Christopher Walkey
‘General Knowledge’ Facts on Bubbly
There is something special, usually involving fun times, whenever we get to popping and pouring bottles of bubbly. Even though this fizzy style of wine has a global fan base, it is surprising that most consumers only hold a very basic level of knowledge on what exactly they are drinking. I am sure many of us…
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Ratafia Champenois Awards Results 2022
Following a year absence due to the constraints of covid globally, we were very pleased to continue with the Ratafia Champenois Awards at Glass of Bubbly. Following on from a very successful 2020 awards where the trophy for the World’s Finest Ratafia Champenois was presented to Gilles Dumangin with his 16 year sample, we were…
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Champagne / Sparkling Wine Bottle Caps / Stoppers
I’m sure that many will say ‘once a bottle of wine is open it’s going to get drunk‘ so worrying about putting the cork back in is not a major concern in order to preserve it for another day, nonetheless squeezing the cork back in is fairly easy to do. This is all fine for…
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Does Champagne go off?
A question that will depend on how it is being asked in order to get the answer we are looking for. Let me explain: Do you mean that you have a bottle stored away somewhere and you do not see a best before date on so wondering if Champagne goes off or maybe you have…
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Sulphites in Wine – What does this mean?
As I browse my wine collection and check the labels I see a common theme being the mention, usually translated into English on those which are foreign, of the word sulphites. From German to French, Canadian to English and from still to bubbles, we see the word sulphites on the bottle. Usually clearly marked and…
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Can we rely on Gold, Silver, Bronze Medal Badges on Wine Bottles?
Have you ever noticed and more so ever been tempted by, a medal badge on a bottle of wine? From highly commended to gold and trophy level, many bottles globally will contain one or more on the label or as a separate addition and usually at a prominent visual point on the bottle. Are wine badges…
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Can you age Charmat Method?
In the world of sparkling wine we see mostly two production processes being Traditional method and Charmat method. These two processes make the more popular sparkling wines we are familiar with such as: Traditional Method: Champagne / Cava / Cremant Charmat Method: Prosecco / Lambrusco / Muscato Charmat method is also known as the tank…
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No.1 Sparkling Wine
Number one in name and almost number one in ranking! The Slovenian winery, Istenic, produces a fine selection of Penina (Slovenian for sparkling wine) and this includes their special label – No.1 Brut. Located on the eastern side of Slovenia within the wine region of Bizeljsko and being involved in the making of fine wines…
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Cava Food Pairings
Like many other sparkling wines, Cava is great for a variety of food pairings. The famous fizz from Spain has somewhat fallen away in popularity within the UK sparkling wine market in recent years especially thanks to the emergence of Prosecco (DOC especially) and Champagne’s consistent popularity. What is Cava? A sparkling wine (white or…
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