Champagne, Uncorked
The House of Krug and the Timeless Allure of the World's Most Celebrated Drink
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
The epitome of effervescence and centerpiece of celebration, Champagne has become a universal emblem of good fortune, and few can resist its sparkle
In Champagne, Uncorked, Alan Tardi journeys into the heartland of the world's most beloved wine. Anchored by the year he spent inside the prestigious and secretive Krug winery in Reims, the story follows the creation of the superlative Krug Grande Cuv'e.
Tardi also investigates the evocative history, quirky origins, and cultural significance of Champagne. He reveals how it became the essential celebratory toast (merci Napoleon Bonaparte!), and introduces a cast of colorful characters, including Eugè Mercier, who in 1889 transported his "Cathedral of Champagne," the largest wine cask in the world, to Paris by a team of white horses and oxen, and Joseph Krug, the reserved son of a German butcher who wound up in France, fell head over heels for Champagne, and risked everything to start up his own eponymous house.
In the vineyards of Champagne, Tardi discovers how finicky grapes in an unstable climate can lead to a nerve-racking season for growers and winemakers alike. And he ventures deep into the caves, where the delicate and painstaking alchemy of blending takes place -- all of which culminates in the glass we raise to toast life's finer moments.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Food and wine writer Tardi (Romancing the Vine) takes an uncritical approach to an, admittedly, rarely criticized wine. The book begins with the 2012 harvest and gives readers an unprecedented look into the process of crushing grapes, fermenting, tasting, blending, bottling, and aging that leads to the Krug Grande Cuv e, one of the most prestigious non-vintage champagnes on the market. A second thread carries readers from the earliest days of Champagne as a wine-growing region of monks and small farms, through a developing landscape of personalities and world events, to the modern state of the drink as a luxury good, highly regulated and, though still created by many family vineyards, often controlled by massive corporations. While the handling of Krug often reads as embellished advertising, the details of the winemaking process, as well as the stories of the region's history, are compelling and interesting. The language vacillates between simple and technical, sometimes leaving a reader to wonder who Tardi's intended audience is, but the work carries a wealth of information for a reader at any level of wine expertise and is more accessible than the Grande Cuv e, if not quite as effervescent.
