Buying champagne should be approached responsibly. After all, it can decorate a holiday, or maybe, if not spoil it, then seriously overshadow ... Not champagne, of course, but a burda that you can easily buy in a champagne bottle. It will hiss for about five minutes in large bubbles and run out of steam, calm down forever and ever before the eyes of the astonished public. Soda!
Not all champagne that sizzles and foams! The first officially registered scam had a shameful place back in the reign of Nicholas I. Someone Krich, who arrived in Russia even “not for ranks and awards”, but with one goal - to get rich as quickly as possible, being in the position of director of the Crimean State School of Winemaking, without philosophizing for a long time over grape varieties and methods of making wine, launched the trade in Crimean wine under the label of the French "Rederer". For counterfeiting, as we would now qualify this act, the unscrupulous foreigner was expelled from Russia in disgrace by the emperor, who was quick to be punished.

Let's talk about what real champagne is and how not to be deceived when buying it, as well as about Russian traditions in the production of sparkling wines

The classic bottle method of champagne is complex and time-consuming, but guarantees high quality wine. Using this method, at the end of the 19th century they began to prepare champagne in Russia, in the Crimea, under the guidance of Prince Golitsyn, who is called the founder of the production of Russian champagne. Having deeply studied the winemaking of France, Golitsyn boldly set about organizing the production of champagne in his Novy Svet estate near Sudak, where he planted vineyards. According to his project, first-class cellars were built.
After ten years of experience in making sparkling wines using champagne, in 1890 Golitsyn began commercial production of champagne. In 1896, Golitsyn champagne appears at a ceremonial dinner during the coronation celebrations of Nicholas II. In the same year, Golitsyn organizes the production of sparkling wines in AbrauDyurso. In the spring of 1900, at the Paris World Exhibition, Lev Golitsyn presented the 1899 edition of Novy Svet champagne from Russia. Russian champagne was unanimously recognized by experts and was awarded the highest award of the competition - the Grand Prix Silver Cup.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Academician Frolov Bagreev, the founder of the production of "Soviet Champagne", developed the acratophore method of champagne, in which secondary fermentation is carried out in special metal tanks - acratophores, which made it possible to reduce the duration of the technological process by 30 times.
A variation of this method is the continuous method of champagne, when the primary fermentation wine material is pumped through a system of 7-8 huge hermetically sealed tanks and turns into sparkling wine in 20 to 30 days. This is a cheaper, democratic wine, but it meets the main, “generic” feature of sparkling wine: it is saturated with carbon dioxide in an absolutely natural way.
The bulk of the wine, which, calling champagne, we drink "for life", is produced using this simplified technology. Sparkling wines "in champagne" are made in many countries. In Italy they are called "spumante", in Spain - "cava", in Germany - "zekt" ... Sparkling wines produced according to the "champagne method" are obtained in all wine-growing provinces of France, but they are called "crema". got accustomed - "champagne". But we have to say goodbye to this name, so beloved by us. Alien Brand!
In 1997, Russia recognized the exclusive right of France to this trademark and assumed the obligation not to use the designation “champagne” (as well as “cognac”) for Russian exported drinks in the future. Within 20-25 years, the name “champagne” should be replaced by “sparkling” on the domestic market as well. Assuming champagne, we will drink sparkling!

Today, the market for sparkling wines is large and diverse. True connoisseurs can, if funds allow, treat themselves to a bottle of real French champagne "Veuve Clicquot"...
Or Moet and Chandon. There are many other famous brands as well. This class of drinks, frankly, is not available to everyone. But this is not a reason for frustration if you are driven not by snobbery (“certainly French!”), but by a natural desire to give yourself gastronomic pleasure with wine of excellent quality. There are many worthy wines in the shops, made by us or our closest neighbors and sold, as they say, at our prices. Some of them still continue to be called champagne for the time being. Others establish themselves in the minds of consumers under the correct designation "sparkling".

Classic sparkling wine is produced by our Abrau Durso, Novy Svet in the Crimea, Artemovsky in Ukraine, Cricovo in Moldova. Red sweet sparkling wine with a fruity aroma is produced by the old Cossack method at the Tsimlyansky factory located in the Rostov region.
Wineries located far from the climatic zones of grape growth operate on wine materials purchased in the south of Russia, in Moldova, Spain, Italy, Argentina.
Champagne has a very subtle, unique bouquet and taste. Color - light straw or golden with a greenish sheen. The alcohol content is not more than 12.5%. The smaller the bubbles, the longer they play in the glass, resembling a rosary or a string of beads, the better, the better the quality of the wine.
Left in an uncorked bottle for the night, real sparkling wine will not run out of steam, will not calm down, and will play in the morning. When buying, carefully study the information on the label, which should indicate the manufacturer, its address and the trademark of the enterprise, as well as the designation of the taste characteristic: from absolutely dry to sweet.

Without reading the label, you run the risk of buying sparkling wine instead of champagne, at worst, a flavored sparkling drink made from alcohol, water, sugar, flavoring, which is artificially saturated with carbon dioxide. At the same time, the prices are such that it really is champagne, and not a liquid that promises heartburn.
It happens that on the label, cleverly made in the usual style of “Soviet champagne”, it is written in large size “Soviet semi-sweet”, and on the back label, which not everyone bothers to read, “Semi-sweet carbonated wine”. "Sparkling" is not "Sparkling". Probably, everyone understands that this is not the same thing, but in a hurry, and due to lack of experience, you can not get a grasp and instead of noble sparkling wine, buy artificially carbonated sparkling wine. Poppy!
If you bought real champagne, then you should know:
Champagne is usually served at a temperature of 8-10°C, which best contributes to the perception of the aroma and taste of the drink. To cool the wine, you can put it in the refrigerator (but not in the freezer) for about an hour or use a special ice bucket to cool it. Keeping champagne in the refrigerator for more than two days is not recommended - the cold kills the aroma and game of the drink. In general, champagne should not be stored for more than 2-3 years: the quality is lost. Champagne glasses should be washed with cold water without any detergents.

10 brands - 10 champagne houses, the most famous of all. Robert Parker lists eight of them in his book on the great wines and great farms of the world, and we added two brands to this list at our own discretion, one - "the most Hollywood brand", and the other - "the most sports-adrenaline".

1. Widow Clicquot (Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin)

Women go ahead. The world's most famous "feminine" champagne brand is Veuve Clicquot. At the beginning of the 19th century, the heroic 27-year-old widow Clicquot, nee Barbe Nicole Ponsardin, inherited a medium-sized winery from her husband - and raised it to unprecedented heights. She filled 18 km of dungeons with her wonderful product, buying them from the city and turning them into wine cellars. She owns the authorship of the method of cleaning champagne to crystal transparency, which is still used by all winemakers in the world.

She also invented a wire bridle that is worn on a cork - the liquid in the bottle is under pressure, 3 times the pressure in a car tire.

She even took… space as her allies. The “Comet of 1811”, which visited the solar system, gave the widow an excellent idea - to send a ship with a batch of 10,000 bottles of “comet wine” - champagne harvested in 1811, with a tailed star on the label, to Russia that defeated Napoleon. And this was the beginning of a long successful commercial relationship between the widow and the far northern empire.

This woman lived for 88 years and deprived her relatives, indifferent to winemaking, of their inheritance, transferring her prosperous business to the one who worked with her to the very end - her manager and friend, Eduard Verde, whose descendants strengthened the fame of the brand after her death - today this brand is one of the most known, it is drunk in 150 countries of the world.

PRICES

In Moscow, a bottle of 0.75 liters. Veuve Clicquot Brut costs from 2500 rubles.

Veuve Clicquot Grande Dame - with an orange branded label on a black bottle - already costs around 10,000 rubles. According to legend, the flashy color of the label was personally invented by the widow herself.

And today, this champagne house attracts the best designers, such as Kerim Rashid, to design the brand, so the cost of the best wines in exclusive packaging can amount to tens of thousands of dollars.

2. Moet and Chandon (Moët & Chandon)

Everyone knows this black bow with a gold border, fastened with a red round seal under the neck of the bottle. It was coined in 1886, and since then has remained an unchanged recognizable detail of the design of Moet & Chandon branded products.

For 250 years, this company has been producing one of the most famous and prestigious brands of champagne. From the very beginning, Moet & Chandon has been one of the main official suppliers of the royal courts. At one time, his wine was supplied to Louis XV, and Napoleon Bonaparte himself called on the estate when he found himself in Champagne.

Among the clients to whom Moet and Shandon supplied their wines was Thomas Jefferson, and King Edward VII of England fell in love with this champagne so much that he went everywhere accompanied by a servant who carried behind him a basket with a couple of bottles. And today the house of Moet and Chandon has a Royal Charter as a supplier of champagne to Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.

In the modern age of pop culture stars, Moet and Chandon champagnes are actively exploring the world of cinema. For nearly two decades, Moët has been the Official Champagne of the Golden Globe Awards,
and in the spring of this year, the company held a sensational action in the press with the choice of "the face of the champagne house of Moet and Chandon" - it was the rising Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson.

PRICES

champagne house Moet & Chandon- the largest producer of champagne in the world. It produces up to 30 million bottles a year, which is twice the volume of its closest competitor, Veuve Clicquot. Due to the large "circulation" it is quite democratic in terms of prices.

Main wines of the house:

Moet & Chandon Imperial, first released back in 1860, in honor of Napoleon - 2000-6000 rubles, depending on the year of harvest (in Moscow),

Moet & Chandon Dom Perignon- an exclusive vintage champagne produced since 1936 in honor of the "inventor" of sparkling wines Dom Perignon - from 7000 rubles.

3. Dom Pérignon

This "shield" label is known all over the world. Moet & Chandon has been producing this exclusive vintage champagne since 1936.

The brand is named in honor of the famous person in winemaking - the Benedictine monk Pierre Perignon, who lived in the 17th century. The house is an appeal to a clergyman in France. He is credited (by the French, the British think differently) with the glory of the invention of a sparkling frothy drink - no one thought of how to turn ordinary fermented wine into a new wonderful drink.

Probably, he was not absolutely the first, but, of course, he stood at the origins of the technology for the production of champagne, which, in general terms, was inherited by our contemporaries. He owns the ideas of secondary fermentation of still wine, selection of a mixture of white wines and aging it in thick-walled bottles, as well as capping bottles with a cork stopper. In his thirties, Pierre Pérignon took over the wine cellars of the Benedictine Abbey of Ovilliers, declaring that he would create the best wine in the world. And he succeeded - rumors about the excellent quality of the effervescent monastery drink reached Versailles. Wines from Dom Pérignon began to be supplied to the royal court of Louis XIV, the "Sun King".

Modern Dom Perignon, from Moet and Chandon, is produced in accordance with the tradition laid down by the legendary monk - to create the best wine in the world. Its quality is such that the wine, perhaps, does not need additional advertising.

Nevertheless, the manufacturing company has recently attracted Karl Lagerfeld to work on the image of the brand. The action was extremely successful and brought the brand to a new level of popularity. It also became an exemplary example of wine branding, and - a kind of cult event in the world of fashion and lifestyle - Lagerfeld attracted catwalk stars - Eva Herzigova and Claudia Schiffer - to photo shoots with Dom Pérignon. The idea behind the campaign: Dom Pérignon is a magical drink that liberates sexual fantasies.

PRICES

There are three wines:

Dom Perignon - Dom Perignon, Dom Perignon Rose and Dom Perignon Oenotheque

Dom Pérignon is somewhat cheaper, it can be found for 7000-9000 rubles. for a bottle.

Dom Pérignon Rose and Dom Perignon Oenotheque are highly valued and are considered among the finest and most expensive wines in the world. Prices in Moscow - from 17,000 to 22,000 rubles

4. Louis Roederer

The whole world knows this brand by its most famous wine - Louis Roederer Crista l. “Luxurious wine”, “stunning quality” - such epithets are used by Robert Parker. And of course, this is the most prestigious in Russia and the most expensive of champagnes in general. "Royal drink" - it was first produced in 1876, especially for Alexander II.

Until the revolution, the house of Louis Roderer was the official supplier of wine to the court of the Russian Emperor. More than 60% of its products were sent to the Russian Empire. It got its name - Crystal because it was supplied in crystal bottles specially made by order of Alexander II.

In today's "golden" design of the appearance of the bottle, with an elegant ligature of the font and monograms on the label, the association with the royal crown, aristocracy, sophistication and wealth is supported. Around the world, it is considered a luxury drink that is designed for winners and leaders. The policy of champagne house Louis Roderer is also distinguished by aristocracy and independence - not a single international corporation has yet succeeded in attempting to take over it - it is almost the only house in Champagne that remains in family ownership.

The value of the house's champagne products was once again confirmed in July of this year - at an auction in the USA, a bottle of Louis Roederer Cristal Rose 2002 champagne was sold for $12,000. Funds from the auction were used to support contemporary art. What is symbolic is that a wine with such a history, a level of prestige and such a price is no longer so much a wine as such, but an object of high art.

PRICES

Champagne house produces not so little wine for the family business - up to 3 million bottles per year, which, however, is 10 times less than Moet and Chandon. And Louis Roederer Cristal - only 500 thousand bottles for the whole world.

The limited volume of production, as well as the extraordinary quality and prestige of the brand determine rather high prices for wine, including in Moscow:

Louis Roederer Brut Premier - from 4300 rubles.

Louis Roederer Cristal - from 10,000 to 35,000 rubles, depending on the crop year.

This wine is known as the wine of Hollywood. Almost from the very beginning of the Oscar ceremonies, it accompanies these festive events.

It was Marilyn Monroe's favorite drink, and she was photographed more than once with a glass of champagne in her hand. And this champagne was most often Piper-Heidsieck.

In 1965, Piper-Heidsieck created the largest bottle of champagne in the world - 1 m 82 cm, which corresponds to the growth of the American film actor Rex Harrison. The bottle was intended to celebrate Harrison winning an Oscar for his role in My Fair Lady opposite Audrey Hepburn. The giant bottle contained the volume of 64 ordinary bottles of magnificent vintage Piper-Heidsieck Brut 1959 champagne.

Piper-Heidsieck distinguished himself with a new design and PR move - together with Christian Louboutin, he released a limited edition gift set - a bottle of his wine, accompanied by an elegant lady's shoe with a crystal heel, which simultaneously refers us to Cinderella and to the romantic custom of drinking champagne from a shoe ladies of the heart.

Piper-Heidsieck made festive red and gold colors - recognizable and memorable colors of its brand, and very successfully uses them in the design of its corporate identity - and the label of the wine itself, and all related advertising products, and the company's official website.

PRICES

Naturally, you will not find a gift set with a shoe in Moscow, the entire limited edition is made to order.

But the usual Piper-Heidsieck branded champagne is sold annually in the amount of 5 million bottles, and it is quite affordable with us, at low prices for such a level of promotion of the brand:

Piper Heidsieck Brut -
from 1500 rub. per bottle

6. Mumm (G.H. Mumm)

The style of the MUMM label is easily remembered by the diagonal red ribbon - this is the symbol of the Legion of Honor - with which one of the first owners of the champagne house adorned his wine back in the 18th century. This trademark of the brand is immediately recognizable on the shelves of wine boutiques, and on commercials. And on the balloons that the company so loves to launch for promotional purposes.

In general, MUMM is the wine of adrenaline, extreme sports, travel and discovery. Throughout its history, G.H.MUMM has been a sponsor of all kinds of events related to technical breakthroughs and sports achievements of mankind. The company's slogan is "Courage and the desire for extraordinary discoveries."

At the beginning of the last century, the company implemented its first sponsorship project: the famous traveler Captain Charcot "christened" his ship "Le France" by breaking a bottle of MUMM Cordon Rouge champagne on its side. On July 14, 1904, on an ice floe in Antarctica, Captain Charcot and his crew celebrated Bastille Day with a glass of MUMM champagne.

When you see a Formula 1 broadcast, pay attention to how the winners pour champagne on each other. This year, the company announced the release of the GH Mumm F1 box “Limited Edition”, which is part of the Formula 1 Champagne collection from Mumm, the official sponsor of the race.

And recently, this champagne received a kind of artistic advertising support - unusual glass Mumm-balloons were produced - something in between champagne bubbles and airship balloons in size.

PRICES

MUMM is the world's third largest brand in terms of product sales, after Moet and Chandon and Veuve Clicquot.

About 8 million bottles are sold annually in more than 100 countries around the world.

Prices are at the price level of the leading competitors.

In Moscow - from 2500 rubles for a standard bottle of 0.75 liters. MUMM Cordon Rouge

7. Circle (Krug)

Quality and endurance - this is how the creed of the Krug champagne house could be formulated. “Their strict and very conservative policy of aging wine for many years before releasing it to the market seems almost incompatible with the pace of the modern world,” Robert Parker is shocked, “but fortunately, this ensures their highest quality, maturity and complexity.”

These people are not after quantity. The house produces only about 100 thousand bottles a year, which is 300 (!) times less than the production volumes of the mastodon of the champagne market - Moet and Chandon.

The company's own vineyard area is extremely limited - only 20 hectares, and it buys the best grapes from another 56 hectares of the best Champagne vineyards. The mixture is fermented in small wooden barrels, and then aged in bottles for at least 6-8 years. This provides the wine with a unique recognizable complex taste and the ability to further noble aging in the bottle.

The wines of this champagne house are among the most "long-playing", their quality remains unchanged or even improves with time. This is the fault of the so-called "late sale", as they can be aged for 30 or 40 years. This is an excellent object for long-term investment in wine. Robert Parker, after tasting the 1947 Krug vintage, said that this is the most outstanding champagne. that he ever tried.

At a wine auction in Hong Kong, a 750ml bottle of an even older 1928 champagne from the Krug Collection fetched $21,200, making it the most expensive champagne ever sold. According to the expert of the auction house Sotheby's Serena Sutcliffe (Serena Sutcliffe), this wine is one of the best champagnes in the history of winemaking.

PRICES

Despite the small volumes of production, Krug can be found in Russia. Not in every wine boutique, but it is, and this is not a cheap drink, in Moscow - from 12,000 to 25,000 rubles for a bottle of 0.75 liters.

8. Paul Roger

Founded in 1849 by Paul Roger, the Champagne house Pol Roger is still family-owned, resisting the general process of mergers and acquisitions of small family businesses by large holdings like LVMH. And today the house is managed by two great-grandchildren of its founder, who even changed their surname in honor of their great-grandfather - now it is written with a hyphen - Paul-Roger.

This is one of the best Champagne companies and one of the best champagnes in the world. Robert Parker, the world's top wine critic, is extremely enthusiastic: "If there is one vintage Brut champagne that can clearly claim to be one of the world's greatest wines, it is Pol Roger."

The exceptional quality of this vintage wine is its ability to keep for 30 years or more, which even many of the great red wines of Bordeaux can not. This circumstance makes Pol Roger very attractive for wine collectors and for reliable and profitable wine investments.

Paul Roger is known as Sir Winston Churchill's favorite champagne. He once said: “I can't live without champagne. After winning, I deserve it, and after losing, I need it.” And this was not a general remark about all champagnes - Churchill was a loyal fan of this particular brand. Pol Roger even supplied him with their wine in a unique container - specially made bottles of 1 imperial pint (0.57 l). Such champagne was served to Churchill by his butler at 11 am when he woke up.

Later, in honor of Churchill, the company included in its line of wines a special brand, Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill, which is made from grapes from the best vineyards of the best years, and which Robert Parker appreciates exceptionally highly.

PRICES

One of the best champagne houses, being a local family business, nevertheless, operates at the level of the mastodons of the champagne market - it produces about 1.5 million bottles of wine per year. And keeps world-class prices.

Pol Roger champagne can be found in Moscow, although not in every boutique.

Paul Roger Brut -
starting from 3000 rub.

Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill - about 10,000 rubles.

9. Bollinger

Bollinger is another wine from Olympus from the best Champagne wines. Specialists - Robert Parker, Hugh Johnson, Jancis Robinson and many other world-famous wine critics - include it in top five leaders in quality, along with Dom Perignon, Louis Roederer, Pol Roger and Krug.

And especially critics highlight the brand Bollinger Grande Année (Bollinger of the Great Harvest Year), ranking it among the most elite brands, with impeccable quality.

All other fans of champagne, paying tribute to the taste of Bollinger, know and remember this wine also as a favorite drink of James Bond, which he sips with a very aristocratic look in almost half of the twenty-odd Bond films.

On the eve of the premiere of a new film with Daniel Craig, Bollinger decided to support this association - "Bollinger - James Bond" - by releasing a limited edition of champagne, only 207 bottles. A bullet-shaped steel case engraved with “Bollinger 007″ contains a 1999 Bollinger Grande bottle.

And one more fact from the history of the brand, bringing it closer to the brand of Veuve Clicquot. Surprisingly, in the history of winemaking there is such a phenomenon - the "famous Widows of Champagne". The widow Clicquot-Ponsardin, the widow Laurent-Perrier, the widow Pommery, the widow Enriot... Their names have become trademarks. This list includes the legendary Lily Bollinger.

Widowed at 42, Madame Lily Bollinger devoted all her extraordinary energy to improving the technology of champagne production, maintaining the tradition of the highest quality of the brand, which was admired even by Thomas Jefferson.

Today's heirs of the house of Bollinger maintain these traditions of quality - the house is known for its famous "Charter of Ethics and Quality", which he promulgated in 1992, and which follows at the expense of production volumes. However, this is bearing fruit - the demand for elite Bollinger champagne exceeds supply so much that it is distributed across countries in accordance with the quotas established by the company.

PRICES

The company produces 1 million bottles a year, which is quite a lot for a family business. Some of these products are also in Moscow:

Bollinger Special Cuvee Brut - from 3000 rubles.

Bollinger Grande Annee - from 6000 rubles.

Bollinger Grande 1999 in the form of a bullet for agent 007, in a wooden box weighing 22 kg - $ 5765.00 - you are unlikely to find in Moscow.

10. Salon

Salon is one of the smallest great champagne houses that started with a 1 hectare vineyard purchased in 1911 by a charismatic personality named Eugene Aimé Salon. Having managed to be a teacher, a fur trader and many others before, having made a million-dollar capital, the Salon decided to become a winemaker, to produce wine that had never happened before.

It is not difficult to reconstruct his motivation - as a frequenter of restaurants and a connoisseur of the best French wines, Salon felt that there was a niche for him in winemaking - he could create something completely unique, a wine of unsurpassed quality and extraordinary properties. The idea was to create wine, firstly, on the basis of Chardonnay alone and, secondly, only in the years of the best harvests. In not very brilliant years, he did not want to make wine.

And thus, for almost a century, the house he founded in 1921 in the period up to 2006 produced only 37 vintage wines. Which, of course, from the very beginning made them famous as a luxury drink - extremely rare, prestigious and expensive. Already his first vintages made him a name, in the 1920s his Salon was the “wine of the establishment” in the legendary Maxime restaurant, a meeting place for the Parisian elite.

After Salon's death, his property was resold twice, and today it belongs to the Laurent-Perrier group. The new owners are trying to maintain the Salon brand, the wine is still made only from grapes of the best years, over the past 30 years only one of three vintages has been embodied in wine. Robert Parker, characterizing the quality of all Salon wines as "indisputable", especially highlights his favorite vintage - the 1990 vintage.

PRICES

The volume of production of Salon champagne is extremely small - about 50,000 bottles per year, and this, as was said, is not every year.

Naturally, such a rare wine is not a frequent visitor to Moscow boutiques and online stores, and it can be found with great difficulty.

Prices, however, are relatively low for such an exclusive - starting from 13,000 rubles for a bottle of a standard volume of 0.75 liters.