I didn't get around to doing my homework (drink some sparkling wine) from last week. No matter, there was plenty to drink tonight! *clink clink champagne flutes* I've kinda avoided sparkling wine for some time now mainly because I've never had a glass which totally blew me away. Tonight's tasting has changed that and I'm ready to embrace bubbly once more!
Sparkling wine is just that - wine with sparkles. Sparkles come in the form of bubbles, hence the term 'bubbly'. However, don't confuse all sparkling wine to be champagne. That term can only be applied to sparkling wines which come from the Champagne region in France.
This course specialises in Australian wines and nothing foreign will pass our lips. According to Chas, this is not a bad thing. He suspects that most of the French champagne sold in Australia is ruined by oxidation during the importation process. He's never had such an experience when drinking them in France/Europe.
We learnt about production differences, how bubbles are achieved and the differences between champagne (more yeasty) and Australian sparkling wine (more fruity). Then we got onto the best bit - tasting. It's not a myth that you get drunk faster on champagne - the bubbles assist alcohol absorption and our dunce table got quite happy indeed, polishing off the leftover bottles. We even clinked flutes!
The last time I had a sparkling red I was left a bit 'meh' about the whole deal. Not expecting much, I was pleasantly surprised to actually like all three sparkling reds served tonight. They would definitely go well with chocolate and chocolate cake. Num nums.
So suffice to say, I left tonight's lesson a bit drunk. Wheeeeeeeee!!!!
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