Cellar Chat

Mark Tanner

Last Christmas I picked up a statistic from The Champagne Council (Comite Interprofessional du Vin du Champagne) saying that this sector of the market is expected to deliver about 331 million bottles this year and it’s not enough.

Usually, production is as much as 338 million bottles, but thanks to the pandemic production has been lower. Like other businesses, Champagne (and I refer to the real stuff) has fallen behind and producers were actually rationing deliveries before St Valentine’s Day. The global increase in demand, they say, has created “market tensions”. Stocks are “very low” and there just isn’t enough to sell.

Interestingly, or should I say ‘understandably’?, the USA is the largest importer of Champagne, with the UK coming second. Then, in decreasing order, comes Japan, Germany, Belgium, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and China making up the top 10. And guess what? The USA imbibers have more than made up for the collapse of the Russian market.

While I applaud the product and appreciate its versatility (it goes with ice cream and chocolate) sweetish aperitif made by the addition of brandy to unfermented grape juice – usually Ugni Blanc. It must spend a year in wood and be between 16 and 22 per cent alcohol. to taste with balsamic and olive oil. The perfect summer salad to accompany any braaied meats, roasted chicken and grilled fish.

The story they tell, like so many, is of a local farmer who needed every possible barrel for a bumper harvest. He found an overlooked barrel in a corner of his cellar that held some old cognac to which grape juice had accidentally been added. Presto! Pineau was born. I very much appreciate an aperitif or digestif and Pineau de Charantes hits the spot. There used to be a producer in Rawsonville that made a local variety but it no longer does, it seems. Pity, it was really very good.

Getting back to France and the real stuff...

The Union des Maisons de Champagne identify 370 Houses that make the “Grande Marques”, the most prestigious wines.

T 0218762086 E fhccellardoor@dgb.co.za

I have never really been a devoted fan... Some years ago, while in France, I made an obligatory pilgrimage to Moët & Chandon but ended up getting more excited with a drink called Pineau de Charantes from the region of Cognac. This is a

I was surprised to learn just how many labels come from that magic region of Reims/Epernay where some 14 000 growers supply grapes to the various Champagne houses. A partial list contains 29 of the best-known lables. These include Krug, Mumm, Taittinger (007’s favourite) Bollinger and Pol Roger (Winston Churchill) and other names we all know well. Ayla, Henriot, Salon and Irray could be some of the lesser known. The whole Champagne industry provides a very complex journey from vineyard to bottle, too labyrinthine to cover in the space available. The winner? The most prestigious? The benchmark of bubbles goes to Moët & Chandon, or simply ‘Moët’ who own the Dom Perignon label, after Dom Perignon, the Benedictine monk (1638 to 1715) who supposedly started it all.

6 bottles of the featured wine!

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