According to strict rules established by the European Union to control the name of the product at the place of origin, only drinks produced in a particular French province are entitled to be called “champagne”. It is they who bear on their label a sign of their noble family tree - the letters DOC. All other drinks, even if they accurately copy the blend and production technology, are called "sparkling wines." In some countries, they have their own names. In Catalonia it is “cava”, in Italy “glade”, in Languedoc - “blanket”. And these drinks also carry the elite abbreviation DOC. But often the law is not written for manufacturers. And in the old manner sparkling wines are called champagne, made, more or less by the technology that Abbot Perignon invented. Some drinks are an outright burda made from artificially carbonated waste materials. But there are among domestic sparkling wines worthy to be served at the festive table. In this article we will consider the TOP-10 drinks in the Elite Champagne nomination.
Veuve Clicquot (Widow Clicquot)
As the English say, ladies first. But it is not the gentlemen's courtesy that makes us let the lady go forward. This drink really deserves to occupy the first position in the Elite Champagne rating. Monsieur Clicquot, an unremarkable winemaker, rendered two great services to humanity: he married the young lady Barb Barb Nicole Ponsardin and died in time to let the widow show her abilities.
The lady raised her husband's modest economy to unprecedented heights. She invented the method of perfect cleaning champagne and a bridle on the cork, because the pressure in the bottle is three times higher than in the tire of the car. In addition, the lady skillfully used natural phenomena for self-promotion. So, in 1811, the inhabitants of the Earth observed a comet. The widow of Clicquot immediately sent a ship to Russia (the troops of which had recently defeated Napoleon) with a huge shipment of champagne, on the label of which was a tailed star. A giant market was provided. The entire aristocracy tasted the "comet wine", and even Pushkin mentioned champagne in his poems. Now the cheapest products of the Widow Clicquot house cost from two and a half thousand rubles. And the price of some elite bottles is estimated at several tens of thousands of dollars.
Moët & Chandon (Moet and Chandon)
This company is as old as Widow Clicquot. Who does not know this elite champagne? A photo of a black bow with a gold border, sealed with a round red seal under the neck of the bottle, serves as the standard of French art of living. Moet and Chandon delivered their champagne to the court of the French king. Louis XV liked it, and Napoleon Bonaparte did not hesitate to call him into the wine house himself when he turned out to be a passage to Champagne. Since the reign of Edward VII, Moët & Chandon have mastered the British market. And now the company is the official supplier of champagne to the court of Elizabeth II. Moet and Chandon are not limited to royalty. It is their champagne that pours into glasses at the presentation of the prestigious award in the Golden Globe cinema. Due to the large print runs, the company's products are sold at more affordable prices. In Russia, a bottle of Moet and Chandon can be bought for two thousand rubles.
Dom Pérignon ("House of Perignon")
It's time to talk about the inventor of champagne as such. “Home” is not a name, much less a building. The name was Perignon Pierre. Since he was a Benedictine monk, he was respectfully treated as the clergyman of the House. Perignon lived in the seventeenth century, and in his spare time from prayers, he experimented in his abbey, Ovillier, with young foamy wine. He was the first to think of fermenting soft drinks a second time. He kept them in bottles of very thick glass, corked with oak. Elite champagne from the Abbey Abbey brand was quickly appreciated by the French aristocracy. Soon it began to be delivered to the sun king Louis XIV at Versailles. The Moet & Chandon firm bought the abbey's vineyards. The manufacturer continues to create drinks using old technology. This brand is called - “House Perignon”. Since the area of vineyards is small, this drink automatically increases in price. A bottle of the usual “House of Perignon” costs from eight thousand rubles. Dom Perignon Oenotheque - an elite brand of a wine house is estimated on the market at twenty-two thousand.
Louis Roederer (Louis Roederer)
In Russia, this is the most expensive elite champagne. Its name has become known in our country since the reign of Alexander II. And no wonder: “Louis Roederer Crystal” was made in 1876 specifically for the royal court. The word "Cristal" meant not only the maximum clarification of the drink. By order of Emperor Alexander II, champagne was delivered in crystal bottles. About sixty percent of all Louis Röderer wine house products went to Russia. And now, our compatriots have remained faithful to tradition. Champagne “Louis Roederer Brut Premier” is the most popular of the French brands. Its average price is four thousand three hundred rubles per bottle. The much appreciated exclusive drink is Louis Röderrer Crystal. Its cost varies from ten to thirty-five thousand rubles (depending on the year of harvest).
Piper-Heidsieck (Piper Highsick)
The owners of this wine house promote their products through Hollywood stars. Piper Highsic Champagne was Marilyn Monroe's favorite liquor . And at all Oscars, the products of this house are invariably present. The PR managers of the company seem to have discovered the "gold mine". Now the names “Piper Highsick” and Hollywood are inseparable. In 1965, the company released a 1.82-meter-tall bottle to the height of an Oscar-winning actor, Rex Harrison (for his role in the movie My Fair Lady, played in tandem with Audrey Hepburn). And last year, Christian Lobuten became the designer of the Piper Highsic house. So there was an elite brut champagne, released in a gift set with a slipper on a crystal heel. This PR move refers us to the tale of Cinderella. But at the same time, he makes us remember the old wedding tradition, when the groom drinks champagne from the bride’s shoe. It is not possible to find a gift set in wine boutiques in Russia. But the usual Piper Highsik Brut champagne can be found for 1,500 rubles.
GH Mumm ("Mumm")
The first owner of the company in the eighteenth century decorated the label of his products with a red ribbon of the Legion of Honor. Now the company advertises itself through sports. The slogan of the wine house is “Pursuit of accomplishments and courage”. The company is a sponsor of many sports and scientific achievements. In 1904, this elite champagne was uncorked by the crew of the Le France ship in Antarctica. They are watered by the winners of the Formula 1 competition. Mumm is the third largest producer in the world in terms of sales. A bottle of champagne from this company costs an average of two and a half thousand rubles.
Krug ("Circle")
Can sparkling wines be aged? Yes, if they are made in the basements of the Circle. This house was originally put on the quality of the drink, not on sales. The company has only twenty hectares of its own vineyards! The must of the best blend is fermented in small wooden barrels, and then stands in bottles for at least six years. Thanks to this method, champagne not only has a complex, recognizable taste, but also the ability to “age noble”. Such an elite champagne can be kept in the cellar for at least forty years, so that it can later be sold profitably. What is not an investment? For example, at a wine auction in Hong Kong in April 2015, the Krug bottle of the 1928 crop went for twenty-one thousand two hundred dollars. But ordinary champagne from this company costs about twenty thousand rubles.
Champagne sweet elite
It is generally believed that Prestige Cuvée drinks should be dry: ultra, extra, still, and savage brut. But lately dessert wines have become more and more fashionable. This trend was reflected in champagne. They began to produce dessert "Prosecco" and "Cavu", the German sparkling wine "Sect". Then came the sweet Cremant. This is also French champagne, but it was produced outside the elite province. Very famous "Creman" from Jura and Alsace. Perhaps the most delicious sweet “champagne” can be called “spumati” (sparkling wine) from the Italian province of Asti. It is made from one variety of berries - Moscato.
Domestic brands of champagne
The production of sparkling wines in the Russian Empire began in 1799, when Academician Pallas on his estate near Sudak produced the first bottles of a champagne-made drink. In 1804, a school was even opened in the Crimea. There they began to conduct experiments on the creation of champagne wines. A great contribution to winemaking was made by Prince Lev Golitsyn. In 1900, his New World champagne won the Grand Prix at the World Exhibition in Paris. Golitsyn worked not only in Crimea. In 1870, in a royal estate on the banks of the Durso River and Lake Abrau in the Kuban, he, along with French specialists, grew vineyards and set up a champagne factory. The first batch was released in 1897. But "Abrau-Durso" and "New World" were not the only brands of sparkling wines in Russia. Among the domestic names in the years of the USSR arose and now firmly holds the position of “Moscow Elite Champagne”.
Is it possible to produce such wine in the northern latitudes?
There would be production capacities corresponding to the technological process. In the suburbs there are mushrooms, flower berries, but not grapes. But the berries of the Pinot, Riesling, Aligote and Chardonnay varieties are delivered to the capital of Russia from the southern regions. At the MKShV plant, grapes are transformed into a drink called Moscow Elite Champagne: brut, semi-dry and semi-sweet. The amount of sugar in wine is not regulated by the addition of crystals, but exclusively by assembling. The wort is aged for about six months. As a result, a drink of saturated light straw color is born, with a harmonious taste and an interesting bouquet.