Champagne

Please join us online on Sunday, December 19^th at 3:30 pm for a Virtual Wine Tasting during which we will discuss Champagne, the region, the wine, and their history! This special event will be presented by the Pennsylvania Wine Society and conducted by Wine Educator Joe Via and PWS President Marty Cook. A concise list of suggested Champagnes will be listed below. You will be able to secure one or several Champagnes in advance of the program of which you can partake during the broadcast. This event will be interactive through the Chat facility during the airing of the event and then during an open discussion forum at the end of the show.

Permit the following brief background to the program. Champagne is, first and foremost, a place. Europeans, especially the French, name their wines after places. This only adds to the confusion for Americans who do not speak French, which is an intimidating ingredient to interpreting wine labels and appreciating the wines that bear place-names. Champagne is also a wine that is distinguished by the fact that it contains a natural effervescence (putting it within the genre of “sparkling wines”), as opposed to wines that do not have effervescence (known as “still wines”). Champagne has been in production for several centuries and is the result of two separate fermentations. It is the second fermentation that imbues the wine known as Champagne with a sparkle. The process of making Champagne with two fermentations is known as the Champagne Method (Méthode Champenoise in French), nomenclature that has been updated in recent years to “the Traditional Method” (Méthode Traditionnelle). During this presentation, we will discuss the history, geography, and soil types of the Champagne region, as well as the history and step-by-step process by which Champagne, the wine, is made. You will discover that, although the finished product is generally a white wine, Champagne is frequently made from a combination of three grapes, two of which are “red” (which includes a spectrum of grape skin colors from red to blue to black). It is the process that is employed that achieves a clear colored wine from such grapes, all of which will be discussed.

The three Champagne wines that we will feature are listed below and are available in most Pennsylvania Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores. If you are unable to secure any of these wines, then it is suggested that you select an alternate wine for your tasting pleasure during the event, so long as it is a sparkling wine from the Champagne Region of France, made in the Traditional Method.

PLCB Code #83367 – Bertrand Delespierre Enfant de la Montagne Brut Champagne Montagne de Reims 1er Cru Non-Vintage – $39.99

 PLCB Code #39622 – Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Champagne Brut NV – $39.99

 PLCB Code #47130 – Ruinart Rose Brut NV – $74.99

So, please consider joining Joe Via and Marty Cook for this special presentation of Champagne, presented by the Pennsylvania Wine Society on Sunday, December 19^th at 3:30 pm. We look forward to seeing you then!

Please use the following Zoom link to join this event:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83895097419?pwd=aFR4Ri9GM2dFRzR0SXBzZ05Yam5sQT09

 Meeting ID: 838 9509 7419

Passcode: 282189

One tap mobile

+13017158592,,83895097419#,,,,*282189# US (Washington DC)

+13126266799,,83895097419#,,,,*282189# US (Chicago)

Dial by your location

+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)

+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

+1 720 707 2699 US (Denver)

Meeting ID: 838 9509 7419

Passcode: 282189

Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kABFyCX9r