LITTLE BOOK OF BUBBLES Welcome | 3 DISCOVER A WORLD OF SPARKLING WINE WITH A BUBBLE CLUB MEMBERSHIP From the • Taste delicious bubbles from around Founders the globe • Boost your wine knowledge with our Welcome bubble lovers! members’ mag Bubble Club is for people just like you – people who love sparkling wine! • Savour specially chosen gourmet It’s our mission to change the BUBBLES! treats and other surprises way that people across the country Claim a fabulous 25% discount off your first box discover and enjoy new bubbles. We • Enjoy a 15% member discount off all when you use the code: are passionate about helping fizz fans cases in our Bubble Shop A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO BUBBLEBOOK BUBBLES learn more about the wines they love, share the fun of drinking them with 5 How is sparkling wine like-minded people and move beyond made? the limited options on offer in the average supermarket. 6 How to taste sparkling We love Prosecco as much as anyone, but we also know that wine there are so many other kinds of amazing bubbles that don’t get 8 Prosecco the recognition they deserve (as well, it has to be said, as fabulous Proseccos from smaller producers that can be hard to seek out). 10 Cava From Crémant to Cap Classique, Sekt to Espumante, every 12 Crémant month our Bubble Boxes take our members on a voyage of discovery 14 Cap Classique around the world of all things fizz – as well as a whole host of gorgeous gourmet treats to enjoy alongside a glass of the good stuff! 16 Sparkling wine There’s also a copy of our monthly club magazine in each box, terminology telling the stories of the wines we’ve sent and the people behind 18 Glasses guide them, and helping our members boost their bubble knowledge in an entertaining and accessible way. COCKTAILS In the pages that follow, we’ve gathered together some of our most popular articles, recipes and tips to give you a taste of what the club’s 21 French Favourites about – and hopefully help you get to know your favourite fizzes a bit 20 Bubble Box Specials better too. 23 Something Different If all this has whet your appetite for some lovely bubbles, we would love to welcome you to the club! Claim a fabulous 25% when you sign up at bubbleclub.co.uk BUBBLE BITES discount off your first box using the code: BUBBLEBOOK 25 Goat’s Cheese What’s more, as a member you can also get 15% off all cases of Feuilletés wine in our Bubble Shop. It’s a win-win situation! Join today and get 25% off with the code: BUBBLE25 26 Burgundy on a Plate Cheers! www.bubbleclub.co.uk/join 28 Risotto alla Milanese JON & JOHN, CO-FOUNDERS LITTLE BOOK OF BUBBLES • BUBBLECLUB.CO.UK LITTLE BOOK OF BUBBLES • BUBBLECLUB.CO.UK 4 | Bubble Knowledge Bubble Knowledge | 5 HOW IS SPARKLING WINE MADE? First things first: all sparkling wines will start off with the creation of a base wine. Sometimes this will be made using only a single grape variety (such as Chardonnay or Pinot Noir) but the majority of sparkling wines are based on blends of several kinds of grape – and also of grapes grown in different vineyards and different years. Such a blend is known in French as a ‘cuvée’. ‘Vintage’ wines are made from grapes all grown A in the same year, ‘single vineyard’ wines from grapes all grown in the same vineyard and wines labelled ‘cru’ will generally be from vineyards that are recognised for their superior quality. Both red and white grapes can be used to make sparkling wine, and the resulting wine can be white, rosé or red – and it doesn’t necessarily BEGINNER’S follow that red grapes only make red wine. Red grapes are white inside and produce clear juice, so you can make any colour wine with them. What determines whether it will be white, pink or rosé is the length of time that the coloured skins are left in the mix. GUIDE TO Sparkling wines tend to use younger grapes (i.e. picked earlier in the season) than normal wine as they have a higher acidity, which helps keep the wine nice and dry through the secondary only really need to get your head around the two fermentation process. most common ones in order to start opening those Whereas normal wine is fermented once, bubbly doors. BUBBLES sparkling wine undergoes a second fermentation to create its lovely bubbles. Since people started Traditional Method making fizzy wine (in Limoux, France in the Also called: Méthode Traditionelle, Metodo Classico, 1530s), different methods of tackling that second Méthode Champenoise, Méthode Cap Classique, fermentation have emerged, resulting in different Klassische Flaschengärung styles of sparkling wine. How the wine is made: Firstly, a base wine or wine In all, there are six main methods of producing blend (cuvée) is created. Sugars and live yeast are then sparkling wine, but let’s not over-complicate added to the wine to kick off the fermentation and the There’s a whole world of lovely bubbles out things where we don’t have to – to start with, you wines are bottled and capped. As the wine ferments there and here at Bubble Club, we’re making in the bottle, carbon dioxide becomes trapped, carbonating the wine and creating bubbles. it our mission to help fizz fans everywhere The bottle is slowly turned upside down, discover and enjoy new sparkling wines, bottle allowing the yeast to settle in the bottle as it dies. When the wine is ready, the neck of the bottle by bottle. As you can imagine, it’s quite a fun is turned upside down and frozen, allowing the mission to have! winemaker to eject the sediment in one go – this is called disgorgement. The bottle is then topped up with wine and recorked for sale. We know that the wine world can sometimes be an intimidating place How this affects the taste: The fact that the – but we’re assuming that, as you’re here reading this, you are interested in wine spends time fermenting in the bottle with yeast understanding a bit more about it. Well, the good news is, when it comes to (or lees) means that it takes on a range of flavours sparkling wine, it really doesn’t have to be all that complicated. from the yeast – and yes, those flavours can recall And the even better news is, just by arming yourself with a few key bits baked goods! of information, you will not only understand more about why you like what The longer the wine has been left to ferment in you do (and don’t like what you don’t), you’ll also help open the doors to the bottle, the stronger those flavours are. So a young many more delicious bubbles that you haven’t yet tried. Win-win! traditional method wine may have some yeasty notes, In the following pages, we aim to give you lowdown on how sparkling but will still be predominantly crisp, fresh and zingy. wine is made, what to look out for when tasting and also an overview of By contrast, a vintage Champagne or Gran Reserva some key sparkling wine types to help you begin navigating your very own Cava that may have been developing in the bottle for sparkling voyage of discovery. Cheers! many years will have developed very toasty, buttery, nutty and even savoury, mushroomy or leathery notes. Generally speaking, this method will produce the longest lasting bubbles. Examples of wines made this way: French Champagne, Spanish Cava, French Crémant, South African Cap Classique, some German and LITTLE BOOK OF BUBBLES • BUBBLECLUB.CO.UK LITTLE BOOK OF BUBBLES • BUBBLECLUB.CO.UK 6 | Bubble Knowledge Bubble Knowledge | 7 Austrian Sekt, Italian Metodo Classico, to preserve the vibrancy and freshness your wine, how viscous it is and how the Portuguese Espumante. of more aromatic grapes, like the Glera bubbles look in the glass. Variations: The Transfer Method variety that goes into Prosecco. Start with colour. Sparkline wine Some sparkling wines are made using the Examples of wines made this can be white, pink or even red, but look Transfer Method, which is identical to way: In terms of overall global wine closer. Are there green tinges or is it the Traditional Method all the way to the production, this is in fact the most straw yellow? Bright pink or an elegant process of disgorgement. In the Transfer common method. Some familiar types of salmon tone? Method, the wine is emptied from the wine made this way include: Prosecco, Swirl the wine and notice how bottle into a pressurised tank, where it’s Lambrusco and Asti. viscous it is. The more viscous it is, the separated from the sediment in bulk. more alcohol or residual sugar the wine HOW TO TASTE will have in it. Charmat Method SPARKLING WINE Also note the bubbles. Are they sluggish, drifting lazily to the top of your Also called: Martinotti Method, Tank Tasting – and talking about – wine is glass, or do they march energetically Method, Cuve Close, Metodo Italiano deceptively simple. to the surface? How big are they? Are In this Before you start, make sure that How the wine is made: there many bubbles, or just a few? The method, the base wine goes through the wine you’re trying is cold. Sparkling smaller and more persistent the bubbles, its second fermentation in a steel tank wines are meant to be served at low rather than in the bottle.