Allison McNeely
Allison McNeely is the web editor of Wine Access. Her work has appeared on websites, blogs and in print. She loves running and is the magazine's resident web nerd.
10 Sparkling Wines for Valentine's Day
Bubblies to enjoy on the Day of Love
Photo: Joshua Blais
10 Sparkling Wines for the Holidays
Bubbly and Champagne recommendations for the holiday season
Champagne Harvest Begins
Weather conditions led to one of the earliest harvests since 1822
Early spring flowering, limited rainfall and several sunny days have led to one of the earliest Champagne harvests in France since 1822. The Champagne harvest officially began on Aug. 19.
Winston Churchill Favoured Pol Roger
Pol Roger Champagne at the Royal Wedding is not so surprising
According to a blog post on the Wall Street Journal website, Pol Roger is a good guess for the Royal Wedding Champagne. Although Buckingham Palace has not confirmed the Royal Wedding Champagne selection, many in the wine world, including Decanter.com, suspect that Pol Roger has been chosen.
Allison McNeely
Allison McNeely is the web editor of Wine Access. Her work has appeared on websites, blogs and in print. She loves running and is the magazine's resident web nerd.
Brits Hope for English Sparkling Wine at Royal Wedding
Facebook campaign created for English bubbly to be served on April 29
The British Monarchy has a long tradition of enjoying French Champagne, but some Britons are hoping that Prince William and Catherine Middleton will select English sparkling wine for their wedding reception.
Allison McNeely
Allison McNeely is the web editor of Wine Access. Her work has appeared on websites, blogs and in print. She loves running and is the magazine's resident web nerd.
British Royals and their Wedding Wine
Past selections give a hint to what wine will be served at the 2011 Royal Wedding
The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton is fast approaching; the couple will be married on April 29 at Westminster Abbey in London, England.
With that in mind, we found ourselves wondering what tipple the Royal Family has enjoyed throughout history. Here, for your enjoyment, are a few examples from the past, which we uncovered by searching the Internet, recent news stories and various books on wine and history:
- On Feb. 24, Prince William and Miss Middleton made their first public appearance to launch a new Royal National Lifeboat Institution boat, the Atlantic 85 Hereford Endeavour Lifeboat, on the Isle of Anglesey. Kate christened the boat with a bottle of Champagne Bollinger.
- Champagne Bollinger received a Royal Warrant from the Queen Victoria in 1884 and since then, the company has enjoyed a strong relationship with the British monarchy. Our guess is that there will likely be Bollinger Champagne at the wedding.
- GH Mumm et Cie, Laurent-Perrier, Louis Roederer, Moët & Chandon, Pol Roger and Veuve Clicquot also all possess Royal Warrants to supply the British monarchy with Champagne. Any one of these producers is a good guess as to who will be supplying the 2011 Royal Wedding.
- A panel of tasting experts gathered three months before the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana to select the wines.
- At their fairytale wedding, Moët & Chandon 1961 Dom Pérignon was served. It was chosen for the wedding because of its notable vintage and because it was the year of Princess Diana’s birth. Twelve magnums of the brut were packaged for the wedding, with six bottles going to charity and six presented to the royal household.
- “For the great occasion R.D. 1973 was specially disgorged for the Buckingham Palace reception and supper party for Heads of State plus the great & good the evening before the wedding. 1,560 bottles of Bollinger R.D Tradition 1973 were served to 2,500 guests at this supper party,” said Anouk Westeel, Sales and Marketing Assistant at Champagne Bollinger.
- For his stag party at Whites Club, Price Charles and 20 of his friends enjoyed Bollinger 1975, which was his own selection.
- At Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s wedding breakfast, the Krug 1969 Grande Cuvée was served. Interestingly, the Krug brothers were not aware that their wine had been selected. They found out when congratulatory notes began arriving in Reims.
- The Krug 1973 Grande Cuvée was served at the wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in 1986. Once again, the Krug brothers did not know that their wine was being poured.
It remains to be seen what wines will be poured at the wedding festivities for Prince William and Catherine Middleton. We’ll be keeping on top of the story. But if you could choose a wine for the 2011 Royal Wedding, what would you choose? Let us know.
amcneely@wineaccess.ca
Photo: Alex Drennan
Wine Questions: Champagne
An introduction to Champagne styles and serving
A quick introduction to Champagne styles, including serving suggestions and price information.
For more Wine Questions videos, visit our video archive.
Allison McNeely
Allison McNeely is the web editor of Wine Access. Her work has appeared on websites, blogs and in print. She loves running and is the magazine's resident web nerd.
Producing Super-Premium Sparkling in Nova Scotia
Benjamin Bridge aims to compete with luxury champagne
Finally! The official release of the first méthode classique wines from Nova Scotia sparkling specialist Benjamin Bridge was celebrated two weeks ago, with advance tastings for media, hospitality, liquor board and private store sales staff in downtown Halifax. They are releasing their 2004 Brut Reserve ($74.50, 960 bottles) and 2004 Blanc de Noirs ($119.50, 200 bottles).
Craig Pinhey
Craig Pinhey is a member of the Wine Access National Tasting Panel, writes for the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal and is CBC Radio's Friday Wine Guy. He is an ISG certified sommelier. Follow him on twitter @frogspadca or visit him at frogspad.ca.
A Backyard Spectacle
Tom Firth explains how to sabre champagne or sparkling wine.
The wine industry is full of what could be politely called ‘one-upmanship,’ which aside from the usual “what I drank vs. what you drank,” or with whom, or where, it also includes a number of other measuring sticks. This would include using a butler’s friend or ‘ah-so’ bottle opener, opening a bottle with a shoe and one of my favourites, opening a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine with a sabre.
Tom Firth
Tom Firth is a writer, wine consultant, judge and a member of the Wine Access National Tasting Panel. He loves to chat about all things wine and blogs for wineaccess.ca, tweets as @cowtownwine and is a general nuisance.
Champagne Sabrage
The Wine Access team learned how to sabre sparkling wine
We’ve started a bit of a Friday tradition, here at Wine Access HQ, of doing something fun and wine-related to wrap up the week. This week, we learned how to sabre Champagne/sparkling wine, the fine art of sabrage.
If you’re a wine aficionado, you probably know what sabrage is and you may even know how to do it. For those of you who are new to wine, sabrage is when you use a sabre or knife to cut the top off of a bottle of sparkling wine, separating the collar from the neck of the bottle.
Allison McNeely
Allison McNeely is the web editor of Wine Access. Her work has appeared on websites, blogs and in print. She loves running and is the magazine's resident web nerd.
