The perfect couple: Champagne and an oak barrel

Cooking vessels are essential tools of the trade for Chinese chefs. Likewise, winemaking has its own essentials — and one of the most important is oak barrels. Since ancient times, winemakers have used various vessels to ferment, age and store wines. They are an integral part of the long and intriguing story of wine.

Over most of the roughly 9,000-year history of wine, the concept of aging wines to improve quality didn’t exist. Wine vessels were created to transport and store wines. The oldest were made from animal intestines and skins. Then came the advent of pottery and some of the world’s first winemakers in present day Georgia and Armenia would transport their wines in clay amphorae down the Euphrates and Tigris rivers to the Middle East. The oldest known winemaking and storage vessel is the Georgian

Archeological digs demonstrate that 8,000 years ago grapes were fermented and stored in these large clay vats that were buried in the ground. The

vats however were too large and heavy to be used to transport wines.

The first widely used vessel to transport wine on a commercial basis in the ancient world was the amphorae, a tall clay vessel with a tapered bottom, slim neck and handles near the top. Around the birth of Christ, Rome alone required an estimated 20,000,000 amphorae for trade. When the Romans expanded their empire northward they noticed that the people of Gaul transported their beer in oak casks.

The Celts actually invented the oak barrel strengthened with metal bands about 300 BC. Lighter, stronger and easier to transport than amphorae, the practically minded Romans were quick to adapt this new vessel and by AD 200 the age of clay vessels was over. The age of oak had begun. Then something truly amazing happened, the Romans gradually realized that the wines transported in oak actually improved. Further innovations including modern glass, the cork and more recently stainless steel have been used to improve the quality and longevity of wines. But for many of the highest quality wines, oak barrels continue to play an essential role in fermenting and aging wines.

Champagne

With the possible exception of Sherry, sparkling wines using double fermentation in the bottle are the most difficult to produce. Some refer to this as the Champagne method but this in fact is a misnomer as this process that imparts bubbles to wines was actually invented in Limoux in the south of France in the 16th century. A century later, Dom Perignon and his fellow monks helped refine the process to make the precursors of modern-day Champagnes.

What principally dictates the style of a Champagne is the location of the vineyards, the blend, fermentation, dosage and aging. Most Champagnes are blends of the three authorized grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. There exist single variety Chardonnay wines called Blanc de Blancs that tend to be lighter and have more finesse as well as single variety Pinot Noir Blanc de Noir wines that tend to be heartier and more structured.

Some producers still ferment their wines in oak barrels to give more body,

The three authorized grapes in Champagne are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

As the name implies, barrelfermented refers to wines of all sorts including Champagnes that undergo primary fermentation in oak casks. richness and complexity. These include Krug, Bollinger and several smaller producers. Known for its lighter finessedriven Champagnes, Pol Roger does have one deliciously notable exception the full-bodied, oak-fermented Winston Churchill Cuvee. Most modern Champagne houses forswear the use of oak and ferment their sparklers in stainless steel vats to emphasize fruit purity. These include Moet et Chandon, Veuve Clicquot and many others. There’s really no right or wrong here. It’s just a question of style.

I prefer oak-fermented Champagnes with substantial fare like roasted chicken and veal in classic cream or mushroom sauces, while lighter and more graceful Champagnes fermented in stainless steel are more appropriate as an aperitif or with fresh foods like sashimi, sushi and salads. Whatever style of Champagne you choose, picking the right producer is essential. Big Champagne brands certainly make some great wines but equally good wines at appreciably better prices are made by small to medium-sized family houses.

One of my favorite producers who has wines in Shanghai is Eric Rodez. For nine generations, this family has been making exceptional yet reasonably priced Champagnes. Among these are the barrel-fermented Ambonnay Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs (70 percent barrel-fermented), Ambonnay Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs (70 percent barrelfermented), Ambonnay Grand Cru Les Beurys (100 percent barrel-fermented) and my personal favorite the bracingly dry Ambonnay Grand Cru Dosage Zero (80 percent barrel-fermented).