Budding

Budding (which begin this time of year in the northern hemisphere), is the process whereby small nodes being to form on a grapevine. Buds carry within them the grape clusters for the year to come. In the early spring, these buds open, allowing frail green shoots and tiny clusters to emerge.

Prestige Cuvée Champagne wines are defined as those wines that come in elaborate, expensive bottles.

Answer: False.

Prestige cuvée Champagne bottles may come dressed in finery, but it is what’s inside that earns them the title. These are the finest (and most expensive) wines that a producer makes, from the best grapes in the top, highest-rated crus or vineyards of Champagne. The French refer to these singular offerings as têtes de cuvée, a term that can be loosely translated as “top batch.” Prestige cuvées are almost always vintage-dated, and are made only in exceptional harvests, on average 3 times per decade. One reason for this is that Champagne is one of the most northern wine growing regions in the world—at roughly the same latitude as the U.S.-Canadian border—with an inherently cool climate where the grapes struggle to ripen. Prestige cuvées are aged longer than other vintage Champagne wines (on average 10 years versus 3 years) and continue to develop in the bottle for another decade.

Taste That Sound!

Did you know that what a food sounds like can also determine how good it tastes? Oxford University professor Charles Spence has shown that Pringles potato chips taste better if they sound noisier when you bite into… Continue reading

Budding

Get WineSpeed