Taittinger seeks wine experts with attitude to study bubbles at altitude.
Date Posted: 01 Oct 09
Posted By: Paul Caffell
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Taittinger seeks wine experts with attitude to study bubbles at altitude
Do altitudinal variations affect the size and speed of Champagne bubbles?
The humble bubble in the bottle of Champagne may be a much more important and mysterious part of Champagne than previously thought, if recent research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal proves to be true.
The study by Dr Liger-Belair and Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin of the Institute for Ecological Chemistry and Molecular Biogeochemistry in Neuherberg, released on Tuesday, found that the bubbles in Champagne are responsible for a large percentage of Champagne’s complexity of flavours, as well as its natural effervescence.
The results of the study conducted also underline the importance of using the correct glass to fully release the many complexities of Champagne contained within those fragile bubbles.
During 2010, the Champagne Taittinger balloon will be seeking to take this research an important step further by tasting a range of Taittinger’s Chardonnay-rich Champagnes at a variety of altitudes over the South Downs of England. With the aid of a spectrometer, the highly pleasurable study will seek to establish the bubble speed, bubble size and flavoural differences of Taittinger’s Brut Réserve Non Vintage (widely available on ground level), their Vintage Champagne and top of the range Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs, all of which are available in more lofty, high-end establishments. We think that our Rosé wines will also suit aerial sunsets admirably.
Explained Lynn Murray, Marketing Director for Hatch Mansfield, the UK agents for Champagne Taittinger:
“It is a well established fact that our sense of taste changes as one achieves altitude. Over the course of 2009 many of our guests who have taken flight with us in our Taittinger hot air balloon have asked whether the change in pressure affects the size, speed and number of Champagne bubbles. We know of no study that has looked at this; so we have decided to carry out a series of Taittinger tastings at various heights with professional wine tasters, including one of our Company’s three Masters of Wine.”
Weather permitting; Taittinger hope to unveil their findings in the summer of 2010.
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