From: Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Champagne, France
Blend: Chardonnay 37%, Pinot Meunier 30%, Pinot Noir 33% (Reserve wine 70%)
Taste: Champagne Charles Le Bel “1818” Brut is the second label of the historic champagne house, Billecart-Salmon. Sparkling and crystalline with fine and plentiful bubbles. Aromatically, this wine opens with notes of poached pear, flinty citrus, and galangal0, then blossoms with air into harmonious notes of white stone fruits as well as Mirabelle plums and dried fruits over buttered brioche toast. The palate is wonderfully structured, elegant, and dry with flavors of fruits like Asian pear, green apple, kumquat, and red plums. Its refreshing finish ends with lifted notes of citrus fruits and savory flavors that include a dash of pepper and toasty baking spice.
Pairing: Pairings for champagne are abundant and varied. Archetypical champagne’s like this one are at home next to seafood platters, oysters, scallops, prawns, clams and crab. Other successful serving ideas include enjoying as an aperitif before a meal, alongside light appetizers like gougères (check out a twist on the classic recipe below), stuffed mushrooms, smoked salmon, fritters of all persuasions, and even everyday snacks like nachos or an onion dip. Of course, fried foods are also natural pairing partners with champagne, and you could serve this alongside pan-fried to deep fried fish/chicken/pork/veal, or starches. Some delicious examples include fried sweetbreads (if you’re feeling like a night out, Le Coin has a fantastic one on the menu), pan-fried flatfish (sole, halibut, flounder) with brown butter, lemon and tarragon or capers, mochiko chicken, fried risotto cakes, croquettes (check out the recipe below for the Korokke, Japanese croquettes), or fried zucchini.
Cacio e Pepe Cheese Puffs
Recipe from Ina Garten
Adapted by Julia Moskin
Potato Korokke
By Bryan Washington
In a nutshell. Champagne Charles Le Bel “1818” Brut is the second label of Billecart Salmon Brut Reserve NV. This delicious, classic champagne carries aromas of brioche, almonds and pears. An excellent quality/price ratio and an exceptional opportunity to get this champagne for parties and grandiose evenings.
The champagne house Billecart-Salmon in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ handles the vinification of this champagne. The grapes come from vineyards with younger vines. The entire operation, including the degorgement and dosage take place in the Billecart-Salmon cellars. This is an absolute guarantee of originality and character.
About the region and style of Champagne, general. Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.
Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.
With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’
Champagne village profile: Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, a premier cru village
Posted on August 5, 2014 by vintomas