Olympus you heart breaker.
Home of the gods. Unmatchable peak.
For thousands of years mortals have tried to live up to what they imagine the Gods expect of them.
Hence The Games.
Who could run, jump, throw and wrestle faster, higher, stronger than the next man.
In the early days it was naked blokes only.
As you see in Paris, we have come a long way.
Speaking of that part of the world, we were recently invited to what could be regarded as the Olympics of wine tasting. That is if you prefer your wine with bubbles coming exclusively from one corner of France.
Champagne.
‘Taste Champagne’ graced Australia for the ninth time in ten years.
It is the biggest global champagne showcase.
Organised by Australia’s Mr Champagne Tyson Stelzer, Taste Champagne allows us to taste some 150 wines from some 50 Champagne Houses.
Typically each House offers a non vintage NV Brut, their ‘everyday’ wine.
Then a Rosé and one or two special bottlings, perhaps a Blanc de Blanc made exclusively from the white grape Chardonnay without the two red grapes permitted in Champagne, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
Or a vintage wine from an earlier outstanding year. Or a prestigious special cuvée such as Bollinger’s Grand Année, Veuve Cliquot’s La Grande Dame, Pommery’s Louise or Taittinger’s Comptes de Champagne.
Far too many delicious wines to detail in this short article, but working one’s way round the room is a serious few hours of work. Swirling, sniffing, sipping, thinking, taking notes. This is a tasting, not a party, so almost every mouthful after examination is spat into a bucket. Shame, you cry, sacrilege, and we agree. But that’s the task. And somebody has to do it.
We do swallow some. A reflex we can’t and don’t want to stop. At the end we return to the table with the wine that impressed us most and plead for a slightly larger sample to be poured into our trembling glass. This last one we savour and swallow in full.
Coinciding with the demanding Taste Champagne road show is the unveiling of the other work Tyson has had to fill his days the rest of the year. It involves much travelling and visiting cellars in Champagne and much tasting and writing all over the world
Here is his book The Champagne Guide Edition VII. This one is the biggest and most comprehensive yet. A fabulous work 50% biggest than the previous volume. You can see it at here
He has also launched his website www.Champagne.Guide featuring reviews of more than 5300 champagnes from more than 250 Houses. It also includes dozens of sparkling articles for the champagne lover.
What a lifetime of work this man has done! It’s there to see for anyone in the world who loves a glass of fizz.
An Olympian journey.
Tyson may not be at the peak yet but he’s heaps closer than most and he doesn’t need a guide any more.
