La Vie en Rosé

Valentine’s Day is almost upon us and London shops are full of romantic gifts – heart-shaped sweets and cakes, lingerie sets and of course bottles of rosé wines everywhere…

But when it comes to wine, it seems that in the UK rosé is not just for Valentine’s Day. Despite the gloomy economic conditions and the bad weather (“Barbecue summers” have failed to materialize for the past two years), Britain’s taste is in the pink! Following an amazing 64% increase in the UK between 2003 and 2007, rosé is predicted to grow by 48% between 2008 and 2012, according to a VINEXPO study.

How did rosé go from a “naff” category for girlie nights to Britain’s favourite and from headache-inducing and sugary-sweet to trendy and delicious? Did the range of rosé on offer in British shops change consumers’ taste or vice-versa?

My own theory is that as Britain became more wealthy in the past ten years and people travelled more, their taste changed – abroad, British consumers discovered good quality rosé wines packed with flavours. Drank equally by men and women in fashionable restaurants in Mediterranean countries, they were a great match for food.

Suddenly, my Champagne client at the time was faced with increasing demand for rosé in the UK and could not supply enough – before, pink Champagne had been produced in smaller quantities and now everyone wanted it!

Californian wines, and  from France, Provence and Champagne have been the biggest winners of this rosé trend. Other French wine regions are still missing out on a great marketing opportunity. 

Now the question is – will rosé continue its success in the UK? With economic recovery in Britain so slow, is the category really recession-proof? Or could it be that Britain has been seduced by the romance of rosé and this love is for ever?

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Technorati Tags: Valentine’s Day,rosé wines,Champagne

New Year Cheers & Wishes

 

Just thought that I would start 2010 with a few New Year cheers and wishes to beat the January blues (or should that be the January freeze)!

New Year Cheers

Champagne sales are up!  Up 16% in the four weeks to December 26, thanks to the many special offers from British supermarkets. Champagne also outperformed other sparkling wines. Britain’s love affair with Champagne is not over.

No More Detox. The freezing cold weather has had some positive effect in the British media – the depressing detox diet articles usually published in January have been replaced by healthy but tasty recipes for soups and stews. Rather than punishing your body, eating  healthy and staying warm seem to be the order of the day.

Stuck at home because of the bad weather? It is time to embark on a culinary voyage around the world instead. Experiment with curry dishes. Channel 4 is starting its Indian Season tonight with Slumdog Millionaire, so why not you? Try Chorizo con huevos (Chorizo with fried eggs) for a quick supper and a bit of Spanish sunshine. For a treat, adopt a much-loved French tradition and celebrate Epiphany with a “Galette des Rois”. (French pâtisseries sell them throughout January but you can make your own by cheating  a bit with ready-made puff pastry).

New Year Wishes

In 2010, a new positive attitude towards alcohol emerges in the UK.  A new educational programme is created to teach people how moderate wine consumption can be part of a healthy lifestyle. As a result, food and wine matching becomes a trendy subject in the British press and binge drinking disappears, saving the NHS millions.

In 2010, British reality TV show Big Brother is replaced on Channel 4 by a fun, fabulous wine show  featuring interviews with star wine producers, from film director Francis Ford Coppola to French  actress Carole Bouquet.

In 2010, no one dies of hunger. To make a difference, click on www.thehungersite.com to give away free cups of food everyday.

Following  a warm summer, 2010 is truly “the vintage of the century”, a real boost for wine export and the world economy.

Happy New Year and Happy New Decade!

Top Tips for a Great Champagne Party

 

After the heavy discounting of Champagne in British supermarkets comes even more good news, scientists from Reading University have discovered that a couple of glasses of Champagne a day are good for your heart and blood circulation (I presume that there was no shortage of volunteers for this study) – another good reason to plan a Champagne party for Christmas or the New Year!

Having organised many events for a well-known Champagne brand in the past, I know from experience that planning a successful and fun Champagne party can be stressful, so here are a few practical tips:

Quantity

If you are serving only Champagne, allow about half a bottle of Champagne per person for a 2 to 3 hours reception.  For example, for 20 guests, you will need 10 bottles. Reduce the quantity if you are planning to serve others wines or cocktails. A 75cl bottle contains about 6 glasses. A magnum of Champagne is equivalent to 2 bottles (12 glasses), a Jeroboam to 4 bottles (24 glasses).

Don’t forget to offer a selection of interesting soft drinks as well – non-alcoholic cocktails and sparkling fruit juices in beautiful coloured glasses will give extra sparkle to your party.  

Magnums are the ideal containers for Champagne. They are well worth the extra cost as they allow Champagne to age perfectly. Visually, they add a special touch to any celebration. Just be extra careful when opening and serving them.

Champagne Styles & Food Matching

Champagne comes in many different styles and is a great partner for food, so be imaginative and experiment to find your favourites ones.

Brut Non Vintage Champagnes are the most widely available from supermarkets and wine merchants – there are some great deals available at the moment.

Extra Brut or Brut Nature Champagnes are well worth looking for as they contain zero dosage of sugar. Many Champagne houses have invested in new launches in this category and Extra Brut is becoming increasingly fashionable. Ideal as an aperitif and for those guests watching their sugar intake. Expect to pay more than for Brut and it is a little bit more difficult to find.

Blanc de Blancs Champagnes are made only from the white grape Chardonnay. Lighter in style, they are perfect with seafood and fish and also served as an aperitif.  My favourites food matching with Blanc de Blancs would be smoked salmon blinis, scallops and for a touch of retro food, mini prawns vols au vent.

Blanc de Noirs Champagnes are made only from the red grapes Pinot Noir & Pinot Meunier and have more body and structure. Try matching them to mini beef Yorkshire puddings.

Rosé (pink) Champagnes add as touch of elegance to any party and are the most versatile when it comes to food matching. Their colour can vary from just a hint of pink to a deep ruby hue and their taste from delicate to full-bodied.

Demi-Sec are sweeter Champagnes. Although less widely available, they are the perfect match for sweet petits-fours and cakes. Try  serving them with trendy mini macaroons and traditional marzipans for a great food finish to your party. If you have a sweet tooth,  Demi-Sec is the right choice for you.

If your budget will allow it, Vintage Champagnes are a great investment as Champagne Houses only produce Vintage Cuvées in the best years.They also have more complexity than Non-Vintage Champagnes.

Keeping Cost Down

Overall, the best way to save when buying Champagne is to buy in bulk. You should get a good discount if you buy 6 bottles or more. If you buy a little more than necessary, you can always keep it in a cool dark place (an unheated cupboard for example) . It will continue to improve if stored in the right conditions. Just avoid extreme temperatures and vibrations. Vintage Champagne can age for several years.

Serving Champagne

Chilling

Chill your Champagne bottles in advance – at least a couple of hours before the start of the party. Keep the beautiful ice buckets to display on your party table, for chilling several bottles, simply use large plastic containers filled with ice and cold water.

Glasses

Choosing beautiful Champagne glasses can be a great way to add your own style to your party.  It is true that flutes are the best glasses for serving Champagne as they allow the bubbles to rise to the surface of the glass.

I have to confess a certain nostalgia for Champagne saucers or coupes as they are called in French. Elegant and reminiscent of the 1930’s, they have made a come-back recently and I just love them. Perhaps, they never went away completely as in French the words “prendre une coupe de Champagne” (to have a glass of Champagne) are still used.

Despite the current recession, I have a feeling that our taste for Champagne never went away either…

Technorati Tags: Champagne

Champagne for 10 pounds?

A month before Christmas, British supermarkets have already started the Champagne price war! There are rumours of Champagne for £10 a bottle at Tesco and Morrisons is leading the battle by offering four major Champagne brands at less than half price.

On the Champagne battlefield,  you can almost hear echoes of disapproval from some wine experts and wine importers (Quality, image, profit margin going down?) Economic conditions have been really tough for the wine trade but for once, I cannot resist applauding British supermarkets.

Why? When it comes to Champagne, to paraphrase Napoleon, in victory, we deserve it and in (credit crunch) defeat, we need it!

In the long run, heavy discounting on Champagne at Christmas should benefit the wine trade, rekindling Britain’s love affair with Champagne at the crucial time of festive celebrations.

Following the economic crisis, price rises and a downbeat mood, there is a real danger that British consumers may not return to drinking Champagne, switching to cheaper sparkling wines instead – unless more accessible prices come back and help Champagne regain its pre-credit crunch status of affordable luxury.

The Christmas Champagne price war should be just the right opportunity for this to happen.

Time to start shopping for a Champagne party!

Technorati Tags: Champagne