Fizz for any occasion

With a distinctive hare logo, Château Lestevénie is known for its full-flavoured wines and is now highly recognised for its special Brut using the traditional method.

We asked Sue and Humphrey to explain why this wine, in particular, is so different and why it’s proving to be very popular at weddings and special events. Sue tells us,

“It wasn’t until 2015, when our son announced he was going to be married later that year that we thought of making sparkling wine. Humphrey makes a lovely dry wine from Semillon and Muscadelle grapes and it set us thinking.

Of course we knew that we could make fizzy wine simply by pumping carbon dioxide into it but we wanted a much more refined result. In order to make sparkling wine by the traditional method (which is what it must be called outside the Champagne region), you make your wine, send it to your chosen company who bottle it and then add a tiny dose of yeast and sugar to allow it to produce a secondary fermentation which creates a natural fizz. The process takes several months.

We chose a long established company near Bordeaux who mature the wine in limestone caverns, whilst turning the bottles every so often. They collected our wine in January and, with the wedding mid-July, we checked on progress in June. We knew the traditional method takes months but we had not realised that the French rule of eight months is absolute, so we couldn’t have the wine in time! The wedding guests drank our other wines and the sparkling Lestevénie Brut waited until their baby was born a year later. It was worth the wait!

“Since then,” she adds, “it has become one of our most popular wines and is a great favourite during our vineyard tours through orchid filled meadows with hares, deer, butterflies and nightingales singing in our woods. In fact, it makes for such a magical tasting afternoon that more and more wedding couples are now sending their guests along to enjoy the experience as part of their wedding weekend.”

The Local Buzz is the only A4 glossy magazine and comprehensive website covering these departments. Lifestyle focused, the magazine is informative, fun and highlights what’s on in the region. Looking for a local business, more listings of what’s on, articles, blogs and local information? Then visit our website at www.thelocalbuzzmag.com

By the way, if you can’t pick up a copy, every issue can be read on the website at www. thelocalbuzzmag.com/ read-online, and postal subscriptions are available.