“Great work – Your book is really impressive.”
“Through this book Liz shows us that the economic success of Champagne is based on passionate people, a long history, landscapes and cities, a real and special “art de vivre!”
After reading this book you will never taste a glass of Champagne the same way”
Thierry Sabon
Winemaker – co owner of the Clos du Mont-Olivet
Président de la Fédération des Syndicats de Producteurs de l’AOC Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Join New York Champagne Week Founder, Blaine Ashley as she welcomes Journalist, Liz Palmer as she officially debuts her book to NYC: The Ultimate Guide to Champagne. This essential guide takes you to the Champagne region, explores its culture and honors it’s history. Chalk full of beautiful pictures, this equally informative read provides tips for traveling the region, breaks down grape varieties and styles, Grand Marques / Growers and Cooperatives, harvest and viticulture. The guide also covers food pairings, how to cook with Champagne and how to taste and identify flavors. Readers will also explore Champagne Etiquette and Style, tips for weddings, the Economics of Champagne and it’s health benefits, yes, HEALTH BENEFITS! Come on, come all to enjoy the final day of the 4th Annual New York Champagne Week with The Ultimate Guide to Champagne. Champagne Bulle de Reve will be served.
http://nychampagneweek.com/public-events/
The Champagne category is bubbling over in the U.S. market, driven by a dynamic premiumization trend. With per-case value up 20% to over €300 ($334) last year, the U.S. overtook the U.K. as Champagne’s top export market by value in 2015. Champagne shipments to the U.S. leapt 28% to €515 million ($573m) for the year, surpassing the U.K.’s total of €512 million ($570m), which itself represented a 7% bump. U.S. depletions, at 1.4 million cases last year, remain shy of their 2007 total of 1.6 million cases, but shipment value has surged by nearly 60% since 2010, according to Impact Databank. A slide in the euro—whose value against the dollar is down by about 20% over the past two years—has helped to stoke growth.
From 2010-2014, Champagne’s value on a per-case basis rose a respectable 10% in the U.S., adding around $25. But in 2015 alone, it more than doubled that incremental growth, tacking on about $55 in value to the average case of Champagne. Price hikes and a stronger emphasis on higher-end bubblies are both contributing to the dramatic rise in value.
Piper-Heidsieck, which transitioned from the Rémy Cointreau USA portfolio to Terlato Wines last July, is employing both of those tactics. Piper is extending with a Rare Rosé this year, which will be priced at a premium to prestige cuvée Rare Brut, becoming the brand’s highest-priced offering. While looking to increase its high-end sales, Piper has also taken price hikes on its core Brut non-vintage. “Previously you’d sometimes see the Brut as low as $29.99 on the shelf. Over the holidays last year the average was above $39.99, which is a nice move in the right direction,” says Terlato CEO Bill Terlato.
The third-largest Champagne in the U.S. market, Pernod Ricard’s Perrier-Jouët, is seeing strong results for its prestige cuvée Belle Epoque, which sells above $150 a bottle. “The on-premise is back on a healthy trend and it’s a key driver for our portfolio,” says Aygline Pechdo, brand director for Champagnes at Pernod Ricard USA.
Meanwhile, market leader Moët Hennessy USA continues to enjoy impressive progress with the dynamic duo of Veuve Clicquot and Moët & Chandon, which dominate the category with a combined 60% share. Portfoliomate Dom Perignon is also among the top five Champagnes in the U.S. in volume terms—totaling nearly 60,000 cases annually—despite a retail price above $160 a bottle.
Fourth-ranked player Nicolas Feuillatte tells SND it’s focused on expanding Champagne into new consumption occasions. “We’ll be launching new advertising and social media campaigns this year which support our vision for the future of Champagne as more modern and accessible,” says Feuillatte’s Americas export manager Olivier Zorel. —Daniel Marsteller
| U.S. – Top Six Champagne Brands (thousands of nine-liter cases) | |||||||
| Depletions | Percent Change3 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Brand | Importer | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 |
| 1 | Veuve Clicquot | Moet Hennessy USA (LVMH) | 383 | 415 | 453 | 8.3% | 9.3% |
| 2 | Moet & Chandon1 | Moet Hennessy USA (LVMH) | 354 | 369 | 382 | 4.1% | 3.6% |
| 3 | Perrier-Jouet | Pernod Ricard USA | 71 | 71 | 80 | -0.3% | 11.8% |
| 4 | Nicolas Feuillatte | Ste. Michelle Wine Estates | 67 | 68 | 68 | 1.5% | 0.0% |
| 5 | Dom Perignon | Moet Hennessy USA (LVMH) | 56 | 59 | 58 | 5.2% | -1.7% |
| 6 | Piper Heidsieck | Terlato Wines International | 51 | 45 | 42 | -11.4% | -7.0% |
| Total Top Six2 | 983 | 1,027 | 1,083 | 4.5% | 5.4% | ||
| 1 excludes Dom Perignon 2 addition of columns may not agree due to rounding 3 based on unrounded dataSource: IMPACT DATABANK | |||||||
Source: Shanken News
Liz Palmer
liz-palmer.com
@Champagnehouses
@LizPalmer_
Gérard Liger-Belair a physics professor at the University of Reims and expert in effervescence and oenology released his latest report entitled:
“Unveiling self-organized two-dimensional (2D) convective cells in champagne glasses”
Fabien Beaumont, Gérard Liger-Belair , Guillaume Polidori –
Laboratoire de Thermomécanique (GRESPI), UFR Sciences 
Exactes et Naturelles, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, BP 1039, 51687, Reims Cedex 2, France
Volume 188, Pages 58–65
‘’’Our work around swirling movements which agitate the champagne in the flute (and their action on the exhaust of flavourings) continues.
In collaboration with our colleagues and friends of the grespi, we just released a new series of observations in the journal of food engineering, which makes the link between the number of vortices on the surface and the intensity of the effervescence in the glass.”
An Abstract of the Report
“Under standard tasting conditions, homogeneous stirring of champagne under the action of rising bubbles confers an advantage compared with a situation where the liquid phase would be at rest. Convection helps renewal of the immediate subsurface layers with champagne from the bulk, thus facilitating the evaporation of volatile organic compounds, and therefore better revealing the champagne “bouquet”. Here, spontaneous and self-organized two-dimensional convective cells were evidenced (at the air/champagne interface) in a laser-etched coupe poured with champagne, through laser tomography. Various regimes were evidenced, from a highly unstable 8-cells regime, to a very stable 4-cells regime. Moreover, by blowing air bubbles through a nozzle positioned at the bottom of a goblet poured with water, and by using Particle Image Velocimetry, similar 2D convective cells were also evidenced at the air/water interface, thus pointing out the crucial role of ascending bubbles behind the formation of self-organized 2D convection cells.”
“Amazing networks of convective cells revealed through laser tomography at the surface of champagne glasses.”
Highlights and Findings:
Champagne Bruno Paillard, a Family owned and operated champagne house was founded in 198l. From its inception demonstrated what champagne has best to offer; creating a secret assemblage of diverse crus, grape varieties, and a variety of vintages.
Since 1983, Bruno Paillard was the first Champagne producer to inform the wine consumer of disgorgement dates on it’s labels.
The Bruno Paillard style is the marriage of elegance and complexity, which translates into a light and smooth effervescence, a remarkable purity, a true freshness and a silky texture.
Multi Vintage Première Cuvée Rosé
Identity
White wine from Pinot Noir: after a quick pressing, and a fast separation of the skins, the juice is very pale and is vinified.
Red wine from Pinot Noir: is obtained by a prolonged maceration of the juice on the skins.
A touch of Chardonnay brings the necessary vivacity to balance the fruits of Pinot Noir.
The Blend
First pressing of mainly Pinot Noir with some Chardonnay, the amount of which remains a secret.
Reserve wines
a blend of 25 vintages, going back to 1985.
Ageing
three years sur lie, then a further five months after disgorgement.
Dosage
Extra brut, very low dosage, less than 6g/L.
Bruno Paillard’s Tasting Notes
The pink copper colour with a hint of raspberry when young, evolves to salmon while ageing. Fine bubbles.
The initial aromas of red currant and red fruits evolve to morello cherry, wild strawberry and violet. A touch of lemon denotes the discrete presence of Chardonnay. With age, aromas tend towards dark fruits like cherry, fig and blackberry.
The palate reveals red fruit captured at their full freshness. The finish is bright and long.
Each bottle carries a label with the month and year of disgorgement.
Pairings
The Multi Vintage Première Cuvée Rosé is a great match with charcuterie, sushi, poultry or red fruit salad, dark chocolate.
www.champagnebrunopaillard.com
[Walker and Wodehouse Stand]
May 3rd – 5th 2016 Kensington Olympia, London
