With World Champagne Day coming up on October 22, the time is ripe for a guide for non-French speakers to master, or at least improve, the pronunciation of some of the more commonly sold Champagne brands. Do you say the ‘t’ in Moët or not? Read on!
Moët leads the world’s wine brands
As organic and biodynamic wines increasingly appear on liquor shop shelves, Australian consumers are being offered more choice from winemakers, as they play catch-up to European producers. While prices of local products are still high, they are coming down though quality needs to improve.
The Bordeaux Chauvinist reviews a Rhone Valley cask wine, and likes it. He’s gained humility, and saved some money. This column was originally published on the Bordeaux Chauvinist’s website, Cquoi ce vin, or What is this wine? He advises on good value for money wines of all appellations, regions and countries (but he remains a Bordeaux Chauvinist).
Bucking a global trend, Australian wines are becoming more diverse, with wineries diversifying away from French grapes to others, including Austria’s Grüner Veltliner. That’s good news for a nation where Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc dominate wine production, leading to fatigue for many wine consumers.
Australians have been stuck on drinking the same old wines for years but slowly, we’re broadening our tastes to include lesser-known wines, including the savoury Italian kind.
The Loire Valley is a top sparkling, white and red wine producer. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site with huge caves and castles which housed French kings and perhaps most famous of all, Leonardo da Vinci, who made the region his home.
Australians love their wine and are ready to splurge on bubbly. Forget the red wine or VB this Christmas, sparkling is the pick, and often pink, whether imported or locally made. Heading into Christmas, more and more corks will be popped, celebrating the end of a difficult year and hopes for the new one.
Moët leads the world’s wine brands
“Bordeaux dry white wine bashing” is common in France given the lack of care given to the dry white wines of the region. They often have notes of cat pee, short and sometimes over-wooded to hide flaws, says the Bordeaux Chauvinist. But that was before he bought the “Les Frangines” of Château Thieuley 2020 AOC Bordeaux white wine from Auchan for €6.95 and loved it!
One of the world’s most expensive rosés any good falls short
Switzerland is much more than mountains, chocolates and watches. It’s wine too. Very good wine. But to try, you need to visit (if you can) as little leaves its borders: just 2% of Swiss wine is exported. At the base of the Alps, in a little known region Valais, you can find fabulous wines in a country with one of the highest per capita consumptions of wine in the world.
Swiss turn to more sustainable keg to store wine
Australian wine exports fell to a five-year low of $2.3 billion with wine exports to China plunging 77% over the year to September 30, 2021, after steep tariffs were imposed on Australian wine in late 2020. But exports bounced in Hong Kong by 135% while the UK and the US overtook China as Australia’s biggest wine export markets.
