' right now in Australia as to whether you get a good or a bad bottle.

Tyson recounts how after several failed attempts he finally struck a good bottle, putting it down to the fact there were several bottles still floating around with a vintage base of 2005 or 2006. In addition to the challenges presented by the 2005 vintage year, both champagnes were brought down by the fact they had been disgorged for a fairly long time.

Disgorgement refers to the process whereby all the sediment that gets captured in the neck of the bottle (at the end of secondary fermentation) gets released, leaving a clear cuvée ready for corking and distribution to the market.