Makes you want to sing tiny bubbles
People of a certain age fondly remember Do Ho singing his signature song: Tiny Bubbles. To later generations (including people of the time) it was a pretty sappy, but somehow entertaining, ditty. It also helped increase sales of the world’s most popular sparkling wine: Champagne. Today, tiny bubbles could be the theme song for an international holiday. The fourth Friday of October is Global Champagne day. Today we celebrate the most influential tiny bubbles the world has ever known. There are other variations of bubbles. But, if you offer Prosecco, Cava, Asti Spumante, or Sekt people may look at you quizzically. The name Champagne is like Kleenex or Xerox. Anything else is a cheap imitation. Producers of some of these other bubbles may have a different opinion. Regardless of whether or not it’s the best, the name stands. Champagne Makes you want to sing tiny bubbles.
The ascendancy of champagne to the top of the celebratory wine list has many ups and downs. Burgundy and Bordeaux are the best wines in the world (according to many). Champagne could not compete with their neighbors for such acclaim since the climate and terroir there don’t favor red grape and red wine production. Temperatures and other factors resulted in under ripe and under developed fruits producing inferior wines. Yet, kings and nobility still favored the region. And, in the 16th century, a monk named Dom Perignon worked to perfect a new type of wine. He developed a strict system to produce white wines from red grapes. Vintners of the region found that white grapes produced wines prone to early spoilage. And, trying to get white from red always yielded inconsistent colors and quality. Dom developed a way to eliminate the inconsistencies and produce a higher quality wine.
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What Makes you want to sing tiny bubbles?
But, there was one problem with the wines of the champagne region. They developed bubbles. Dom, himself was frustrated by this. He tried his best to eliminate the bubbles, finding it an unacceptable imperfection. Again, it had to do with the climate. The cold winters would retard the fermentation of wines over the winter. When warmer weather came in, the yeast in the bottles would re-activate, creating carbonation. Plus, French wine bottles of the time were made in wood fired ovens, creating a weaker glass that would explode under the pressure.
Luckily for the Champenois (people of the Champagne region), the English liked the bubbles. And, British bottle makers used coal fire to make their bottles, creating a stronger version. These customers sought the bubbles, and it wasn’t long before champagne marketers saw the potential. And, After Luis XIV passed, his successors demanded the sparkling version for royal events. By the 1800’s, Winemakers began mass production of the bubbly versions of the wine. They would add sugar in a method called dosage. Earlier champagnes were sickly sweet. The sugar hid imperfections and made the drink more “pleasing”. The French version had over 200 grams per bottle. But, German and American drinkers wanted 1/2 that. And, Brits bought a version with 65 grams or less, preferring no added sugar.
What resulted are various levels from Sweet to Extra dry or Brut. The term brut actually came from critics at the time calling drier versions something a Brute would drink. Today, brut is the most produced style.
It wasn’t easy
Given the starts and stops of the industry, it’s amazing it’s still as popular as it is. While wine houses were developing the style and building a brand, there were several problems like the development of problems like Phylloxera destroying crops and all kinds of unrest. Reims, the heart of the Champagne region was at the crossroads of East to west and North to south travel in Europe. It connected Paris with Russia and Flanders with Switzerland. As such, it ended up in the crosshairs of multiple wars.
During the 19th century, Napoleon’s war raged through the region, placing vintners in a difficult position. But, the champagne maker, Charles Heidsieck found a marketing opportunity by waiting in Russia for the outcome of the war, and providing the victor of the battle with champagne. Sales of Champagne in Russia shot through the roof after the war.
Then, in the 20th century, both world wars raged through Reims, destroying the cathedral where royals were coronated, and, decimating the population, vineyards, and livelihood of the region. Throw in a vineyard growers strike in 1910-1911, it’s amazing that there is even a champagne region to discuss. But, the caves where the wines age proved fair shelter from the bombardment, and they did survive. More than that, they thrived.
This success Makes you want to sing tiny bubbles
When you think of champagne, you think luxury. And, despite all the adversity, it remains one of the most popular sparkling wines in the world. But, Prosecco actually sells more. That is mainly due to price concerns. And, that, in itself is an irony. remember when we said the Champagne region was on the crossroads of European trade and migration? At the time the wine we know as champagne was developing, they marketed it as a cheaper alternative to burgundy and Bordeaux. Traders from Eastern and Northern Europe could save a few miles and francs buying this wine. Now, the word champagne is synonymous with opulence. And, prosecco is the high quality alternative.
The signature bubbles and “dosage” serve to mask imperfections in otherwise inferior wine. And, there isn’t a standard grape for Champagne (or other sparklers for that matter). Although, there are some standards and preferred grapes. Dom Perignon’s original experimenting was with Pinot noir grapes. Today, this earns the moniker blancs de noir (white from black). There are 7 main grape varieties used to produce champagne, 2 reds, and 5 whites:
- Chardonnay
- Pinot Noir
- Pinot Gris
- Pinot Meunier
- Pinot Blanc
- Petit Meslier
- Arbane
Pinot Noir and Meunier are reds. The rest are white. To make rose versions, the skins of these 2 are macerated a bit to add color, and/or blended with white varieties. Wines made from strictly white grapes are called blanc de blanc.
So, what’s next?
Since the end of the world wars, Champagne has enjoyed its heyday as the world’s most preeminent celebratory wine. You can use cheaper bubbles for everyday drinking, mimosas and cocktails. But, you only break out “the good stuff” for special occasions. But, is that reputation earned? Some argue yes, others not so much. To become champagne, the wine must come from only the champagne region of France, and is subject to a wide variety of controls and regulations. This contributes a lot to the higher cost. But, those regulations are under strain from the market. Despite the higher price tag, champagne is still in high demand. And, now, there is talk of adding more areas to the region to meet the demand.
Also, we have a little thing known as climate change which is starting to affect the wine itself. Remember how bubbles first came to champagne? The cold winters slowed fermentation, causing a resurgence in carbonation when things warm up. But, higher temperatures are changing the very grapes themselves. Warmer climates produce higher sugar levels in grapes. The result is a sweeter wine with higher alcohol. So, vintners need to adjust their procedures and even ingredients. Dosages are being reduced or eliminated. People buy champagne for a very specific flavor profile. This changes that. So, maybe Germany or Finland could become better places to make a champagne style beverage. That Makes you want to sing tiny bubbles in German. winzige Blasen Anyone?
All this history Makes you want to sing tiny bubbles
Regardless of how champagne came to be and all the adversity it’s overcome, it still makes you want to celebrate. So, that’s what we’ll do today. We could make a bunch of champagne cocktail recipes. But, why waste expensive champagne on mixing it. So, instead, we’ll offer some recipes for what champagne best suits: Brunch. Of course, it goes with most anything, even by itself. So, in honor of this storied beverage, Drink up!
A votre Sante!
Eggplant, Spinach, and Goat Cheese Frittata with Tomato basil salad
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- 1 pt heavy cream
- 1 cup crumbled goat cheese
- 1 cup cooked spinach
- 1 cup diced eggplant
- 1/2 cup diced sweet onion
- 1/2 tsp Chopped fresh garlic
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- Pan spray
- For Tomato Salad
- 2 cups diced fresh tomato
- 1 cup Diced Sweet Onion
- 2 Tbsp Chopped or julienne fresh basil
- 1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Wilt spinach at high heat with a little oil, salt, and pepper. Strain excess liquid.
- Saute onion and garlic in olive oil over high heat until translucent. Add in eggplant, and brown it a bit. Season with salt and pepper.
- Whisk eggs in a bowl. Then add in cream, spices, salt, and pepper. Then fold in the rest of the frittata ingredients.
- Heat a cast iron pan in the oven. Spray with pan spray. Add in the eggs, etc. Put back in oven ad bake for 20 minutes. Check to make sure it is cooked all the way through. The mix should stand firm. Give it more time if needed.
- While the Frittata is baking, make the tomato salad bu tossing all ingredients together to be evenly coated with oil and vinegar.
- Let the frittata rest a few minutes before serving. Place a platter over the pan with the frittata. Then ivert. It should pop right out onto the platter. If not, carefully run a paring knife around the edges of to loosen the frittata. Once on the platter. garnish with the tomato salad.