Champagne For Women's Month!

Welcome to Taste with Elle, Women's Month edition. I am drinking champagne from the region of Champagne, because it's not champagne, it's not from the region of Champagne, made by a woman from a winery founded by a woman. Henriot was founded by Apolline Henriot. Currently, the winemaker is Alice Tetien, who informed me that there's a strong tradition of women winemakers and champagne, particularly in like the war years, the men went off to fight because the men and the women valiantly carried on. You know what? They make some bomb ass champagne. This was so in the war that it was over. They're like, let's let these women keep making champagne. Actually, I've been writing an article. There are quite a few champagne houses headed by women these days. This gorgeous champagne is a blanc de blanc, meaning it is made from old white grapes, in this case 100% Chardonnay. It was made in the champagne method. OK, wine is sure. How are we doing sparkling wine 101? Why not? Why not sparkling wine 101? The way sparkling wine in champagne is made, they make a base wine. They may or may not blend. I'm going to leave out some of the finer details. But basically, they make a base wine. They put the wine in all the champagne bottles, the very same bottles they sell them to. And and then they add more yeast. Yeast is the thing that eats sugars to create alcohol, all sorts of other byproducts such as carbon dioxide. So what happens is they make a wine with a low alcohol level and then they add more yeast, but then they cap the bottle. So the yeasties are making more alcohol and flavors and all sorts of processes are happening. The carbon dioxide created by the fermentation can't escape. It is dissolved in the liquid until it's exposed to oxygen. They do this thing called riddling, which is a process invented by a woman, the Vue Clicquot, the widow Clicquot. I have choice words to say about the yellow label Clicquot that everyone loves to buy these days. But the Madame Clicquot herself was a badass who invented this process called riddling to get all the dead yeast cells out after that. And then sometimes they add sometimes bone dry and they add a little sweetness and they call that dosage. I don't think this wine had dosage. And that's how champagne is made. I should probably do like a full full video explaining all the different types of sparkling wine. Look at this beautiful wine. This is a golden yellow color. Blanc de Blancs made by all Chardonnay grapes. It smells like raw green apple and lemon curd. Smells a little rocky, almost a little. Maybe it's just because I was working with macadamia nuts earlier. I'm making cookies. But almost this like pleasant or Marcona apple kind of notes to it. But above all, over all these fruit and notes and all that is this major framework of brioche. All the extra use in champagne often does give it different types of ready notes. Sometimes they look toasty. This one is quite toasty. It's like toasted brioche bread. It's very creamy. This is quite dry. The alcohol is 12 percent. So squarely in the medium range, you get this like really bright lemon curd notes on a cloud of brioche bread. Maybe someone slid some apple slices in there and then they ate it all on a plate made of chalk. And the texture is sublime. The bubbles are teeny tiny. I'll cover bubble differences in another video, too. Sometimes different methods of sparkling winemaking. The bubbles are kind of big and flabby. Champagne, it's petite and pearly. So when it glides over your tongue, it's like making clouds. Not that clouds are bubbly, but it's a soft feeling. It's both soft and prickly. And then at the end of it all, like I'm sitting here right now and like in the back of my palate, it's just like it is one toast. It is one with brioche toast. My mouth is toast. I'm hungry. I haven't eaten today. I'm going to make toast after this. All right, guys. Well, while it is women's month, actually, no year round, you should go find champagnes made by women. Go out, pop a bottle, pour yourself a glass and cheers to women, because we're worth it. You know who else thinks that women are worth it? Making a note, going to do that.