Tells a winemaker from Dom Pérignon

How is champagne fundamentally different from ordinary sparkling wine, is it possible to buy a quality drink for 1000 rubles and whether they know in France about the "Soviet champagne"?

" Paper " talked about champagne with winemaker Nicholas Lain from Dom Pérignon.

The material is informational in nature and is not advertising

- Why in many countries of the world, champagne has become a synonym for luxury and the main festive drink?

- So historically it happened, since champagne is a carbonated drink, and the appearance of bubbles in the fault was at one time the present invention and innovation. In addition, you should not throw off the marketing efforts that were made to promote champagne as a drink for a holiday and fun.

- What is the champagne that is produced in champagne is fundamentally different from the sparkling wine, say, from Italy?

- In Shampani, a beautiful balance between the climate, soil and grapes. In practice, this means that we have very diverse grapes, so there are all the aromas in the drink - both very light and mature - and all notes - from mineral to floral through fruit.

- Can only people who are well versed in fault?

- I think that even an ordinary consumer may well feel the difference between champagne and sparkling wines. First of all, due to the balance of sweets, acidity and bubbles, which is in champagne.

- What is the price of champagne for the consumer from?

- The largest share of the price falls on the grapes itself. In addition, a significant part of the work in the vineyard is still performed manually. Also an important role in the formation of the price is played by the time that champagne has held in the cellars. The minimum excerpt according to the rules should be 15 months, in the best champagne - from 8 years.

- What explains the big difference in price between luxury brands, and ordinary champagne?

- Two things. The first: for example, we use grapes only from Grand Cro-Krew allotments (the highest class that can be assigned to the vineyard or the village in which the wine is produced-approx. “ Papers ”). The second is a longer exposure period in the cellars before launching on the market.

- Is it possible to buy decent champagne or sparkling wine within 1000 rubles - 15 euros?

- I don’t know in Russia, but I think yes. In France, it is definitely possible. Come to France, there is definitely enough 15 euros for champagne, but the good is still a little more expensive - from 25-30 euros per bottle. In general, if you want good sparkling, it is better to buy champagne.

- How to choose champagne in the store, if you do not understand it?

- Without knowing the brands, it is quite difficult to do it. Some universal recipe-for example, carefully study the label-no. Only two tips help: not to buy the cheapest, and then act by trial and error.

-Do they know anything about a player from Russia in Shampani? For example, about "Soviet champagne"?

- No, I personally did not hear about him.

- How to drink champagne?

- The first and most important is the right glasses specially designed for champagne. The second is the feed temperature. Champagne should not be served directly from the refrigerator. You need to get it, let stand for 20-30 minutes at room temperature, and only then open it.

You can not drink a bottle in the evening. It can be closed, but we need special vacuum plugs for champagne. True, you can store champagne in this form for no more than a day.

- What food is better to choose for a good champagne?

- The most natural peyring for expensive champagne, which immediately comes to mind, is caviar. And in Russia there is no shortage of it. In general, the gifts of the sea, such as oysters or mollusks, are always a great idea for champagne.

-In St. Petersburg there is an institution Hot-Dog & Brut, where sparkling is served with hot dogs. Fastfood - a good company for champagne?

-The hot dogs are not served in champagne in France, but all this can work, because champagne, in principle, is a flexible drink in concerning peyering.

- What is happening now with the production of champagne? It seems to consumers that there are centuries-old rules and everyone follows them, but are there any changes in the industry?

- This is true, there are a lot of rules. But now the main trend is automation and robotization of grape processing and working with the vine. Among other things, this is done to reduce the use of chemicals when growing grapes.

- Does mechanization help reduce production costs? Can I wait for price reduction?

- No, this is not worth waiting for this, because one of the main tasks of mechanization is to make a job that a person cannot fully perform. For example, two are not yet fully solved by the task - an extremely neat collection of grapes and pruning of the vine. Now it is more difficult for us to hire workers for the period of harvesting, fewer people want to do this, and therefore mechanization is needed.

-What needs to be done if you want to really understand champagne?

- You need to simultaneously try and read equally. Moreover, reading not reviews, but books - from there you can get basic knowledge about grape varieties, soil, production technologies and other things. There are a lot of books about champagne, but if you want to read the “Vinn Bible”, then this is perhaps the book of The Oxford Companion to Wine .

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