Vicky's adventures

Hangover in the Champagne Region!

Les nuages s’amoncellent sur la Champagne(clouds are encroaching the Champagne region) announced The Figaro daily newspaper last weekend. I am sorry? Who would have thought that the sky could fall on the wine gods! Hard to believe that Champagne is being struck by lightening but:

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As it has occured in other regions, the top shelf of the wine rack is suffering of less sales by volume and the weather forecast predicts at least 3 stormy years before Champagne can enjoy its usual summertime. Big International names like Moët and Chandon refuse to lower their prices to keep desire alive, but this is not the case for everyone and you can now find bottles for less than 10 euros in supermarkets, hardly reaching the cost it takes to produce.

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So let’s shed a small tear, but not be too sad for those Champagne producers. It is about time we enjoy the rise of other sparkling wines, made with the same traditional process but not in the sacred 33 hectares reserved for the name. Respectable sparkling wines have been squashed under the shining Champagne reputation. Ah! the power of history over taste! The legendary fantasy around a bottle of Champagne that an inexperienced happy drinker won’t notice over a bottle of sparkling wine… Mmmh. This tells a lot. Even if I like the irrationality around wine and its dear drinkers, I think that our global crisis is there to help us anchored our two feet down the grapes.

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Have you ever heard about Cristal” by Roederer ? A famous bottle born in 1876, created after Alexander II, tsar of Russia ordered it for his personal consumption. Made of crystal at the time, it is not anymore but fakes it quite well and is made with the best vintage from the best fields of the house. This is the perfect example of how history can reinforce a strong reputation, but it is still 170 Euros a bottle and -I must say -I was rather disappointed when I sipped it among 10 great other vintages. This is what the power of expectations does over the taste of a wine. Remember that you have all the chances in the world to be disappointed by a bottle of Champagne because you will undoubtedly be disappointed by a bottle of Champagne because you always expect the most from it, and this grows worse with notoriety. On the other hand, sparkling wine has been less spoiled with history so you can only be surprised in a good way with a nice bottle.

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My Advices: Bubble Time!

  • Unless you have to impress your important guests with incredible Champagne names at your cocktail party, dare to go for a sparkling wine, Champagne will survive!

  • Of course, you should also enjoy those times to fill in your cellar with incredible value for money bottles of Champagne. Buy Sparkling wines and Champagnes with the same price for a bottle and blind test your friends… they’ll be surprised!

Miss Vicky Wine 304 posts

My father is a wine maker in beaujolais and I go sip wines everywhere. I was first know as a wine blogger, today I also write in French on a national magazine online plateform that is hosting my wine blog. They wanted someone to give a fresh twist to the French wine world. They got me. Read more

4 Comments

  • Gregory (5412 days ago) Reply

    Well its great to know that I don't have to buy 170 Euro bottle of champagne to be happy :) These 25 Hrvna bottles of sparkling wine have been treating me fine so far :) Haha.

  • Vicky Wine (5412 days ago) Reply

    Arf! is it Ukrainian Sparkling wine then? I'll be curious to see what it tasted like... I'll make sure I have a nice bottle when I come back!

  • dans (5411 days ago) Reply

    Terrific post. Bringing a bottle of Champagne to friends who don't know wine or don't trust their own taste is always a problem. You want to choose something that represents a certain level of knowledge, discovery, distinctiveness and bon rapport qualité prix, yet if they are judging by the label only, you don't want to appear "rad" - cheap.

  • Vicky Wine (5411 days ago) Reply

    Yes! And I have the feeling the road will be long before mentalies change...
    Thank you for your comment, This is an honor to have you here!

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