Solomillo al Whisky

So as we’ve put a hold on holidays while we save for the house, I’ve been trying to recreate some of my favourite dishes from my travels. And one of the countries I’ve travelled around the most is Spain, from Seville to Salamanca to San Sebastian – each town has a specific culinary footprint with dishes native to each.

One of the dishes Seville is famed for is Solomillo al Whisky, pork tenderloin in a whisky garlic sauce. The best example in town, for me, can be found in Bodegas Santa Cruz – Las Columas, which I’ve tried to recreate it here with this Solomillo al Whisky con Patatas recipe.

Solomillo al Whisky con Patatas

Ingredients:

Pork tenderloin cut into medallions

1 bulb of garlic – 12 cloves unpeeled and bashed

two tsp of flour

2 tbls lemon juice

200ml whisky

200ml stock

olive oil

potatoes

 

 Method:

1. Par boil the potatoes and then slice – set aside to fry off later

2. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and add the garlic

3. Fry off the pork tenderloin until gently brown on each side then remove from the pan

4. If having with potatoes, the way it is always served at Bodegas Santa Cruz, fry off the potatoes in the garlic oil, adding more oil if needed. Then set aside.

5. Add then add lemon juice to the garlic in the pan, followed by the whisky (My husband almost cried the first time I made this and used the last of his Monkey Shoulder. But later conceded it was worth it.)

6. Then add the flour, stirring well all the time. Now add the stock.

7. Simmer and stir until the sauce has reduced. Then add the pork (and potatoes if you are having them) back to the pan to warm through and serve with bread to mop up the superb sauce.

For something that taste so damn good, it is really quick and simple to make. Give it a whirl.

The next dish I’m going to try and perfect is another Sevillian treat, El Rinconcillo’s Carrillada Cerdo Iberica en Salsa – Iberican Pork Cheek in sauce, I just need to track down a good supply of Iberican pork cheek. After that I’ll do the Pimientos Rellenos de Carne like it’s served in La Rioja and see where my belly takes me from there…

The Palmas – some fine rare, old sherry from Gonzalez Byass

Gonzalez Byass has done it again, they have launched a very special sherry that is likely to sell out very fast and it’s not just one sherry but a collection of four old, rare sherries.

The Palmas range are so called because of the mark made on the barrel, a fino is given a chalk line, an oloroso a circle and the very best finos with the best aromas – ‘grande olora’ get a little nick at the top of the chalk line– that looks like a palma leaf – hence The Palmas.

Palmas mark on barrel

Gonzalez Byass has three main bodegas the wine in each bodega tastes different, and even the barrels of wine located next to each other in the same bodega are different.

The whole point of Solera wine is you take wine from each of those bodegas and blend them together to make a consistent product, effectively eliminating any variation between barrels and vintages.

Palmas wine is completely different. The point about Palmas is the wines are selected by the barrel, and are the very best barrels. The first three of the range are finos, una, dos, tres palmas, while quatro palmas is a 40-45 year old amontillado – a very old, very rare sherry indeed.

So the Palmas wine are those barrels which have the most amazing, delicate smell and flavour. It is no coincidence that these are the barrels which also have the thickest layer of flor – due to the temperature and humidity in that particular part of the bodega. As these wines age and the flor stays they become una, dos, tres quatro palmas and each additional tick is a sign of age within a palmas wine.

Sherry must be aged for a minimum of three years, most commercial finos are therefore just three years old, Gonzalez Byass’ world famous Tio Pepe is 4.5 years old as is Tio Pepe en Rama.

So what Gonzalez Byass have done with Una Palma is look for a six year old fino and select the barrels that have the best growth of flor in the bodega.

Of the 25,000 odd barrels of fino houses at Gonzalez Byass just four barrels were selected that at six years old had a thick layer of flor.

They were bottled en rama, which as you may know I’m a big fan of en rama as without lots of clarification you get a fresher, livelier, more characterful fino. But the key difference with Una Palma is not that it is en rama but that it is a barrel selected wine – en rama I guess is an added bonus.

Dos Palmas is an 8 years old fino, again when creating this wine they were looking for barrels with great examples of flor at 8 years old, which is a bit rarer but still exists.

Only two barrels were selected, so 1,000L of Dos Palmas exists, which equates to 2,000 bottles – two of which are in my kitchen.

For me, this is my favourite of the four. Don’t get me round I could happily drink all four, but this offers excellent value at £18 per half bottle and is one very special fino.

For the Tres Palmas, wines are taken from the solera level on an amontillado solera. Normally, a wine taken from here would be a blend of every barrel in the solera level, some would have no flor, others bits and pieces, Gonzalez Byass found just two barrels that still had flor and so are technically still fino as they have not oxidised.

Of those two barrels, half was taken from each barrel to make one complete barrel leaving 500L of Tres Palmas a ten year old fino.

At £35 for a half bottle is it still well worth it, so intense and concentrated and starting to get some amontillado character.

And finally onto Quatro Palmas – it is something completely different. It is technically an amontillado and is 40-45 years old. Six barrels of this have been found in the ‘musea solera’ it is a wine that spent a long period of its life under flor before oxidising and becoming amontillado. A wine at this age is usually very difficult to drink, but because of the time it spent under flor it is still a great wine, and still very enjoyable.

I urge you all to head to Camino or Bar Pepito, where you can taste all four with some amazing tapas creations before deciding on your favourite (s) and snapping up a bottle from any of the stockists below, while stocks last.

Lea & Sandeman, The Wine Society

 

The Auchentoshan Switch UK Final

I’ve recently acquired a taste for malt whisky. Yes, the names are often hard to pronounce and drinking it neat is an acquired taste, but for people like me who are prepared to commit some time in getting to know the world of Scotch it reveals itself as one of the most rich, varied, rewarding area of spirits.

A recent report by Mintel, suggested Scotch whisky risks losing out on £300m of sales as its connoisseur positioning and reliance on romantic rugged Scottish imagery, while working in international markets, means it struggles to attract new consumers into the UK.

Scotch is seen as a drink you need to know to appreciate and there are plenty more accessible drinks out there which don’t demand so much of the drinker. It is often frowned upon to mix a good malt whisky, viewed as heathen-like behaviour,  and therefore younger consumers are getting into other dark spirits, bourbon, and rum where it is more acceptable to mix and the marketing focuses on more engaging messaging for younger consumers. These younger drinkers may later move to sipping a Makers Mark bourbon or an El Dorado rum, for example, neat as time goes on, but rarely do they start there. Cocktails could therefore be viewed as a way in to the category for premium dark spirits.

With this conundrum in mind, I was very intrigued to receive an invite to the UK final of the Auchentoshan Switch – one of the most exciting cocktail competitions I’ve heard of in a while. Here, is a quality single malt producer who is encouraging bartenders to experiment with a superb sipping single malt – Auchentoshan Three Wood. This is a seriously smooth tipple, which whisky connoisseurs rate highly and a Scotch I would gladly smell and sip all night but with the Auchentoshan Switch we were actively encouraged to mix it up.

Auchentoshan (pronounced ‘och’n’tosh’n) is a lowlands whisky which likes to do things differently, it is the only Scottish single malt to use triple distillation on all of its blends. Auchentoshan’s triple distillation helps to create a light-bodied whisky which is gentle and soft but never bland or boring.

Auchentoshan Three Wood is a smooth delicate whisky with layers of complexity from being aged in three different types of wood; it spends 10 years in ex-Bourbon barrels, 1 year in ex-Oloroso sherry barrels and 1 year in Pedro Ximenez barrels. This ageing creates an indulgent whisky with a rich array of flavours; oranges, plums, chocolate, dried fruit. This whisky deserves a post in its own right, which I’ll get round to next time I buy a bottle (promise).

So for the competition. Bartenders in the UK and the USA were invited to enter a video of them creating an Old Fashioned cocktail. It is actually quite difficult to get people to go to the trouble of creating a video for a competition, however, Auchentoshan got a great number of entries, no doubt due to the quality of the prize. The winners of the UK and US competitions get to swap countries to work in London and New York City’s most prestigious bars – the award winning 69 Colebrooke Row and Apotheke.

It was a risk insisting on video entries, but one that paid off. Auchentoshan believes a good bartender needs more than just a good cocktail recipe, and so the final of the Auchentoshan Switch involved a range of challenges to show the different sides of a champion bartender.

Round one involved four heats of five bartenders. Each bartender had 5 minutes to create their signature cocktail and then three minutes to present it to the judges.

Giuseppe Miggiano from The Bar, Chancery Court

One of my favourites at this stage was Guiseppe Miggiano from The Bar at Chancery Court, he was full of energy and charisma and was hugely entertaining. He created the ‘Right Time Martini’ a simple cocktail to counterbalance the complex  whisky which included 60ml of Auchentoshan Three Wood, 30ml of Midori, three drops of Angostura Bitters, warmed to 60-70 ˚C, stirred 15 times and finished with some melon essence. A classy little number.

Giuseppe's 'The Right Time Martini'

Sadly, Giuseppe didn’t make it through to the next heat but he did win a prize for best presentation.

Round two of the competition involved the bartenders thinking on their feet and creating a unique cocktail under pressure with a secret bag of ingredients. The two successful bartenders from Round Two went into Round Three – the Masterclass round, where they both had to conduct a 5 minute masterclass on Auchentoshan.

Winner Martin Ball with the judges of the Auchentoshan Switch

Martin Ball from Manchester’s Corridor was declared the UK finalist. His simple ‘Tight Corner Fizz’ cocktail won plaudits from the judges and he led a charismatic, knowledgeable and engaging masterclass in the final round.

Martin will be heading stateside early next year to experience the theatre performance and chemistry lab of Apotheke in NYC, where the presentation of the cocktail is said to be as dramatic as the cocktail itself.

The US winner will be spending time at 69 Colebrooke Row, which has a very special place in my heart and last week was one of 5 London bars named among the 10 best cocktail bars in the world. We are so very spoilt here in London.

'The Decadent Dram' cocktail

The Auchentoshan Switch is a great cocktail competition, which opened my eyes to the versatility of Scotch as a cocktail ingredient, from classy martinis, to decadent chocolate/cherry concoctions and everything in between – kudos to Auchentoshan for being open to mixing things up a bit – I’m sure they’ll win over plenty of new bartenders and consumers through this initiative.

WSET Diploma Studies: Rum Part 2 – Rum Styles and Production

Most rums are made from molasses (a by product of the sugar industry) although rhum agricole is made from sugar cane juice.

Sugar cane is cut either mechanically or by hand and must be transported quick sharp to a sugar mill as the sucrose (sugar) levels start to fall from the moment the cane is cut.

The sugar cane is then crushed and the juice extracted to make a syrup. This syrup is boiled until sugar crystals are formed, when the sugar crystals are removed – a thick black residue, known as molasses, is left.

The molasses are so highly concentrated in sugar it is impossible to ferment as is, as the yeast would not survive such hostile conditions. The molasses are therefore diluted with water prior to fermentation. A yeast is then added, and much like bourbon each rum distillery will have its own strain of yeast which they feel impacts on the final flavour profile of the rum. This molasses mixture is fermented to produce an alcoholic wash of around 10% abv. Light rums will be fermented quickly (around 24 hours) and heavy rums will enjoy a longer ferment.

Approximately 2.5kg of molasses will give 1 litre of rum at 57% abv.

Light rums are distilled using column stills, either single column, coffey stills or multiple linked column stills.

Traditionally pot stills were used to make heavier rums, although not as many producers use pot stills nowadays. Rums from pot stills were used to give weight to blends especially for Navy style rums. Although the current revival in fuller bodied spirits led by the thirst for malt whiskies is increasing interest in heavier pot still rums.

The majority of rum pot stills, use retorts to ensure a higher strength spirit from a single distillation. Retorts are copper vessels that contain the leftover high and low wines from the previous distillation to create additional flavours.

Alcohol boils as at lower temperature (78.3° C) to water 100° C. So when the pot still is heated, alcoholic vapour will be released before water is, it passes into the low wine retort, a second copper vessel which contains an alcoholic mix of low wines and water. The hot vapour passing through, boils the liquid in the retort, releasing its most volatile components. This vapour is now more concentrated in flavour and is carried through to the high wines retort, where the process is repeated. The vapour is now high strength and is condensed. By adjusting the composition of liquids in the low and high wines retorts, a distiller can create a range of different flavours.

After a short heads run, the heart of the spirit is collected at 85% abv, the next part of the spirit is the low wines and finally the high wines. Both the low and high wines are collected to fill the retorts for the next distillation.

Blending is a key part of the rum making process and many of the best golden rums blend a number of different distillates to create a more complex rum.

The distillation process in Guyana is even more complicated and includes the use of pot stills made from greenheart wood, with a copper neck. A double pot still from Guyana will include two wooden pots, a retort with a rectifier attached and a condenser.

The copper neck of the first pot goes into the body of the second pot and both are filled with an alcoholic wash of approximately 10% abv. When they are about to boil, the steam is taken off the second pot and the vapour from the first pot, which comes over the neck, boils its wash. The second pot’s neck leads to a retort (filled with low wines, high wines etc, depending on the mark of rum being created), then to a rectifier and a condenser. The resulting rum is the weightiest mark of all: deep and powerful with aromas of black banana and overripe fruit.

Styles of rum:

White rum is light-bodied, usually unaged and distilled in column stills or may like Bacardi be aged and then filtered to remove the colour.

Golden rum is medium bodied and off dry, can be distilled in a column or pot still – or a mixture of the two. These rums gain some colour from oak ageing, which can be enhanced by the addition of caramel.

Spiced rum are often golden rums infused with vanilla and spices – and are proving very popular – according to the Drinks Business today – ‘the spiced rum category is on fire!’

Dark rum are full bodied rums, often sweetened.

Did you know? Navy strength rum was traditionally bottled at over 57% as this is the strength that if rum was spilled into a barrel of gunpowder, it would be strong enough to allow the gunpowder to ignite even when wet.

Rum has four distinct flavour camps which historically have been linked to different regions.

Cuba

Light, delicate, clean rums characterised by Cuban rum’s like Havana Club and Bacardi which was originally made in Cuba. These rums are have light citrus notes when young and develop more fresh tropical fruit flavours with age. This delicately flavoured style is emulated in many other regions like the Bahamas, Puerto Rica and Trinidad.

In 1862 Don Facunado Bacardi Masso was the first to produce rum made using continuous stills in the Caribbean on the island of Cuba. By 1930s, Bacardi had expanded to produce rum in Puerto Rica and Mexico and today is no longer produced in Cuba, but with Havana Club still represents the Cuban style.

Jamaica - long sea-faring connections, largely pot stilled, if continuous stills cut a lower level.Pungent estery rums in white, golden and dark forms. Classic example is Wray & Nephews’ Appleton Estate.

Jamaica’s pot still rums are graded by the concentration of esters (volatile, acetic aromas). The lowest level are called ‘common cleans’ and have a delicate, slightly floral note, next is ‘plummers’, which have slighter higher concentration and a light tropical fruit character. ‘Wedderburns’ are fuller in flavour with more body, deeper fruit character, and increased pungency and lift.

The ‘high esters’ are the most pungent level of all. When neat, these aromas can come across as gloss paint or nail polish – not exactly what you’re after in a rum, but when heavily diluted this nose burning intensity is replaced with concentrated aromas of pineapple and banana. Rum blenders use them as a whisky blender might use a heavily peated malt.

High ester rums may have started life with an extended 14 day fermentation. In addition ‘dunder’ will have been added to the fermenter. A dunder starts life as the acetic residue left in the bottom of the still similar to a Bourbon backset. In Jamaica, the dunder is put into pits outside and allowed to fester to boosts its acidity. In all of these rums, the wash is then run through a pot/retort system and varying the contents of the retort will help create new complex flavours.

Barbados  

Barbados was one of the first countries to produce commercial rum and by 1776 Barbados had produced 3 million gallons of rum. Barbados’ elegant, fruity style is characterised by Cockspur and Mount Gay and has a fruity balance and medium weight – there is often some rich distillate in the blend.

Guyana

On the coast of South America, Guyana produces spicy dark rums that are lighter in body than Jamaican rums but have pungent, dark sugar, fruit cake aroma and taste. They used to be used more as a base of Navy rums but Demerara Distillers is now producing some Guyanese brands which are receiving international recognition – El Dorado – which is a darn beautiful rum in my book.

Martinique and Guadelope – specialises in Rhum Agricole, a grassy fruity style of rum made from fermented cane juice not molasses. The juice from sugar cane is extracted and fermented relatively quickly to create a wash of between 4.5 and 9%, which is then distilled in single column still a la Armagnac to create a low strength spirit between 65-75%.

Agricole is pungent and vegetal when young with aromas of cane, green leaf , apple, unripe banana, anise and violet backed up by a slightly oily texture.

Most is sold young as unaged rhum blanc, designed to be mixed, although a small amount of aged. If aged for 18 months it is known as ambre or paille, if aged for at least three years it will be called vieux.

Whereas in Brazil, Cachaça is popular, this is a cane based unaged spirit usually distilled in a mix of pot and column stills depending on the style, and will have similar vegetal knots as Rhum Agricole. Traditional pot still and single column distilled cachaça are the most vegetal in style and have been distilled to a lower strength. Some high strength, filtered cachaça are trying to emulate the success of vodka and are more neutral in style.

WSET Diploma Studies: Rum Part 1 – The Rum Trade

Rum is the fastest growing spirits category in key markets worldwide. China has seen phenomenal growth, between 2005-2010 rum volume sales in China  increased by 286% and value sales increased by a crazy 401%.

Here in the UK, sales are strong and are predicted to stay that way as Spiced Rum from the likes of Sailor Jerry, Morgan’s Spiced and Lamb’s Spiced bring new consumers into the market and the UK On Trade continues to enjoy the versatility of rum. Trade and consumer facing shows like the UK’s RumFest do a fantastic job of promoting Rum culture.

Golden rum is the fastest growing sector in the UK with sales up 27% by volume over the past year or so, golden rum is having a halo effect on white and dark rum sales too, with dark rum sales up 8.2% over the same period.

Rum is a hugely versatile spirit distilled from a wash of either molasses and water or sugar cane juice. Although famed for its Caribbean heritage – think rum and you think of Caribbean (and possibly pirates) – rum can be produced in any country where sugar cane is grown including the USA, Australia, India, the Philippines and La Réunion, but doesn’t necessarily have to be matured there.

In fact, some Navy-style rums are matured here in the UK, although they will not mature at the same rate as in the Caribbean, one year of topical ageing is said to equate to three years of ageing in say Scotland. Each year, around 6% of the rum matured in barrel is lost to evaporation – known locally as the angel’s share. The Caribbean heat will draw the rum deeper into the wood barrels and extract more flavour quicker.

So where did it all begin?

Christopher Columbus started it all when he brought sugar cane cuttings to the Caribbean, by the 16th century many of the islands started to harvest the white gold that was ‘sugar’.

Most rum is made from molasses, a by-product of sugar production – once the sugar cane has been crushed, the juice extracted and boiled, and the sugar crystals which form removed – what you are left with is black gloopy liquid called molasses. Originally, these molasses were given to the slave workers who distilled them into rum. Later, as rum grew in popularity worldwide, distilleries were tagged onto most sugar mills as a vital source of secondary income and when sugar production fell victim to cheaper European sugar beet, rum went from being a by-product to the main reason to be in business.

Rum is said to be derived from the word ‘rumbullion’ an old term for a big noise or uproar. It was previously referred to as ‘kill-devil’, which gives you some idea of the strength or taste of these early rums. It was given to slaves working the sugar plantations to ward off ailments, and according to some, to keep them from uprising. Rum enjoys a tumultuous history and its global dominance is intrinsically linked to the fact it was used as a form of currency and the fact is kept so well aboard a ship.

Unlike beer and wine, rum kept its flavour (and probably improved) on long journeys and if a seafarer ran out of supplies, he could always dock anywhere in the world and sell his excess rum for case to purchase emergency supplies. Hence rum became a seafaring staple.

Ever since Vice Admiral William Penn seized Jamaica from the Spanish in 1655, British Navy Commandeers have issued tots of rum to sailors. A practice which was written into the regulations of 1731 and continued up until 31st July 1970 when with the advent of breathalysers, sailors returning home were found to be over the legal drink driving limit.

Barbados was the first Caribbean island to produce rum, records date back to 1647 and the world’s oldest rum brand, Mount Gay, was produced in Barbados in 1703. Jamaica,and what is now Haiti followed suit. In the mid 19th century Cuba both industrialised and modernised rum production when Don Facunado Bacardi produced the country’s first light rum. This cuban style rum dominated the 20th century, and was made popular when Americans flooded into Havana’s cocktail bars during prohibition.

Aside from Bacardi, rum failed to build on its success during prohibition. Although today, rum is experiencing something of a resurgence and while bulk shipments of navy rum are in decline we are seeing the growth of Caribbean-owned golden rum brands and new consumers entering the category via spiced rums.

The market leader – Bacardi

Bacardi is a global brand selling 18.6m cases in 2009, down 5.5% on 2008. Bacardi is the number three spirits brand in the world selling several times more than its nearest competitor. Diageo’s Captain Morgan is the only other rum brand in the world’s top ten spirits brands, selling 8.6 million cases by comparison and bucking the trend for Navy style rums with sales up 3.6%.

In the UK, Bacardi is the no 6 off trade brand with sales up 7% in 2009.

First produced in Cuba, in 1862 by Don Facunada Bacardi Massa, Bacardi is now the world’s best selling rum brand. It has a clean, delicate floral style and in terms of volume sales is head and shoulders ahead of the competition. Bacardi sold 18.6m cases in 2009 compared to Havana Club’s 3.4 million cases.

Don Facunda Bacardi Massa won a competition set by the Spanish authorities to produce a lightly flavoured rum. Its water white style has become the benchmark for Cuban style rums. Although today, after having its assets illegally seized by Cuban totalitarian regime in 1960 (which amounted to a loss of $76 million dollars, and represented 90% of the company’s volume at the time), Bacardi is no longer made in Cuba, it owns four distilleries across the world including Puerta Rica.

Bacardi is made from molasses distilled in linked column still, and puts great stock in its yeast strain which is said to contribute to its lighter flavour profile. It is charcoal filtered after distillation and aged in barrel.

Bacardi Ltd is the world’s largest privately owned drinks company and invests significant amounts in its brands marketing and innovation to increase brand equity with the higher sales price offsetting any loss in volume.

Bacardi Ltd also owns Martini-Rossi, Bombay Sapphire, Grey Goose vodka, Dewar’s blended Scotch.

WSET Diploma studies: Italian sparkling wine

Italy is doing pretty darn well in the sales stakes, it is the number three country of origin for sparkling wine. In 2010, Italian sparkling wine sales in the UK were up 19% set against a relatively flat sparkling market where sales were up just 1% (although the UK still sells more Cava and Champagne).

Prosecco has captured the world’s imagination in much the same way as Pinot Grigio has, and sales are rocketing. A Wine Intelligence report released last year showed that 15% of the nation’s 28 million regular wine drinkers now enjoy Prosecco, up from 8% in 2007.

Prosecco has tapped into a different market, consumers say they like the drink, because it is pleasant-tasting, low cost, but has a sophisticated image – it offers something different for those who find Champagne too acidic or expensive.

Prosecco isn’t the only sparkling wine from Italy. There are a range of different styles Muscat based Asti and Moscato d’Asti, the much imitated Lambrusco and traditional method premium sparkling wine – Franciacorta.

Prosecco

Prosecco is both a grape variety and a region. It is a white grape variety native to the Veneto, in north east of Italy, which enjoys a moderate continental climate with alpine influence and cold winters.

It has enjoyed phenomenal success in the past ten years, sales are up year on year and the UK is the number three market for Prosecco.

As a grape it is rather neutral and enjoys high yields, it is often harvested late. It is produced using the tank method to retain the fresh fruit flavours and is often off-dry or medium-dry in style.

In 2009 Prosecco achieved DOCG status for the region based around Conegliano-Valdobbiadene with the wider Prosecco region elevated from IGT to DOC status. There is one cru – a 1,000 ft high hill called Cartizze, it covers just 260 acres. There, 190 producers make 1 million bottles of very fine Prosecco from this cool subregion – a hectare of Cartizze land is worth in excess of 1 million US dollars.

As part of the shakeup of the Prosecco rules, if it says Prosecco on the bottle it must come from Prosecco and anyone growing the grape outside of Prosecco delimited area will have to call the grape by its synonym – the not so attractive sounding ‘Glera’. Rosé Prosecco is also now outlawed.

The changes aim to protect brand ‘Prosecco’, by preventing cheap imitations and improving the quality. Yields have been massively slashed in the Prosecco DOC down from 180 to 126 hectolitres per hectare – and new quality controls have been introduced on vineyards and vinification.

The rules are being enforced and a year after they were introduced a shipment of ‘Rosecco’ destined for M&S shelves was seized by the Italian authorities for imitating Prosecco.

Prosecco can be fully sparkling – spumante or gentle sparkling frizzante and even still.

Asti

Asti used to be known as Asti Spumante  but when elevated to DOCG status along with Moscato d’Asti in 1993, Asti Spumante became simply Asti.

Asti is a mountainous town and province in Piedmont, North East Italy. It enjoys a continental climate, and is planted in the coolest plots of land on calcareous clay soils.

Much like Champagne, the land here is divided into many little parcels and individual growers will supply the Négociant Houses which dominate production.

Both Asti and Moscato d’Asti are made from Moscato Bianco (otherwise known as Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains)

Asti denotes a fully sparkling wine and is made using a variation on the tank method.

The muscato bianco juice is stored at 0⁰C to protect the fresh fruit character.

It is fermented in pressure tanks to about 6% abv before pressure is built up and the carbon dioxide from the final 1.5% abv is retained to create a pressure of approximately 5 atmospheres. Alternatively, a little of the carbon dioxide is retained from the very beginning and the pressure reaches about 5 atmospheres when the alcohol level reaches 7.5% abv.

Fermentation is halted by chilling the wine down, the yeasts are filtered and removed along with any nitrogenenous nutrients to ensure the end product is biologically stable despite the high levels of fermentable sugar remaining.

Moscato d’Asti is quite a different wine to Asti – it is a lightly fragrant, frothing wine from Piedmont. It has a third of the pressure of an Asti (max 1.7 atmospheres) whereas an Asti is fully sparkling. It has a less powerful aroma and is more delicate in flavour than an Asti. It is also considerably lower in alcohol – 5.5% compared to between 7-9.5% for Asti.

The best and ripest moscato grapes are used to produce a Moscato d’Asti and by law the minimum potential alcohol level must by 10% (Asti requires 9%). The wine is classed as partially fermented grape must and the juice is chilled and filtered immediately after pressing and fermented when required to ensure the aromas are not lost. Fermentation is interrupted as the wine reaches 5.5% alcohol.

Moscato’ d’Asti is a tiny proportion of the wine made in Piedmont, Asti’s 75 million bottles per year dwarf Moscato d’Asti 3 million bottles.

Martini-Rossi, owned by Bacardi, is a major brand of Asti and has doubled its investment in the brand in the past year or so.

Franciacorta

Franciacorta is a traditional method Italian sparkling wine from Lombardy made using Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc.

Franciacorta was made a DOCG in 1995 and introduced a tough new set of standards to make the grade. Yields were reduced, vine density increased (min 4,000 vines per hectare), Pinot Grigio eliminated, fractional pressing – to separate the finest from the coarsest wines – insisted upon across the board, and 25 months minimum lees ageing introduced (37 months for reserve wines).

It has limited recognition in the UK, partly because of its size – it produces 10.3 million bottles annually and most never leave Northern Italy. Franciacorta played host to the European Wine Bloggers conference just last month which will no doubt go some way to improving its recognition in the UK and Europe.

Franciacorta reaches a significantly higher average price point than other Italian sparkling wines and is closer price-wise to Champagne territory.

 Lambrusco

Lambrusco is a red grape variety, of which there are over 60 sub-varieties all known for their phenomenal productivity.

It is grown in a warm Mediterranean climate, on the fertile alluvial soils of Central Italy mainly around the three central provinces of Modena, Parma and Reggio nell’Emilia (Emilia-Romagna)

It was supremely popular in the US and Europe in the 1980s but has suffered from cheap imitations many of which aren’t actually wines – like Halewood’s Lambrini – actually a perry not a wine and a raft of non-DOC Lambrusco which has an alcohol level too low to qualify as a wine and is sweet, partially fermented grape must which can be white, rosé or red.

Nonetheless, Lambrusco has 4 DOCs; Lambruso di Sorbara is regarded as the best and can include wines made using the traditional method. Other DOCs include Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro, Lambruso Salamino di Santa Croce, Lambrusco Reggiano.

Today, production is dominated by co-ops and Lambrusco has become a fairly standardised product created in industrial quantities using the tank method and with heavy filtration, stabilisation and even pasteurisation stripping away character.

Most DOC Lambrusco is sold dry or off-dry and has high acidity and a sour cherry flavour, it is a frothing red wine designed to be drunk young. Very little artisan bottle fermented Lambrusco is made any more where it is found it is usually off-dry or medium-sweet.

WSET Diploma Studies: Crémant

Originally Crémant referred to a style of sparkling wine or Champagne that was less fizzy – Krug had a Crémant in the 1970s. Today, Crémant refers to a French traditional method sparkling wine made outside of Champagne.

Crémant was adopted in 1985 when the term ‘méthode champenoise’ was outlawed in Europe, just prior to Spain joining the European Community (as they were the largest ‘méthode champenoise’ in the world they would have no doubt blocked efforts to outlaw the term had the decision been taken any later).

The Champenois gave up the word ‘Crémant’ in return for the European Communities stopping using the term ‘méthode champenoise’.

In order to be called a Crémant certain quality controls must be in place, including whole bunch pressing, a maximum yield of 100L for 150kg of grapes (same as Cava but marginally higher than Champagne), a maximum sulphur dioxide content of 150mg/l, a minimum of nine months of ageing on lees.

The first two Crémant appellations Crémant de Bourgogne and Crémant de Loire were created as early as 1975. Today, there are seven Crémant appellations including Crémant d’Alsace, Crémant de Die, Jura, Limoux and Bordeaux. The best sparkling wines in Luxembourg are also called Crémant.

Sparkling wine has a long history in France, and Blanquette de Limoux claims to be France’s oldest sparkling wine. It seems that once we’d figured out how to produce sparkling wine we couldn’t get enough of it and at one time there was barely a wine in France that had not been produced sparkling, the French even messed with classics like Sauternes and Côte Rôtie – sacrilegious in my book.

Sparkling wine is big business, of the two billion bottles of sparkling wine produced worldwide each year, France accounts for almost a quarter of those bottles and around half of this comes from outside of Champagne.

The good value Crémant wines weathered the recession well, while 2009 saw Champagne sales drop by 9%, Crémant de Bourgogne was up 6% and Crémant d’Alsace up 8%.

Crémant still represents a small proportion of sales in the UK but is hoping to follow the trend of Cava and Prosecco which are both doing a well in the UK.

The climate and weather varies with the region, but the best Crémants come from sites that are cooler either because of their latitude (as with Loire, Burgundy and Alsace) or their altitude (as per Limoux).

The best Crémants are made from grapes grown on calcarious soils (eg. Anjou-Saumur, Touraine, Burgundy and Limoux) and generally come from high acid, non-aromatic varieties. Chardonnay, a classic Champagne grape, is widely used in the Loire, Burgundy, Limoux and Alsace, and Chenin Blanc is well used in the Loire and Limoux.

Crémant d’Alsace

Crémant d’Alsace is the largest Crémant appellation by volume and represents around 10% of the region’s output. The fertile plain of the Alsace is not often suited to high quality varietal wines, but it does provide one of the best terroirs in the region for Crémant d’Alsace.

Around 500 small scale producers dominate production and their blending capabilities are limited.

Grape varieties: Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Auxerrois, Riesling, Chardonnay (Muscat, Gewuztraminer and Chasselas cannot be used). Max yield 80 hl/ha.

Style: Fine mousse, high acidity and light body. If Riesling dominates the blend, the wine will have a strong flavour.

Crémant de Die

Crémant de Die is a white sparkling appellation located around the town of Die, east of the Rhône between Valence and Montélimar.

A local cooperative has energised the appellation and is responsible for three in every four bottles in the region.

Cremant de Die is a traditional method sparkling wine made from Clairette grape, wheresas Clairette de Die tradition is made using the Méthode Dioise and Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains.

For Clairette de Die tradition after pressing, the juice is filtered and kept to a sub-zero temperature. It is bottled when its been fermented to around 3 per cent alcohol and a second fermentation occurs in bottle using the grape’s own sugars, no dosage is permitted.

The wine is decanted off the lees after a minimum of four months and re-bottled under pressure. The end result is a low alcohol (7-8% abv) grapey fizz similar in style to Asti.

Crémant de Bourgogne

Created in 1975, Crémant de Bourgogne is centered on Rully in the Côte Chalonnaise of the South and Auxerre to the North. The grapes of the Côte d’Or, hardly surprisingly, are worth more as still wines.

Grape varieties:  Mainly Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc and Aligoté but all Burgundian varieties are permitted although Gamay may not constitute more than a fifth of the blend. Max yields 65 hl/ha.

Style:                      Full and soft in Southern Burgundy, represents a good value alternative to bigger styles of Champagne, Crémant made to the North is generally lighter and crisper. Sparkling red not permitted.

Crémant de Loire

Created in 1975, Crémant de Loire incorporates the districts of Anjou-Saumur and Touraine

There are around 200 producers including a handful of co-operatives and key négociants.

Some of the big Champagne houses have Loire subsidiaries, Bollinger owns Langlois Chateau, Tattinger owns Bouvet-Ladubay and Alfred Gratien owns Gratien & Meyer.

Grape varieties: All of the Loire’s grape varieties are permitted aside from Sauvignon Blanc, which is too pungent a variety for a sparkling wine. Chenin Blanc dominates. Rosé usually contains a high percentage of Cabernet Franc and can also include Grolleau. Maximum yield is 50 hl/ha.

Style: Crisp acidity, medium body and alcohol with green apples and honey. Cabernet Franc rosé is deeply coloured, pungent with raspberry aromas.

Crémant de Limoux (inc Blanquette de Limoux)

Limoux is a small town high up in the Pyrenees of southern France just north of Catalunya. Its altitude makes it cool enough for sparkling wine production, despite being so far south.

Limoux’s sparkling wine business is dominated by the dynamic local co-op.

The grape used traditionally was the Mauzac, known locally as blanquette, it is a late ripening grape with good natural acidity and a relatively neutral character although it tends to produce a cut grass aroma – it is particularly good as a sweeter style. Increasing amounts of Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc have been planted over the past few decades.

Limoux has two very distinct styles, the traditional Blanquette de Limoux and the more modern international style of Crémant de Limoux. The plan was for the Chardonnay-led Crémant de Limoux to slowly replace the Mauzac based Blanquette de Limoux – but this did not happen and the two now sit side by side.

Blanquette de Limoux – is a Mauzac dominated blend with Chardonnay and Chenin also allowed. It is a traditional method sparkling wine, similar to Crémant de Limoux albeit more rustic and containing a higher percentage of Mauzac.

Crémant de Limoux – Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay together must comprise 90% of the blend. The other two varieties allowed are Pinot Noir (max 10%) and Mauzac. Yields are restricted to 50h/ha.

Blanquette methode ancestrale – is an old local specialty making a comeback, it is made of 100% Mauzac using the method ancestral, which means the wine is bottled when partially fermented and continues its first fermentation in bottle and is not disgorged.

With its low alcohol content, low fizz level, luscious sweetness, ripe apple aromas and often cloudy appearance it has a lot in common with an artisanal sweet cider.

Crémant de Bordeaux

Established in 1990, Crémant de Bordeaux represents the smallest Crémant appellation by volume, although they have been making sparkling wine for centuries. Production is dominated by a handful of companies including Cordeliers, the oldest sparkling winemaker in Bordeaux which dates back to 1870s..

Permitted grape varieties:  Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Cot, Merlot, Muscadelle, Petit Verdot, Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris with minor additions of Colombard, Merlot Blanc and Ugni Blanc. Maximum yield is 65 hl/ha.

Loire

While Crémant de Loire covers Anjou-Saumur and Touraine, there two other appellations for sparkling wine without the Crémant prefix in the Loire, namely Saumur and Vouvray ACs.

Both have a cool continental climate and enjoy mainly chalky limestone – tuffeau blanc soils. Saumur is largest French sparkling wine appellation outside of Champagne and 40% of Vouvray is sparkling.

Grape varieties:

Chenin Blanc for Vouvray

Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc for Saumur