A champagne Cuvée Prestige (or Prestige Cuvée) is considered to be the very best product of each producer. One of the first Cuvée was Moët & Chandon Dom Pérignon, launched in 1935 thanks to the idea of Robert-Jean de Vogüe. As the Great Depression was striking he thought that only a luxury champagne could bring comfort to his privileged consumers.

The most important brands of Sparkling wines crown it all right now. It is time to consume their wines, toast with them and make a few splurges as those we cannot afford so often during the rest of the year. Joy and happiness among consumers, but just the opposite among producers. The reason of it: to make public the date of disgorgement.

The reason for this concern is purely economic and logistic: in only one vintage you may need to print 3 or 4 different back labels which would reflect the different disgorgement dates on the bottles.

Cava, champagne, lambrusco and counting. Most of us have spent half of our lives living in complete ignorance regarding sparkling wine. I have to confess that I was the first committing that error but my visits to Scandinavian supermarkets have opened my eyes to the universe of the other side of sparkling wines.

Yes, there are a lot more apart from the ultra famous that I mentioned on the first line of this post, and we were very close to them (we could find them in Uvinum without going further) but we had not noticed them until now.

I was asked about my opinion on the competition between cava and champagne, and the truth is that I dare not say.

First, because it is more than a debate about taste, since there is plenty of politics in all. On the other hand, because there is cavas and champagnes for everyone, so it is difficult to generalize.

Let's say, I am not particularly inclined to cavas or champagnes, the same way I am not inclined to white or red wines. Depends on the occasion, the desire, the money...

Both cava and champagne are elaborated equal, following the “champenoise” or traditional method, although there is some cellar on both sides which uses any of the other existing methods.

According to a  Reuters report that will surely inspire jealousy in wine loving divers across the world, a group of Swedish divers discovered what is being called the oldest known drinkable Champagne in a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea. They believe the bottles are from the late 18th century, and they know it is drinkable because they drank it, apparently with great pleasure. The general theory is the Champagne is likely Veuve Cliquot, and  that it was on it's way to St. Petersburg. This would beat Perrier-Jouet's current record for world's oldest Champagne, which only dates back till 1825, probably because unless you happen to lose it in a shipwreck, most of us would find it impossible to hold onto Champagne for that long.

Diver Christian Ekstrom was quoted as saying, "It was fantastic... it had a very sweet taste, you could taste oak and it had a very strong tobacco smell. And there were very small bubbles". Lucky guy. I think I just found a reason to learn to dive.

France has been slipping for a while from it's lofty seat at the top of the wine world  due to increased competition across the globe but also internal problems such as inconsistent quality standards, lack of government support, and the recent move among younger generations away from wine to beer and spirits. Yet the country's wine reputation still stems from having some of the world's top vineyards and producers. When you mention France many consumers continue to  conjure up images of first growth Bordeaux, rare Burgundies, and grand Champagne houses. But even this illustrious reputation is now being threatened it seems, for as The Independent recently reported, a senior French wine official has declared that French wine will become "like Coca Cola".

It is a disturbing thought, but some believe it's France's best option to compete, saying the top and upper middle tiered producers can remain unchanged but the lower tiers will benefit from being consolidated to create more uniform wines of dependable quality that will challenge Australian and other New World wines on the cheap and cheerful shelves of your supermarket. 

Is this a win for value seeking consumers disappointed by uneven quality or a tragic loss for the beloved and very French idea of terroir?