BOTTLE SIZE MATTERS FOR CHAMPAGNE

(TheDrinksBusiness) - Bottle shape and size has a significant effect on the style and evolution of Champagne according to some of the region’s leading houses.

In an experiment on Monday this week, Ruinart proved that the bottle format alters the development of the Champagne through a blind tasting at the Masterpiece art fair in London.

As previously reported by the drinks business, a group of wine writers were asked to assess six Champagnes served in black ISO glasses, before it was revealed that four of the wines were identical, except for the fact they were bottled in different formats.

A half-bottle blanc de blancs NV from the house showed the developed aromas one might expect from an aged vintage Champagne, while a Jeroboam had a much younger character, including an attractive, but slightly reductive note.

The standard bottle showed an appealing richness, while the most balanced wine of the tasting was the Champagne aged in magnum.

Following this, yesterday, at a UK press lunch in London, Bollinger served its latest release: the Bollinger RD 2000, which has been bottled just in Jeroboams because the larger format was declared better at preserving freshness.

“We chose to launch the RD 2000 only in Jeroboams because it was a very warm year,” explained Gilles Descôtes, Bollinger’s new chef de cave following the departure of Mathieu Kauffmann earlier this year to join German producer Reichsrat von Buhl.