Champange

Veuve Clicquot: A Leader in Developing the World's Best Champagnes

Filed under: Wine

If it weren't for Veuve Clicquot, your next glass of champagne might be full of sediment. The house invented the practice of remuage, or riddling, wherein bottles are turned by hand so that the solid matter gets pushed into the neck and can be emptied before the bottling process is complete. That fact alone seems justification for Veuve Clicquot's nomination for a Luxist award in the best sparkling wine/champagne category.

Remuage is just one of the advanced techniques pioneered by Veuve Clicquot over the course of its storied history. Founded in 1772 by Philippe Clicquot, the house became the first to ship rosé champagne three years later. But the house's greatest leader turned out to be Barbe Nicole Ponsardin – also known as Madame Clicquot, the widow of Philippe's son. After her husband's death, she took the house's reins at the age of 27.

Gallery: Veuve Clicquot

In 1814, Madame Clicquot shipped 10,000 bottles of champagne to Russia, where demand skyrocketed for the better part of a century. Two years later, she invented the remuage technique. After a long career that brought Veuve Clicquot to the top of the champagne world, she retired at the age of 64.

In 1987, the brand became part of luxury conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, maintaining the brand's historical caché. Reminders of the champagne's history are never far away – in 2008, the oldest unopened bottle of Veuve was found in a Scottish castle. Not for sale, the bottle now graces the Veuve Clicquot visitor center in Reims, France.

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Tags: awards-main, Champange, champanges, luxist-awards, Veuve Clicquot, Veuve-Cliquot

Sparkling Wines From Oregon

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

As the public finally learns that sparkling wine is more than just Champagne, producers of sparklers in the United States are getting more attention. A recent article in an Oregon newspaper rounds up several of the top producers in the Willamette Valley which are creating sparkling wines. The climate is similar to the Champagne region in France and to England which has also been creating well-regarding sparkling wines recently.

Some of Oregon's best include:
Domaine Meriwether, a specialty winery which focuses on the method champenoise and creates four different cuvees including a Blanc de Blancs.

Silvan Ridge makes a semi-sparkling early muscat which sells for $14.

La Velle makes a sparkling wine that is from 100% pinot noir grapes and sells for $22.

Argyle Winery is the largest producer of sparkling wines. Their 1998 Blanc de Blancs sells for $30.

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Tags: champange, oregon, sparkling wine, wine