Happy New Year from the crew at Vintage Cellars!  We’d like to remind you that tonight, when you’re raising your glass with family and friends, to not forget a small, personal toast for that beverage of celebration: champagne!  If you’re looking for a great new bubbly to try, here’s the San Francisco Chronicle’s 100 Top Wines list, headed by seven great champagnes.

In honor of New Year’s Eve, we bring you a few interesting tidbits you might not have known about the world’s most beloved sparkling beverage:

• Champagne was associated from the beginning with the anointment of French kings.  Since then, the word “champagne” has been synonymous with luxury and power.
• Contrary to popular belief, Dom Perignon did not invent sparkling wine.  It was invented by English scientist and physician Christopher Merret in 1662, when he presented the Royal Society with a paper in which he detailed the “méthode champenoise,” basically, how to add sugar for a secondary fermentation that produces bubbles.
• In France, the first champagne was created by mistake.  Accidental secondary fermentation caused bottles to spontaneously explode from the pressure of carbonation.  Because of this, the French called champagne “the devil’s wine.”
• Champagne was always sweet until 1876, when Brut was first created.
• Bubbles occur when the liquid contacts small imperfections in the glass.  These “nucleation points” are often added to champagne glasses with acid, a laser, or a glass etching tool.
• Bottling champagne in magnum-sized bottles is said to produce a higher quality beverage, as there is less oxygen in the larger bottle, and the volume-to-surface area ratio creates bubbles of a perfect size.
• Champagne corks are originally shaped like cylinders.  Pressure forces them into their distinct mushroom shape.  The longer champagne has been in the bottle, the more mushroom-shaped the cork.
• Champagne is usually served in a champagne flute.  The shape of the other common glass, the Victorian flute, with the wide, short bowl, is said to have been modeled from the breast of Marie Antoinette.
• When opened correctly, a bottle of champagne won’t make a loud popping sound, as this means you might be spilling-and wasting!  The sighing sound of a properly opened cork is called “le soupir amoureux” (the loving whisper).

I’ve often found that wine lovers and art lovers are the same people. After all, the two are a significant portion of what makes up the “finer things” in life. This view was confirmed for me this weekend when I was in Chicago and took a trip to the newly-expanded Art Institute, where a special exhibit, A Case for Wine, is currently on display.

Wine has been an important part of the Art Institute’s prestigious collections since the beginning of the museum’s history in 1879. Some of the first classical antiques the Institute acquired included jugs for storing wine, and the first collection of Dutch master paintings they purchased included a familial scene that portrayed wine drinking.

In the early part of the twentieth century, the museum was fortunate to purchase a portion of Jacque Muesum’s collection of European glass and a similar collection that had belonged to J.P. Morgan. A Case for Wine, currently on view at the museum, features many beautiful drinking vessels from both of these collections.

What struck me the most is how skillful artists can bring new beauty to everyday activities such as drinking wine. Paintings and tapestries displaying wine drinking, winemaking and simple motifs of grapes and vines were an impressive reminder of the muse-like qualities of a great glass of wine.

The exhibit, subtitled “from King Tut to Today” also reminded me of the great heritage all wine drinkers share, as wine has been an essential part of human culture for thousands of years. I was most interested to learn about the development of the different shapes of wine bottles, and to see examples of innovations in glass technology that make wine storage possible today.

If you happen to live near Chicago, or to be visiting anytime soon, the Art Institute and A Case for Wine are both well worth a visit!

Learn more about the history of wine cellars.

If you haven’t seen it, I’m sure you might be ready to jump out of your seat. On Saturday (8/8/09) I came across and article in the LA Times Business section, “Plastic bottles aim to remold wine industry”. This article has brought up recent memories for the cork versus screw top debate. Now, no one who knows me would consider me a wine “snob” but I do have my opinions on the subject… Plastic wine bottles are a short term solution!

Reading about these plastic wine bottles, I don’t think wine collectors and wine cellar owners are going to budge from the traditional glass bottle. Plastic wine bottles will come with a “use by” date. The serious wine enthusiast and wineries that produce wine that is designed to be aged will have no use for plastic. Can you imagine a Vintage Port that could easily age 25 to 30 years in a plastic bottle?

So you really see this trend as a true change is the wine industry? No, I don’t. I see this as a way to get mass consumed product to the mass consumer. The plastic wine bottles are lighter making shipping costs less; they hold more, allowing for a few more glasses on a per bottle basis. This is a trend that can affect wines that are designed to drink right off the shelf. I just don’t see this as a major change in the industry. 

High end wine stores, where the wine collector shops, probably will not carry wine in a plastic bottle. I’m positive you won’t find a Premier Cru available in a plastic bottle unless it’s done by Chateau de Plastique.
This article may surprise you and it may not. If you still have plans to build a beautiful wine cellar, don’t stop. Good wine in a bottle is still meant to keep at a constant 55-57 degree temperature with a relative humidity around 60%. Some traditions will never go away. Maybe another time we will discuss the screw top!