Elite champagne: brands, names, photos

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

According to the strict rules set by the European Union to control the name of the product at its place of origin, only drinks produced in a particular French province are en titled to be called "champagne". It is they who carry on their label a sign of their noble pedigree - the letters DOC. All other drinks, even if they accurately copy the blend and production technology, are called "sparkling wines". In some countries they also have their own names. In Catalonia it is cava, in Italy it is proseco, in Languedoc it is blanquette. And these drinks also carry the elite abbreviation DOC. But often the law is not written for manufacturers. And in the old fashioned way, sparkling wines are called champagne, made more or less according to the technology invented by Abbé Pérignon. Some drinks are a frank burda from waste materials artificially carbonated. But among domestic sparkling wines, there are some worthy to be served at a festivetable. In this article, we will look at the TOP 10 drinks in the Elite Champagne category.

Veuve Clicquot ("Veuve Clicquot")

As the British say, ladies first. But it is not the courtesy of the gentlemen that compels us to let the lady go first. This drink really deserves to take the first position in the Elite Champagne ranking. Monsieur Clicquot, an unremarkable winemaker, rendered two great services to mankind: he married the young lady Barbe Nicole Ponsardin and died in time to allow the widow to show her abilities.

The lady raised her husband's modest household to unprecedented heights. She invented a method for perfectly cleaning champagne and a bridle on the cork, because the pressure in the bottle is three times higher than in a car tire. In addition, the lady skillfully used natural phenomena for self-promotion. So, in 1811, the inhabitants of the Earth observed a comet. The widow Clicquot immediately sent a ship to Russia (whose troops had recently defeated Napoleon) with a huge shipment of champagne, on the label of which was depicted a tailed star. A gigantic sales market was secured. The whole aristocracy tasted the "wine of the comet", and even Pushkin mentioned champagne in his poems. Now the cheapest products of the Widow Clicquot house cost from two and a half thousand rubles. And the price of some elite bottles is estimated at several tens of thousands of dollars.

Moët & Chandon ("Moet and Chandon")

This company is as old as Veuve Clicquot. Who does not know this elite champagne? Photo of blacka bow with a gold border, fastened with a round red seal under the neck of the bottle, serves as a standard of the French art of living. Moet and Chandon supplied their champagne to the court of the French king. Louis XV liked it, and Napoleon Bonaparte did not hesitate to pick it up at the wine house himself when he happened to be passing through Champagne. Since the reign of Edward VII, Moët & Chandon have mastered the British market. And now the company is the official supplier of champagne to the court of Elizabeth II. "Moet and Chandon" is not limited to roy alty. It is their champagne that is poured into glasses at the presentation of the prestigious award in the Golden Globe cinema. Thanks to large circulations, the company's products are sold at more affordable prices. In Russia, a bottle of Moet and Chandon can be bought for two thousand rubles.

Dom Pérignon ("Dom Pérignon")

It's time to talk about the inventor of champagne as such. "House" is not a name, much less a building. Perignon's name was Pierre. Because he was a Benedictine monk, he was respectfully addressed as the clergyman of Dom. Perignon lived in the seventeenth century, and in his spare time from prayer he experimented in his abbey of Ovilliers with young frothy wine. He was the first to think of re-fermenting soft drinks. He kept them in bottles of very thick glass, stoppered with oak cork. The elite champagne of the Ovillier Abbey brand was very quickly appreciated by the French aristocracy. Soon they began to deliver it to the Sun King Louis XIV at Versailles. The firm "Moet and Chandon" bought the vineyards of the abbey. The manufacturer continues to create drinks based onold technology. This brand is called “Dom Perignon”. Since the vineyard area is small, this drink automatically increases in price. A bottle of the usual "Dom Perignon" costs from eight thousand rubles. Dom Perignon Oenotheque is an elite brand of the wine house, estimated on the market at twenty-two thousand.

Louis Roederer ("Louis Roederer")

In Russia, this is the most expensive elite champagne. Its name has become known in our country since the reign of Alexander II. And no wonder: "Louis Roederer Crystal" was made in 1876 specifically for the royal court. The word "Cristal" meant not only the maximum purification of the drink. By order of Emperor Alexander II, champagne was supplied in crystal bottles. About sixty percent of all products of the Louis Roederer wine house went to Russia. And now our compatriots have remained true to tradition. Champagne "Louis Roederer Brut Premier" is the most sought after of the French brands. Its average price is four thousand three hundred rubles per bottle. The exclusive drink "Louis Roederer Crystal" is much more highly valued. Its cost varies from ten to thirty-five thousand rubles (depending on the year of harvest).

Piper-Heidsieck ("Piper Heidsieck")

The owners of this wine house promote their products through Hollywood stars. Piper Heidsieck Champagne was Marilyn Monroe's favorite alcoholic drink. And at all the Oscars, the products of this house are invariably present. The company's PR managers seem to have discovered a "gold mine". Now the names "Piper Heidsieck" and Hollywood are inseparable. In 1965, the company released a bottle with a height of 1.82 meters, in the growth of the Oscar winner actor Rex Harrison (for his role in the film "My Fair Lady", played in tandem with Audrey Hepburn). And last year, Christian Lobutin became the designer of the Piper Heidsieck house. This is how elite brut champagne appeared, released in a gift set with a shoe with a crystal heel. This PR move refers us to the fairy tale of Cinderella. But at the same time, it brings to mind the old wedding tradition, when the groom drinks champagne from the bride's shoes. It is not possible to find a gift set in wine boutiques in Russia. But the usual Piper Heidsieck Brut champagne can be found for one and a half thousand rubles.

G. H. Mumm ("Mumm")

The first owner of the company in the eighteenth century adorned the label of his products with the red ribbon of the Legion of Honor. Now the company advertises itself through sports. The slogan of the wine house is "The desire for accomplishments and courage." The firm is a sponsor of many sports competitions and scientific achievements. In 1904, this elite champagne was uncorked by the crew of the Le France ship in Antarctica. They are watered by the winners of the Formula 1 competition. Mumm is the third largest manufacturer in the world in terms of sales. A bottle of champagne from this company costs an average of two and a half thousand rubles.

Krug ("Circle")

Can sparkling wines beseasoned? Yes, if they are produced in the Krug cellars. This house initially put on the quality of the drink, and not on the volume of sales. The company has only twenty hectares of its own vineyards! The must of the best blend is fermented in small wooden barrels, and then aged in bottles for at least six years. Thanks to this method, champagne has not only a complex, recognizable taste, but also the ability to “age nobly”. Such an elite champagne can be kept in the cellar for at least forty years, in order to profitably sell it later. Why not an investment? For example, at a Hong Kong wine auction in April 2015, a 1928 bottle of Krug fetched $21,200. But the usual champagne of this company costs about twenty thousand rubles.

Champagne sweet elite

Prestige Cuvée drinks are generally considered to be dry: ultra, extra, still and sauvage brut. But lately, dessert wines have become more and more fashionable. This trend is also reflected in champagne. They began to produce dessert Prosecco and Cava, German sparkling wine Sekt. Then came the sweet Cremant. This is also French champagne, but it was produced outside the elite province. Very famous "Krement" from the Jura and Alsace. Perhaps the most delicious sweet "champagne" can be called "spumati" (sparkling wine) from the Italian province of Asti. It is made from one variety of berries - Moscato.

Domestic brands of champagne

The production of sparkling wines in the Russian Empire began in 1799, whenacademician Pallas in his estate near Sudak produced the first bottles of a drink made according to the champagne method. In 1804, a school was even opened in the Crimea. There they began to conduct experiments on the creation of champagne wines. Prince Lev Golitsyn made a great contribution to winemaking. In 1900, his champagne "New World" received the Grand Prix at the World Exhibition in Paris. Golitsyn worked not only in the Crimea. In 1870, in the royal estate on the banks of the Durso River and Lake Abrau in the Kuban, he, together with French specialists, grew vineyards and equipped a champagne factory. The first batch was released in 1897. But Abrau-Durso and Novy Svet were not the only brands of sparkling wines in Russia. Among the domestic names in the years of the USSR, Moscow Elite Champagne arose and now firmly holds its position.

Can this wine be produced in northern latitudes?

There would be production capacities corresponding to the technological process. In the suburbs there are mushrooms, berries, flowers, but not grapes. But berries of Pinot, Riesling, Aligote and Chardonnay varieties are delivered to the capital of Russia from the southern regions. At the MKSHV plant, grapes are turned into a drink called Moscow Elite Champagne: brut, semi-dry and semi-sweet. The amount of sugar in wine is regulated not by the addition of crystals, but exclusively by assemblage. The must is aged for about six months. As a result, a drink of rich light straw color is born, with a harmonious taste and an interesting bouquet.