News september 2005

05.09.2005:
Maybe the hard control of the yield of the wine matters less, than what is normally universally accepted practise. In Champagne the wine is pruned a lot in order to keep the yield low, which gives the grapes left much better quality. So it is said anyway. Now the American biologist Mark Matthews has shown how the yield from Cabernet Sauvignon with 36 buds left in stead of 18 actually ended up even tastier. According to Wine Spectator the American now plans trials with Pinot Noir. This could be interesting in Champagne, where Pinot Noir is one of the grapes, that is grown. The others are Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay.

06.09.2005: The house Gobillard, which belongs in the village Dizy just outside Épernay, has lost 3.000 bottles of champagne. They were stolen last week from an exhibition room, and now both bottles and thiefs are long gone, writes the local paper l'Union.

08.09.2005: Unknown vandals have destroyed 475 wineplants of the variety Xarello, which belongs to the big Spanish producer of sparkling wine, Freixenet. The attack happened on September 2nd close to the city Subirats in the catalan Penedes region. The plants have been cut and placed in a pattern shaping the derogatory word "cacics", which designates bosses on a regional level in catalan. Both wineproducers and trade unions have clearly denounced the sabotage, and there seems to be no clue who may be behind. But it follows long term disagreements between winegrowers and winemakers about minimum prices of grapes, writes the British newspaper the Independent.

08.09.2005: It may be a humble name on the etiquette, but the British chain of supermarkets, Tescos, own champagne could stand competition from the big names. This was clear when the judges in the annual London-based International Wine Challenge awards chose Tescos Premier Cru as the best non vintage champagne. It is the first time in the 22 year long history of the contest, that supermarketbubbles passes more established names as Taittinger, Mumm and Lanson. The Tesco bubbles, that beat 282 other champagnes, originates from a cooperative in the village Avize in the heart of the Côte des Blancs-area south of Épernay. Read more about the winner champagne here and here. In the category for sparkling wines a wine from Cornwall - Camel Valley Brut - took the gold. It is the magazine Wine International, that arranges the contest, claiming it is the biggest blindtaste in the world.

09.09.2005:
From this month Mumm will be distributed by Orlando Wyndham in Australis, probably as a result of Pernod Ricards recent buy of Allied Domecq, which left both companies with the same owner. Mumm is the third biggest producer of champagne when it comes to quantity. The company is based in Reims, where it was founded in 1827 by the brothers Mumm, who came from a rich, German family of winemerchants. The flagship is the brut Cordon Rouge, that is named after the red ribbon of the order, the French Legion of Honour. This champagne was introduced for the first time in 1875.

16.09.2005:
EU and the USA have after 20 years of negotiations made a deal about the right for the usage of 17 European winenames such as champagne, claret, portvin, sherry and chianti. Big American groups such as Korbel and Constellation sell American wines within America under these names, and this continues with the new deal. However they cannot introduce new products under these names. The EU on the other hand must accept this plus the introduction of American wines with alcohol percentages both less than nine and bigger than 15. Something that is currently not allowed in Europe. Both parties can enjoy that a threathening trade war and court case in the world trade organisation now is cancelled. EU continues fighting for the right that names such as Parmaham and Roquefort-cheese should be reserved for products with this excact geographic origin.

19.09.2005: Champagneproducenr Bruno Paillard has been interviewed about the deal by the French newsagency AFP. He calls the deal between the USA and EU for "absurd": "From a moral point of view it is an absurdity", he says. According to Decanter the French wineexporters on the other hand have said ok. The deal secures export to the States for 1,6 billons euro (12 bio. Danish crowns).

20.09.2005: Tv-star Jennifer Aniston just saw talkshowstar Oprah Winfrey. First interview since the divorse from moviestar Brad Pitt went to Oprah in a completely new studio. Aniston brought a bottle, so she with Oprah could bring toast for the new studio, her new life and much more. What champagne they actually sipped has not been mentioned. I also never found the answer to whether former cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, current pope Benedikt XVI, celebrated his election with sekt or real champagne. I suppose the girls went for a rosé.

21.09.2005:
Nothing is too small, if you pay just a little bit of interest for your environment. Or rather to big. The biggest grapes has been cut not far from here, that is in the village Mailly Champagne. The giant was a Pinot Noir grape of no less than 820 grammes, writes l'Union. Our biggest grapes weighed 560 grammes.

21.09.2005:
Allow me to remain in the smalltalk department. Our neighbour, madame Denaux, has also been mentioned in the paper, and she reveals herself to be much more of a live wire than I could imagine from seeing her in the street. This year was her 50th jubilee picking grapes. Now 50 times vendange is something to me, and as Odette puts it, it is much easier now, where she is 83 and round-shouldered and much more a level with the grapes. I almost feel like knocking on her door to offer a bottle for the jubilee. Only problem is that it is difficult to compete with champagne, and she probably has plenty of the latter since the winepicking takes place within the family.

På dansk

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