Asti Champagne

Perfect pairs

December 8, 2006 - as published in the Naperville Sun and Beacon News

By Bill Garlough

In December, we travel across the ocean to discuss one of the gifts of nature, Champagne! Champagne is a wine region in France, while the wines of this region can properly be said Champagne. Any champagne "produced outside this region of France should be called sparkling wine.

No other beverage in the world symbolizes a celebration of the best champagne / sparkling wine. These drinks contribute to the advent of the new year as well as weddings, birthdays, promotions and other special occasions. This time of year where about 80 percent of the drink is consumed. At Christmas, my catering company likes to put up a sparkling station near the front door, greeting guests with a glass of champagne to celebrate.

Wine talk

The Champagne region in France is located about 90 miles northeast of Paris. In the late 17th century, French Champagnes have been officially recognized as a new style of wine. Single Champagne excitement was created because of the cooler climate of northern France. Grapes from this region generally had not fully matured, or fully fermented in the fall when the wines are traditionally placed in barrels. During the winter, the champagne was dormant, and then began fermenting again in the spring. This led to a soft drink that has been covered, because of past yeast floating in the barrels. At the time, was considered an inferior product.

The French in the Champagne region established a new process to clarify their drinks. Instead of the traditional livestock and storage, the champagne was the first wine to be stored and aged in individual bottles with corks. This new method, Methode Champenois, (still in use today) involves inverting the bottles in crates and gently turning the bottles (screening) to help collect the yeast in the bottle neck.

Then, the neck of the bottle is immersed in a brine solution that freezes the section of the yeast. The bottle is raised to eject the plug of yeast (restitution), resulting in a clear drink. The champagne is then crowned by yet (unfermented) wine aside for this purpose. A small amount of yeast and sugar are added to the bottle, then bites. This starts the second fermentation process. As the yeast consumes the sugar, a small amount of alcohol is created, as well as carbon dioxide. This allows the bottle to find his swing.

Today there are about 100 houses in the Champagne region of Champagne are provided with grapes or grape juice from more than 15,000 local producers. Given the climate cooler, faster maturing varieties are used exclusively in this region Chardonnay (used exclusively in Blanc de Blancs), Pinot Meunier and Pinot Black (used with Chardonnay and Blanc de Noirs Rose). There are three different methods to produce champagne, Methode Champenois tradition which ferment the wine in individual bottles, the Charmat process where the wines are fermented in large steel tanks and, thirdly, the carbonation process in which the artificial Wine is injected with carbon dioxide - which is the more economic approach (and can lead to headaches). Champagne quality are more expensive because of the use of the cellar the grapes of superior quality, the mix of age, still wines and storage costs of the champagne bottle for years before his release.

There are three different styles of champagne or sparkling wines, ranging from light to medium to full body (based on the amount of time the yeast is left in contact with the wine). In addition, levels of sparkling wine sweetness varies from Brut (dry) to Extra Dry (semi-sweet) to Doux (sweet).

Food and Wine

As discussed, the holidays are when most sparkling wines are consumed. They tend to be food friendly because of their high acidity.