Saturday Champagne Seminar: Tête de Cuvée

It is time to revisit one of our favorite subjects.

Champagne is the greatest of all winemaking tricks, since the region’s famous bubbles are produced from a thin, screamingly high acid base wine made from grapes that struggle desperately to ripen in poor chalky soils on the northern limit of what can properly be construed as a winegrowing latitude. And yet the resulting wines are creamy, deeply layered examples of complexity and elegance, ineffably associated with all things luxurious and sophisticated. Perhaps this comes from the second fermentation in bottle that characterizes the champagne method, perhaps it comes from the added tweaking of sweetness and acid that comes in the form of added dosage before bottling or perhaps its layers of nuance and flavor come from the years spent lying in the dark, dank cellars of the Champagne region, carved out of old limestone quarries centuries ago.

A “tête de cuvée” typically refers to the top bottling from a champagne house, and are vintage dated bottlings that receive the most time developing underground, made from premium grapes sourced from top parcels, crafted by top-tier champagne houses, or grower producers who provide gorgeous examples of more local conditions. Join us as we taste through the top examples of France’s premier luxury good, with an appropriate champagne paired snack.

– Voirin-Jumel, Champagne Brut ‘Tradition’, NV
– Paul Bara, Champagne Brut Grand Cru ‘Grand Millésime’, 2010
– Benoît Lahaye, Champagne ‘Violaine’, NV
– Pol Roger, Champagne Brut ‘Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill’, 2006
– Pol Roger, Champagne Brut ‘Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill’, 2008
– Pol Roger, Champagne Brut ‘Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill’, 2008, en magnum

The Seminar begins promptly at 2pm.
Includes an appropriately paired snack.
Seating is very limited.
Tickets will go on sale Wednesday 13th at 10am and then can be purchased below.
Must be 21 or older to attend. Tickets are non-refundable.
$50 Seminar Fee, credited with a $300 purchase.