Taittinger Prelude Grand Crus - 25% off
Taittinger Prelude Grand Crus Non-Vintage
Case of 6 bottles for £170, currently available at Tesco Wine, but only until the end of this week (w/c 1st July) be quick, this is an IWC Silver medal winner in 2007.
Being a Grand Cru’ this is the premier of wine, its actual french meaning is ‘great growth’ and only around 35 vinyards in the Champagne region are classified as such.
Taste Test: Creamy citrus nose, Toasty with a creamy long toasty finish.
Toff Verdict : Buy Now!
25% off all Champagne at Tesco Wine Chaps
Tesco Wine are offering a rather superb 25% off all Champagne this week only. Stock up those cellars!
Save 25% on all Champagne at Tesco Wine by the case
Brut, Demi sec, Cuvee - Sorry Sir I’m Confused..
The lesson to today my champage toff followers continues on from my earlier posting on champage lingo. I do hope you have embraced those expressions. Now get those spectacles on when you next buy a bottle and listen up so you avoid buying a champagne that does not suite your pallete or champagne reception.
On the label of each champagne bottle, you’ll likely see one of the following words, phrases or combinations - here is what they translate to in simple terms.
Brut Zero or Brut Savage - hmm horror - this is the sugar free versions of champage and are extremely dry, we’d avoid unless you are diabetic or allergic.
Brut - Toff’s this is your standard ‘dry’ champagne.
Extra Dry - misleading this one chaps, its actually a bit sweeter than Brut!
Demi sec - Unless you failed your 11+ my friends this translates to ‘half dry’ an easy drinking champage and a good choice for ‘medium wine’ style lovers.
Vintage Champagne - vintage, made from only best available grapes, harvested in a good ripening season and aged on its lees for at least 36 months - that’s double the non vintage minimum of 18 months. This guarantees a very special Champagne taste, which is richer, nuttier and more complex than non-vintage.
Cuvee - This one ladies and gents is a mix / blend of wines from different vats, often used to create a steady and drinkable house style.
Tagged: champagne lingo • champagne tasteSpeaking the Champagne Lingo Toff Style
Astonish your fellow champagne fanatics when next sipping your flute of champagne… Don’t fret with the lingo simply customise yourself with senior toff’s champagne lingo and you’ll be the envy of your pack.
Naturally I doubt you’ll be able to use these expressions as precisely as us here at toff HQ but you could bluff your way to supremecy! The very best of luck Squire.
Now concentrate and soak up these expressions.
Toasty - a bready smell to the bouquet that denotes maturity and integrated flavours.
Biscuity - a similar style of bouquet and flavour to toasty, as above.
Complexity - the very best wines have a greater maturity and integration of flavours which last longer in the mouth and have a more defined bouquet. This range of qualities in Champagne is termed complexity, in contrast to more one dimensional varieties.
Yeasty - Champagne is made using a secondary fermentation process to create the fizz and it is the extent of the enzymatic breakdown of the yeast cells that create this particular flavour.
Bead - the technical term for the stream of bubbles. The finer the bead, the better quality the Champagne.
Mousse - this refers to how frothy and lively the Champagne looks in the glass and feels in the mouth
Fresh - Champagne has a higher acidity compared to other white wines and usually features traces of lemon and green apple for a refreshing taste.
Creamy - obvious tastes of vanilla or cream, most apparent in Chardonnay based wines.
Nutty - this flavour usually derives from age and points to maturity of the Champagne.
Maturity - refers to the ageing of the wine in the bottle as opposed to the age of the grapes which are said to be ripe. All Champagne undergo a minimum ageing period of two years with many vintages aged for up to five years. Signs of maturity in Champagne can be a darker, more golden hue, a less fresh palate, a nutty, dried fruit flavour and nose.
Length/persistence - refers to how long the flavour of the Champagne remains after swallowing. Most great wines have good length of flavour.
Perrier-Jouët By & For Champagne - £35k Case
Perrier-Jouët have launched an exclusive limited edition line of Champagne based on their exquisite 2000 Belle Epoque vintage.
Rumoured to cost around £35,000 per case, we hear Perrier-Jouët will only release ten cases in the UK… We will post more as soon as we hear confirmed details.
Princess Beatrice’ Quaffs Cristal Champagne
According to Toff sources, Princess Beatrice shared a bottle of Cristal Champagne with England soccer player Frank Lampard whilst flirting at London’s exclusive club Whiskey Mist last Wednesday evening.
The 19 year old Princess Royal ordered the rather exclusive £350 bottle of Cristal whilst onlookers were astonished by her flirty mood’ my gosh!
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