Troublesome bubbles

Over the next two weeks I want to delve into the history of a wine that began as a run-of-the-mill still wine, but evolved into a unique sparkling wine that figures as the centerpiece for so many celebrations today. That wine, of course, is Champagne.

We all know the story of how the monk, Dom Perignon, invented the bubbly ambrosia named after the province of France where it is produced. But where did the region of Champagne get its name? Before there was a France, this area of Gaul reminded Roman occupiers of their native province of Campania, located south of Rome.

At first, the region produced “still” wine for the Roman legions. Centuries later — when Paris became the capital of the Kingdom of France — further planting of vineyards in the area was given royal encouragement. So Champagne winemakers continued to produce still wine for the royal court of France even though they were no competition for the powerful deep wines produced by its neighbor to the south, Burgundy. Champagne wine merchants tried to overcome this difference in quality to Burgundian wines by leveraging its closer trade route proximity to England, Holland and points farther. But, unfortunately, their more northern location did not guarantee enough hot days to warrant a good vintage on a yearly basis. Grape crops ended up with high levels of acidity and low levels of sugar. Fermentation stopped prematurely in the winter cold, sometimes leaving traces of yeast in the wine. And these remnants could restart fermentation in the bottle once the weather warmed up. Given the poor firing temperature of French glass of the era, explosions in weakly constructed bottles were not uncommon. The resultant wines were often best described as volatile.

So the renowned Dom Perignon endeavored to rid this wine of these dangerous bubbles…

THIS WEEK’S PICKS
The ingredients in this week’s recipe support a variety of flavors so, based on personal preference, there is a degree of latitude in wine selection.

Casa-Dea Estates Winery C.D. Rosso would be a good match due to its rounded fruit flavors and prevalent acidity.

If you gravitate towards a wine with more profound fruit flavors and a smoky finish, try the Mouton Noir from Sandbanks Estate Winery. This wine is made from Maréchal Foch grapes that produce big fruit and smoke flavors.

Rosehall Run Vineyards, Sullyzwicker Red is a blended crowd pleaser with lots of fruit flavor and decent acidity.

Finally, if you want to try something a little different, you must try the St. Laurent from Harwood Estates, which is packed with flavour and enough acidity to work with mushrooms and tomato sauce.