Tis the Season...
A great season for networking, visiting wineries, sipping, chatting ... and handing out cards!
1. Attended SummerHill Winery's Open House - chatted with 'wine pourer' about the merits of Winnipeg, Manitoba - wrote a few contact persons name on the back of a card and shared with her.
2. Met 2nd person at Open House, discussed sales and rising market forecast.
3. Blogged - including great article promoting SummerHill Winery
4. Facebooked two persons I met in the last couple days to say thanks and 'let's do lunch'.
LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE - reprint of article on Summerhill Winery in the Okanagan
Champagne Supernova
It's the perfect season to celebrate B.C.'s sparkling wines
by Gary Faessler | December 8, 2010
On a spring day in the late 17th century, the Abbey of Hautvillers stands upon an ancient vine-covered slope overlooking the Champagne countryside in northern France. Inside, cellar master Dom Pierre Pérignon, a Benedictine monk, raises a glass to the window's light and contemplates the golden wine within.
Pérignon observes the threads of tiny bubbles ascending from the bottom of the glass, the exhilarated beads swirling and racing to the surface, where they dance and froth. The good father brings the glass near and inhales. Aromas of fresh-baked bread, walnuts, citrus and violets delight his nose. He takes a drink, smiles and proclaims, "I am drinking stars!"
Champagne is France's coldest wine-growing region, where wines made after the harvest often stop fermenting and lay dormant during winter. A secondary fermentation occurs when the wine begins to "work" as the days warm with spring, creating the natural byproduct of carbonic gas. When allowed to ferment inside a cask or a vat, the gas dissipates into the air. But if the wine is secured in a bottle before the second fermentation starts, the gas is trapped and remains dissolved in the liquid, imprisoned by glass, cork and wire cage.
Today sparkling wines are made worldwide. British Columbia is a recent producer, yet wineries here are making some outstanding bubbly. Hardly surprising, since the Okanagan region is the northernmost desert viticulture region in the world. Situated along the 50th parallel, it shares the same latitude as Champagne, France. The Okanagan's long, hot autumn days mature and sweeten the grapes, while the dramatic temperature drop overnight promotes a slow loss of acidity. This combination of high sugar content, good acidity and intense grape varietal character produces fine and complex champagne-style wines.
The first champagne maker in B.C., Summerhill Estate Winery, introduced its Cipes Brut in the fall of 1992. Owner Stephen Cipes is an eclectic iconoclast, passionate about producing world-class sparkling wines. Summerhill's grapes are organically grown, and the wines are handcrafted and cellared in a four-storey, 3,249 sq. ft. reproduction of a Cheops pyramid.
Why? Cipes feels the geometry of the pyramid cellar produces the same energy as the ancient Roman arch cellars and vaults found in the finest champagne houses of Europe. "We know that there is a correlation between sacred geometry and liquids," says Cipes. "I am convinced, after many taste comparisons, that the pyramid aging process has a positive and beneficial effect on the wine's flavours when compared to the wine not aged in the pyramid."
Unorthodox or not, you can't argue with success. In 2000, Cipes entered one of his sparkling wines in France's Chardonnay du Monde competition. More than 30 countries participated; of five gold medals awarded, four went to French entries and the fifth went to Summerhill's Gabriel.
Definitely a food wine, sparklers are so food-friendly they can actually be enjoyed throughout an entire meal, from appetizer to dessert. Champagne is also meant to be enjoyed young. Over time it loses sparkle, so cellaring it doesn't make sense.
Champagnes are best enjoyed from a flute or tulip glass - a coupe (or shallow, saucer-shaped glass) allows the precious bubbles to dissipate too fast. And always take great care when opening; there's tremendous pressure behind that cork, so point the bottle away from your guests!
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