Search Results: champagne

Billecart-Salmon

Billecart-Salmon

By Glass of Bubbly / 14th March 2014

Founded in 1818 by husband and wife Nicolas François Billecart and Elisabeth Salmon, the Billecart-Salmon House is rich with history. For nearly two hundred years, the Billecart family has been handing down the secrets to making exceptional champagne from generation to generation. Heirs of an ancestral savoir-faire, the whole family knows that it is their…

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Nino Franco

By Glass of Bubbly / 9th March 2014

The Company: Antonio Franco founded the “Cantine Franco” winery in Valdobbiadene in 1919. Valdobbiadene is located at the foot of the Prealps, in the Veneto region, near Venice in the Northeast of Italy and is famous for the Prosecco vine and wine production. This area is designated as the Prosecco Superiore DOGC zone. This winery…

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Riddling. A dying art with gyropallets in full swing?

By Glass of Bubbly / 28th February 2014

On our recent visit to the Champagne region and our search for new wonderful Champagnes, my wife bought me a birthday present. I was the lucky recipient of a 36 bottle pupitre, often referred to as a riddling rack. For those not familiar with a pupitre, it is the traditional wooden rack which is used…

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Blanquette de Limoux

By Glass of Bubbly / 28th February 2014

Limoux is the undisputed fizz capital of the Languedoc. We are proud to continue a tradition which goes back hundreds of years, long before Champagne was even invented. This is the first sparkling wine in the world, invented and enjoyed by the Benedictine monks in Limoux around 1500, more than a century before Champagne’s Dom Pérignon…

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Chateau Rives-Blanques

Chateau Rives-Blanques

By Glass of Bubbly / 28th February 2014

Jan & Caryl Panman lived and worked in over a dozen countries in all corners of the world before Limoux’s stunning wines stopped them in their tracks. Chateau Rives-Blanques is a 22 ha family-run estate near Limoux, surrounded by woodland in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Seriously committed to environmentally sustainable wine growing, we  make our…

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Three Choirs Sparkling Wines

Three Choirs Sparkling Wines

By Glass of Bubbly / 27th February 2014

Three Choirs Vineyards produce a range of award winning English wines – all grapes are grown on our estate, and all vinting is done in house by master vintners. We produce two traditional bottle fermented English sparkling wines, Classic Cuvee and Blanc De Noir, both are everything you would expect of any superior sparkling wine;…

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Hambledon Vineyard Sparkling Wine

By Glass of Bubbly / 26th February 2014

We currently have three main vineyards covering 20 hectares on the slopes of Windmill Down (named after an ancient windmill) around the house. Each vineyard is planted with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier – the three grape varieties most commonly used in the production of Champagne. Our grapes are harvested and loaded into the…

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Hambledon Vineyard

By Glass of Bubbly / 26th February 2014

Hambledon is located on the South Downs in Hampshire and is England’s oldest commercial vineyard. Originally established by General Sir Guy Salisbury-Jones, with the help and advice from friends at the renowned Champagne House Pol Roger, he planted a number of different grape varieties in 1952 and went on to release the first commercial range…

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Fermentation in oak barrels vs steel tanks

By Glass of Bubbly / 25th February 2014

Up until the 19th Century, still wine was traditionally produced in oak barrels. In Champagne, still wine was made in barrels that were commonly large and over 10 years old. These Oak barrels allow the Champagne still wine to “breath”. However wine in barrels does experience loss through evaporation and absorption, so the barrel must…

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