Christopher Walkey
Sparkling Wine ‘Rosé Levels’ from Light to Dark and Hidden too
I just recently finished a blind rosé sparkling wine tasting where 57 labels were judged and upon revealing what each of the labels were, there was quite a display of shades of rosé as well as bottle designs to admire. Across the world, northern to southern hemispheres from cool to warm climates, rosé sparkling wines…
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Have you tried Red Sparkling Wine?
When it comes to still wines then both red and white would be the most popular styles in our minds and experiences with rosé not too far behind. Though, if we add bubbles to our wines then our thought process changes and we are strictly familiar with white and rosé, but fizzy reds??? Many times…
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100% Pinot Noir Rosé Sparkling Wines
For many, both consumers and wine professionals, Pinot Noir is the most adored grape variety, the most famed and also quite challenging… Pinot Noir, vitis viniferared, is very much a versatile grape variety and comfortable in producing top quality red, rosé, white, and sparkling wine. Known as ‘black pine’, the translation from French, due to…
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Ratafias Champenois Julien Chopin
I’m sure that if I mention Champagne then I will be surrounded by many smiling faces expecting to share in the delights of a glass of bubbly or two… but there is another (hidden) gem that Champagne holds – #RatafiaChampenois. What is Ratafia Champenois? Ratafia Champenois is a sweet (fortified style) wine with a minimum…
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The ‘Never Never Land’ Cava that is Naveran
One of the most popular sparkling wines of the world, the second best selling after Champagne, though still remains slightly in the background of things when compared to the likes of Prosecco, is Cava. Over recent years there seems to have been a race to the lowest price and though being a traditional method sparkling…
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9 Trophy Winning Rosé Sparkling Wines
Recognition towards the quality of a wine is mostly via industry awards where judges usually blind taste and score examples for the likes of colours, aromas and flavours. We will see both medals and trophies awarded and many recipients will showcase their success by way of adding a badge on to their bottle – This…
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Pinot Noir Ratafia Champenois
Firstly, what exactly is Ratafia Champenois? Ratafia is a liqueur and usually around 18% alcohol content. It will be made of the must and liqueur of the Champagne region. It requires 10 months ageing which can be either via tank or oak barrels. It can be made from a combination of Champagne grapes and from…
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Champagne, Romance and Strawberries
The history between Champagne and romance goes back a long way. Stories of Marie-Antoinette (wife of King Louis XVI) having the Champagne coupe glass modelled on her breasts to Marilyn Monroe bathing in a bath of the famous French bubbly (using 350 bottles) and even many folk saying the drink is a perfect Aphrodisiac. Champagne…
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What is Riesling?
When Riesling is mentioned then we tend to think about countries such as Germany and Austria. We think of white wines and possibly fizzy ones also, we think of white grapes and we think of fairly aromatic characters from them. We’d all be quite correct in our thinking, but there is a lot more to…
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