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C H A M P A G N E
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Page 24 Champagne Areas
Page 36
Bruno Paillard
8
Page 42
Rosé Champagnes
Page 60
Bollinger
Page 76
Taittinger Bottle Art
Page 108
Taittinger
Page 116
Caviar
11 15
Fine Avellan Fine Nuikki e
Editorial Decanting Champagne Heidsieck 1907
16 Fine Drinking History 24 36 42 60
Page 98 Champagne Auctions
9
Fine Alphabet lp Fine Personality o Fine Selection l c Fine Legend i Fine Larsson n Fine Women i Fine Gallery n Fine Tastings a Fine Vintages i Fine Investing n v Fine Challenge l Fine Cuvée Fine Gastronomy o Fine 1000 n Fine Lifestyle n s Fine Exhibition x b
ABC Areas Bruno Paillard Prestige Cuvée Rosés Bollinger Eat and Drink in Pink Carol Duval-Leroy Taittinger Collection Prestige Cuvées 19801989 Champagne Auctions Champagne Awards Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Caviar Dom Pérignon 1973 Les Crayères Pommery & Art
66 68 76 84 92 98 104 108 116 124 128 138
Page 128
Les Crayères
Fi n e C o n t e n t s
H
ow do you get champagne costing 30 euros to taste like prestige cuvée that costs 150 euros?
sometimes wonder about the fine words of
often than not improves and becomes drinkable if decanted, sometimes so much so that a young bottle costing 30 euros tastes and seems like one priced at 150 euros after being decanted for 1.5 hours. Most young champagnes, and now I am talking about vintages from the present decade, should be decanted for 30 minutes at the very least. The better quality the champagne, the longer the decanting time. For example, the Deutz Rosé 2002 was a completely different wine after being decanted for two hours the hardness, sharpness and imbalance that were apparent when the bottle was opened had given way to creamy softness, tranquillity and beautiful balance. Veuve Clicquot Rosé 2003 (one hour decanting time), Philipponnat Clos des Goisses Rosé 2000 (three hours), Roederer Brut Millésime 2003 (1.5 hours) and Taittinger Brut Vintage 2002 (one hour) all also clearly benefited from being decanted over a fairly long period. As the air literally breathes life into the wine but also kills it off, it is very important to know how long to let the wine remain in contact with the air in the
decanter and the glass. That is why wine reviews in FINE magazines mention the time (and is the only wine magazine in the world to do so) that we think the wine in question needs to breathe and reach its full potential. The time we give is actually only based on our own experience of the wine concerned, and should be seen as well-intentioned advice and not scientific truth. My own rule for young champagne vintages is that 30 minutes in a decanter is the minimum time. This obviously varies, depending on the quality of the wine, the blend and the vintage. Try to apply yourself to this straight away. With a little practice each of us can affect the taste of the champagne we drink. When you are opening a bottle of young champagne next time, decant it for 30 minutes to two hours before serving. It is very possible that the champagne´s taste will improve a lot during decanting, at least to make its enjoyment worth the price you paid.
15
I
praise that the champagne I have just tasted and had great expectations for, but now find dull
and lifeless, has received from friends or wine professionals I hold in high regard. Occasionally the reason is that the champagne reviews I read date back years, but it is often simply because of me: my inexperience and ignorance I have either opened the bottle too late or too early. Longevity is an excellent quality in wine, sometimes even a magical one when a mature vintage is drunk whilst at its very best, but even the best wine is easily spoilt if you drink it at the wrong time, and I am not now talking about decades, or even years, but hours. I believe that all mature wines benefit from decanting, as many people know. But it is much less common knowledge that champagnes, especially young ones benefit enormously if they are decanted. Most of the champagnes on the market are very young and still immature. But never mind. Today a virtually undrinkable, immature champagne more
Pekka Nuikki Editor-in-Chief
Fi n e N u i k k i
16
On the morning of 3 November 1916, the German submarine U-22 stopped a small Swedish schooner, Jönköping, off the Finnish coast. In the cargo hold of thi unluck shi wer ,000 ottl of hamp gne this unlucky ship were 3,000 bottles of champagne, is nlucky hip re 0 ttles mpa n 10,000 gallons of cognac, and 17 barrels of burgundy ,000 allo of cognac, and barrels of burgundy 0 lons g arre g y wine ha ha be wine that had been ordered by the court of Tsar in hat had been rder d d the cour f sar h urt Nik la II. The command Nikolai II. The commander of the U-22 decided to kol kolai mmande der th he 2 decid ide ded sink si the schoone but save th liv of its crew The sink the schooner but save the lives of its crew The chooner he ives ew.
ship sank into the depths of the North Sea in less than an hour. On the morning of 15 April 1998, in an auction hall ha in Lo on, the ta f gav l end d hall in London the tap of a gavel ended a longLond n tap ong ngrunning tend comp titi running tender competition a world record had nnin nder ompe tion wor record had orld ecor been orn ore be born. Mor was paid been born. More was paid for a champagne bottle ch mpag bottle hamp ha agne l that d ain in th cargo old f Jö ping for 82 that had lain in the cargo hold of Jönköping for 82 h i he argo l önkö ön i y ars than for any oth ch p g bottle befo tha years than for any other champagne bottle before that. y ther ha hamp ottl fore hat