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To be honest I'm tired of this champagne/sparkling wine issue. It's all the same thing. Otherwise what's next, can't call cheese "mozzarella" if it's not made in a certain city in Italy? Or maybe the name pizza should be banned if it doesn't come from wherever it was invented, so all those pizza places the world over will have to rename their product as "cheese on bread."
Champagne is a process, a way of making the product and shouldn't have been locked down to a specific region in France simply because it was named after it.
In the end, apart from the top brands, I have become extremely suspicious of all "champagnes" I haven't heard of previously, simply because there's an extremely high chance that they're complete rubbish. All they need to sell is just have the name, so quality went out the window completely...
Give me good sparkling wine (real champagne) over "champagne" any day...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aster
To be honest I'm tired of this champagne/sparkling wine issue. It's all the same thing. Otherwise what's next, can't call cheese "mozzarella" if it's not made in a certain city in Italy? Or maybe the name pizza should be banned if it doesn't come from wherever it was invented, so all those pizza places the world over will have to rename their product as "cheese on bread."
Champagne is a process, a way of making the product and shouldn't have been locked down to a specific region in France simply because it was named after it.
With time and experience you will hopefully learn that places have meaning.
With time and experience you will hopefully learn that places have meaning.
Ah oui, zee terroir of zee place imparts a certain je ne sais quoi...
Quote:
Originally Posted by aster
+1
You can drink some crazy amounts of booze and yet still have no hangover if you down enough water in the process. A lot of water actually.
Best tip is to always go to sleep with a full glass of water by your bedside. The difference between a hangover and not having one (or a much, much LESSER one) is taking a few gulps of water when you wake up during your sleep. It only takes you a few seconds, so if you do get the chance then take those few sips before continuing your sleep. As mentioned, definitely put a glass of water by your bedside before you crash out...
Yeah, I do this. It doesn't always help. I seem to remember reading that you need about 8 oz of water for each service of alcoholic beverage. That can be a lot of water!
To be honest I'm tired of this champagne/sparkling wine issue. It's all the same thing. Otherwise what's next, can't call cheese "mozzarella" if it's not made in a certain city in Italy? Or maybe the name pizza should be banned if it doesn't come from wherever it was invented, so all those pizza places the world over will have to rename their product as "cheese on bread."
Champagne is a process, a way of making the product and shouldn't have been locked down to a specific region in France simply because it was named after it.
In the end, apart from the top brands, I have become extremely suspicious of all "champagnes" I haven't heard of previously, simply because there's an extremely high chance that they're complete rubbish. All they need to sell is just have the name, so quality went out the window completely...
Give me good sparkling wine (real champagne) over "champagne" any day...
The day that a chardonnay grape, or a pinot noir grape, grown in the central valley in California, or the plains of central Spain, or elsewhere, tastes exactly the same as a those same grape varietals grown in Reims or Epernay, your point will have some merit. That day is not here, however.
the vast majority of the budget busting "champers" are blends of 3 grapes that are sourced from thousands(14000+) of growers, scattered hundreds of kilometers apart. a very few are single vineyard, a few are single grape variety. the significient feature of the "top" brands is that the majority(over half) of the cost is in the promotion and advertising.
some of the best "champers" is brought into the usa by thierry thiese(SP?) it is usually single vineyard, from a small producer that dumps most of his product to a major league house. some of these guys produce "champers" made from each of the 3 accepted varieties. some specialize in just one of the three accepted varities. i have never seen a french pinot blanc "champers", although it is an accepted grape.(this is a pinot noir sport, not the grape used in italian pinot blancs.)
Champagne has been an integral part of celebration for so long. I was on vacation a few weeks ago and got so tired of seeing all these people ordering champagne. I'm sure they saw it as part of the "vacation celebration".
The interesting thing about it is that there was a study that showed that drinking champagne - in moderation - helped people with Parkinson's, stroke and Alzheimer's. So, maybe I need to start drinking it!
The interesting thing about it is that there was a study that showed that drinking champagne - in moderation - helped people with Parkinson's, stroke and Alzheimer's. So, maybe I need to start drinking it!
wonder who paid for the study. if they are going to do it with a double blind, i'm in, atrial fib and all.
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I know this is heresy, and in part because I'm inexperienced and haven't had good guidance, but I think it all tastes the same. That's not in a bad way though, I love drinking champagne and sparkling wines especially with my girlfriend or while traveling, but one label is the same as another to me.
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Location: Seat 1A, Juice pretty much everywhere, Mucci des Coins Exotiques
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CMK10
I know this is heresy, and in part because I'm inexperienced and haven't had good guidance, but I think it all tastes the same. That's not in a bad way though, I love drinking champagne and sparkling wines especially with my girlfriend or while traveling, but one label is the same as another to me.
Your taste is never heresy. It is the only honest criticism an inexperienced person can make. The problem is when inexperienced people try to claim knowledge beyond their own taste.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CMK10
I know this is heresy, and in part because I'm inexperienced and haven't had good guidance, but I think it all tastes the same. That's not in a bad way though, I love drinking champagne and sparkling wines especially with my girlfriend or while traveling, but one label is the same as another to me.
I know what you mean - I really don't appreciate the differences between red wines, or white wines (although I am learning and now know what to expect if someone offers a merlot for example).
But champagnes - each one tastes very different to me. I agree there are some very good sparkling wines... some of those made in Australia are more expensive than the imported French brands.
With champagne you are buying the grapes from a particular region, and the experience those houses have accrued in being able to mix a consistent product to provide a consistent taste - they have been at it for hundreds of years. (plus a healthy dose for their marketing and branding!)
The soil, the water, the weather, what you use to press the grapes, that's what make a wine, how can a champagne be called champagne outside of the champagne area?
And replying to aster it's true, a mozzarella di bufala, made around Naples in Italy is going to taste much different from any mozzarella made with the same cows in an other country. The difference is what the cow eat and drink. You'll never get the same grass, the same soil and the same water in an other place. (Actually even mozzarellas made in norther italy tastes different from the ones in southern italy). So you can call those solid chunk of cheese that I found here in the states by the name of mozzarella but they've nothing in common with mozzarella.
The same goes with all the products that come from the earth...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ale.penazzi
The soil, the water, the weather, what you use to press the grapes, that's what make a wine, how can a champagne be called champagne outside of the champagne area?
Thing is, if we took 10 brands of "champagnes" made in France and champagnes made elsewhere, poured a glass of each, then you could tell which 5 were French and which 5 weren't?
Champagne is a process, and it's the process that defines the product more than anything.
Either way, if you think that a certain region in France can hijack an entire product name this way then you would obviously support Iran if they tried to block the rest of the wine-producing world from using the Shiraz label...
