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Before we move on, thought you would enjoy these videos and like some additional information on those powerful Greek red wines. You should keep an eye open for these, the wines have come a long way over the years and are no longer wines that make you wince when drunk !

The videos compliment our last post on Greek wines and are both enjoyable to watch, being very well filmed and give some interesting information. The wine cellars look stunning, I can feel another fact finding mission coming on !

Next time, we will continue our search for the heavier seasonal wines to enjoy with your food in your Brighton Restaurant. If you would like us to revisit anything or look into a related subject that interests you, then either please leave a post here or contact us at our email address.
Email ….. restaurantinbrighton@gmail.com

The Greek Islands ….. Think of that and you can almost hear those crickets in the pine trees going crazy !

Greece is one of the oldest wine producing regions in the world. Due to the fantastic weather Greece enjoys, with its very warm sunny summer it is absolutely a great location to grow the large variety of grapes that it has. These grapes go to make the wide variety of wines available that compliment the even larger variety of foods that mainland Greece and the Islands offer.

To be honest, when I say that the choice of wines is wide, that is a complete understatement. The choice is actually huge. They produce such a variety, such arange of aromas, flavours and sensations. From the lighter and medium range reds, that compliment pizza, pasta, grilled meats and lighter fish dishes.

The two reds that I find very powerful, bearing in mind that we are looking at seasonal wines for this time of year are, Xinomavro and Nemea . These wines are not just powerful, but intense as well. The grapes are almost black. This produces a stunning variety of wine. The tastes range from heavy red and black fruit, such as blackberry, plum, cherry, some can be heavier in tannin, but this does not deter from the tasting experience.

These wines can be likened to Italian Barolo, as I said above they are powerful, robust and oaky. These wines, like all quality robust and rich wines compliment such a variety of foods that are such favorites at this time of year. For example, lamb, steak, roasted meats, game, sausages and heavily sauced stews. If you want to enjoy this wine after your meal in your Brighton Restaurant, or you just want another bottle ……. I would, you are there to enjoy yourself after all.
Try the wine with some great cheeses, like Greek Saganaki Seared Kefalotyri or Kasseri, Italian Parmigiano, Spanish Curado, English Mature Cheddar or French Blue Vein. They compliment each other perfectly.

Next time, we will continue our search for the heavier seasonal wines to enjoy with your food in your Brighton Restaurant. If you would like us to revisit anything or look into a related subject that interests you, then please either leave a post here or contact us at our email address.
Email ….. restaurantinbrighton@gmail.com

Champagne is absolutely unique, in a class of its own. The main reason for this is how it is made, otherwise called assemblage. This is the blending process by which the Champagne House creates a particular Champagne. In addition, modern French Champagne goes through a second fermentation process, known as dosage, where extra sugar and wine are added in this phase to perfect the Champagne.

The final sugar content of the wine is indicated on the label of French Champagne with the following description of style:

• Extra Brut: Is extremely dry and is not one of the more common varieties.
• Brut: This is one of the most popular types of Champagne in the world and is quite dry. The best grapes are generally reserved for the Brut Champagnes.
• Extra Sec : While still fairly dry, Extra Dry is sweeter than Brut. It is a good selection for Champagne that you would enjoy with a dessert.
• Sec : Sec is again a slightly sweet Champagne and is best suited for dessert.
• Demi Sec : Is a very sweet French Champagnes and is not one of the more common varieties.

So What Are The Champagne Types ?

Non Vintage (N.V.)

Blended from wines of several years to achieve a constant “style de maison” House style. Many non vintage Champagnes can be a blend of thirty or forty different wines.

A non vintage Champagne cannot be sold until it is 15 months old, although most reputable houses will age the wine in their cellars for longer periods. A NonVintage wine will often improve in the bottle after purchase, if it is kept in the right conditions, ideally a cellar, but failing that, in a cool dark place.

Vintage

Vintage Champagne is a blend of wines from a particular year, when the quality of the harvest was sufficient to declare a “Vintage”. Obviously, not every year is a vintage year, but the vintage is left to the individual houses themselves to declare.

Vintage Champagne must be 39 months old before it is sold, i.e. 3 years after the 1st January following the harvest around September.

Rosé

Rosé Champagne can be made in one of two ways: First by maceration of black grapes during pressing, so that the colour leeches out from the skins (the juice from black grapes is white) or by adding a small proportion of the red wine form the Champagne region (often Bouzy Rouge) to give the wine a rose tint. The former method (de saignée) is more expensive and difficult to control, but many would say produces the better Champagne.

Prestige Cuvée

Most Champagne houses produce a special bottle in a vintage year and these are normally deemed to be “Prestige or Deluxe cuvées”.

Prestige cuvées represent the pinnacle of a house’s achievement and can be a vintage or occasionally a blend of vintages.

Why are they so expensive? Well, the grapes will have come from the top-producing vineyards and hand selected. Then they will be very carefully pressed, the resulting wines carefully blended and bottled in a specially shaped bottle.
The Champagne is left to mature for five to seven years, after which the bottles will be riddled by hand prior to disgorgement.

That concludes our look into Champagnes. So, next time we are continuing with our journey and heading south to warmer climes, having a look at more wines to enjoy in our restaurant in Brighton.

In our last post we said that Champagne comes from Epernay and Rheims, so where exactly is that ?

Champagne comes from the district of Champagne. It is a historic province in the northeast of France, now best known for the sparkling white wine that bears its name. Formerly ruled by the counts of Champagne, its western edge is about 100 miles (160 km) east of Paris. All in all the region totals about four times the size of the Netherlands.

Champagne, is the very symbol of sophistication, graceful living and celebration, it is produced and cannot be produced anywhere else in the world. All other ‘sparkling’ wines produced outside the Champagne district cannot legally be called Champagne. All champagnes are made within a few miles of each other outside Reims and Epernay, amazingly there are over one hundred different Champagne Houses.

Take A Look At This Video:

True Champagne Comes from Champagne, France

Well ! ….. Have you guessed where we are going to next on our quest to find the more seasonal wines ? Yes, No ? …… Champagne, Epernay and Rheims to be precise.
Not exactly seasonal, but thought this would be a good stop off as on the 14th February it is Valentines Day and you are bound to be organising to take your “Loved One” out for that fantastic Romantic dinner to the Brighton Restaurant of your choice.
Although I say it is not exactly seasonal, when is it not the right time to drink Champagne ?

This fantastic wine is not going to be covered in one go and indeed deserves to be looked over some time. It can only be called Champagne if the wine is actually produced from the Champagne district of France, which lies but a short drive in an easterly direction from Paris.

Anyway, to start with a little history and give you some background. Contrary to popular belief, the famous Monk, Dom Perignon, did not invent sparkling wine. The oldest record of sparkling wine is some one hundred and fifty years earlier. It was actually an English scientist, a Christopher Merret who came up with the system to add sugar to the finished wine to create a second fermentation.
Although Dom Perignon did not invent Champagne, interestingly he did develop the method of holding the cork in place with a wire collar to withstand the fermentation pressure.

Up until the 19th Century, Champagne was produced using the single fermentation method. Then the second fermentation process was adopted. It was then that the growth in sale of Champagne took off. Originally though the Champagne that was produced was much sweeter than those of today.
We can thank the House of Perrier Jouet for today’s taste. They decided not to sweeten the vintage of 1846 prior to exporting it to London. Lo and behold the designation of Brut Champagne came about and was created in 1876.

So there you have it, the Champagne that we know today was born. On our next post we will continue discovering Champagne. The wine of celebration and to celebrate with when dining in your Brighton Restaurant.

Before I sign off, thought you might enjoy this ….Willie Nelson – Drinkin’ Champagne (Live)

Ok, so we are now traveling eastwards in search of those seasonal heavier wines so enjoyed at this time of year in Brighton Restaurants. Where are we going ?…. Bulgaria. Out of all the Eastern European wine producing countries, it must be Bulgaria who ranks as the most successful, mainly due to the high quality of both the vinification and viticulture. Since the fall of the communist government, ‘Vinprom’ the state owned wine Company opened up to the Western markets and has been growing strongly in popularity.

There are vineyards all over Bulgaria, five in total growing areas. The two that are famous for producing heavy read wines are “The South West” region this very warm region produces “Melnik”.
The other, “The Southern Region” has almost a Mediterranean style climate. This is because the cold winds that blow from Russia, are blocked by the Balkan mountains. produces the “Mavrud” and “Plodiv”.

The King of the Bulgarian red wine is a Cabernet Sauvignon called Mavrud. This has an intense flavour, strong and very well balanced. This wine will keep for a very long time in the bottle.

The Merlot wines have a consistent deep colour. These wines are powerful and warm. Packed with deep, dark berry fruit, herby and a very ‘earthy’ wine.
These are instantly appealing wines and great at this time of the year and really to be enjoyed when in your Brighton Restaurant of choice.

On our next post we are “stopping off” before our journey further south.

Vintage port only accounts for a small percentage of the total port production. The reason for that is that it is only made in the exceptional years. According to statistics that is about two to three times out of ten. So, vintage port, represents the pinnacle of port production.

Vintage port is generally produced from a blend of wines from the producers finest plots. It is aged for between two and three years in casks/barrels before being bottled. Then the process takes about another fifteen years of ageing, which allows all the tannins and flavours to fully develop and mix, or become one.The art of producing good vintage port is one of selection and blending.

All vintage port no matter the producer, share the same overall sweetness, balance and rounded richness. These wines are expensive, justifiably so considering that they represent the best of the best and both the time and work that has been dedicated to producing them. They will require decanting as they have a heavy sediment. Once decanted, the port will require a time to settle.

So, there you are. Although to experience this is expensive, vintage port represents the best of the best. A beautiful wine, to which nothing else compares and to be quite honest no writing can explain or indeed do justice to the flavours and pleasure that you will experience. Therefore treat yourself to this great experience and ‘ round off ‘ that wonderful meal you have enjoyed in your Brighton Restaurant of choice.

In our last post we said we were going to look at some of the Ports you will probably find in your Brighton Restaurant of choice.

So, lets start at the lower end and build up from there.

Tawny Ports – These are matured in the wood and obtain the majority of their flavour from being aged in the cask/barrels. These offer superb nutty, spicy and heavy red fruit flavours and are very well balanced. Ones to look out for range between ten and forty years old.

Late Bottled Vintage – These are vintage “style” wines, bottled after five or six years in the barrel. You will be able to appreciate some
of the character and style of a true vintage port, but at a fraction of the price commanded by the vintage.

Single Quinta – These are made/blended from wines of the same estate and represent excellent value. They are bottled after two years in the barrel. They should not be served to you from the bottle as they are fairly heavy in sediment and therefore will require decanting. You should enjoy the deep red fruit flavour, full of rich spice and you will experience a similar vintage drinking experience without the vintage price tag.

Next time, we will look at the best of Port. The Vintage. Although more expensive, this is pretty much a must if celebrating in your Brighton Restaurant of choice.

Port wine, is in a class of its own. It is also known as Vinho do Porto, Porto. Is a fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley, in the northern area of Portugal. They are produced in other countries, but this is where it all started.

Port is typically richer, heavier, sweeter and usually served after your meal as a dessert wine. Port is a unique wine that takes its flavour, strength and sweetness from a process of adding spirit to the still sweet part fermented grape. This is great with cheese, mainly blue veined cheeses such as stilton. It is almost a must or a tradition at this seasonal time of year.

Look out for famous names like Cockburn, Churchill, Croft, Dow’s, Fonseca, Grahams, Smith Woodhouse, Taylors and Warre.

Port is made in two different styles. That is bottle aged and casked aged.
The bottle aged ports are aged for a short time in the cask and then the majority of maturing is completed in the bottle.
The cask aged ports are aged in wooden casks until they are ready.

Good bottle aged ports to look out for are Vintage and Single Quinta Ports. These are rich, full blooded and full of fruit.
With cask aged ports look for Tawny and Colheita ports. These are a lighter, nuttier and less sweet port. They tend to be smoother and more rounded than bottle aged. Ruby Crusted and Late Bottled Vintage Ports are aged from two to six years in the cask. These are superb full bodied and rich.

There is also white port, however they are not the quality of the darker ones. White Port can be served as an aperitif on its own or poured over ice (on the rocks). It also pairs well at this time of year with fish soup, fish cakes, smoked salmon and liver pate.

This gives a basic overview of Port and which ones to look for in The Brighton Restaurant. On our next post we will look in more detail at individual Port styles.

Madeira is a fortified Portugese wine made on the Island of Madeira, which sits in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, between the Portugese and the West African Coast. They produce a dry wine which is great as an aperatif, to a glorious sweet wine, which is normally consumed with desserts or on its own after the meal. Madeira is a fortified wine and is produced by a special heating process that warms the wine over a long period. The wine once opened will stay fresh for a long time as it resists oxidation. This is due because Madeira is exposed to oxygen and heat through its development and therefore makes it highly resistant.

The flavours it produces are of toffee, caramel, raisins and honey. Leaving a slightly nutty flavour on the back of the palate.

There are basically six different styles:
. Finest – Means it has been aged for a minimum of three years. This is usually reserved for cooking.
. Reserve – This is a minimum of five years and is the minimum amount of aging permitted.
. Special Reserve – Minimum of ten years.
. Extra Reserve – Minimum of fifteen years and richer in taste than the Special Reserve.
. Colheita – These are vintage wines, but released much earlier. This type is increasing in popularity.
. Vintage – This is aged for a minimum of twenty years.They are the pinnacle of quality.

Drinking Madeira wine is great at this time of year. It is a beautifully warming drink that is ideal on its own or the sweeter varieties go well with cheese, to be enjoyed after your meal in your Brighton Restaurant.

If you are out this evening in a Brighton Restaurant, then we hope that you really enjoy yourselves.

May we take this opportunity to wish everybody a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.