BUBBLES KEEP THE FIZZ GOING

A stunning 50 per cent drop in profits is directly linked to less champagne being drunk.

That’s the alarming finding of  leading drinks retailer, Majestic Wines. End of March annual figures for their nationwide shops revealed that sales of champagne were down by 24per cent and, as champagne accounts for some 18 per cent of the company’s total sales, that represents a serious loss of bibulous activity. 

Other reports also point up the plain fact that British drinkers have curtailed their champagne lifestyles over the past year – though once the London Season started, a distinct improvement was noted.

Happily, those who find a glass of bubbly one of life’s consoling pleasures in the face of current pressures are finding solace in less expensive sparkling wines, from Italy and Spain. Sales of Prosecco have soared and Cava isn’t doing badly either.

Prosecco is a lighter drink than champagne, fruitier and generally with a lower alcohol level. It comes largely from the region between the Dolomites and Venice and is represented by the Prosecco DOC Conegliano Valdobbiaden Consortium, just upgraded to a DOCG grading. This is the highest level of label grading in Italy, with stringent controls. A campaign is underway to pursuade more British drinkers of its delights.

At a tasting of wines for the Christmas season during London’s heatwave, Wine Rack offered Prosecco Sant Orsola, a very pleasant, fresh drink.  This is usually on sale at £10.99 but will be reduced to half price from the end of October in the run-up to Christmas, to £5.48. 

This retailer will be offering a wide range of other drinks at half price in their 300-odd shops, including the Heidsieck Monopole 1er Cru Champagne, at £15.99 instead of £31.99; a very appealing Pinot Noir from the Australian Mountain Pass, to be served well chilled,  and selling at £5.48, usually £10.99; and the Louis Latour white Burgundy, high quality at £8.95 rather than the usual £17.99.

There are clearly some  advantages to the recession.

BIG BOTTLE NOT BIG BUBBLES

For that special celebration, it has to be the real thing - and a Jeroboam of real champagne somehow pushes thoughts of recession into the background.

A Jeroboam is three litres of the bubbling nectar, or the equivalent of four bottles of the standard champagne bottle. It is a glorious gesture of indulgence and a suitably impressive present for jaded palettes.

Online gift specialist, Getting Personal, is offering this special bottle in their latest range, filled with Jean Pernet Champagne Reserve Brut Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc. Unhappily, they have chosen to title it 'The Very Big Bubbles - Jeroboam' when as any champagne drinker knows, bigger bubbles are associated with inferior fizz. That this one is produced in the heart of the champagne region, using the highest quality grapes, is testament to its pedigree. Perhaps it will be re-christened.

To be ordered through www.gettingpersonal.co.uk, it comes in a Jean Pernet branded wooden crate and costs £99.95, pictured here alongside the standard-sized bottle. Orders are usually dispatched within 24 hours.

TRADITIONAL TIPPLE WITH RIGHT CREDENTIALS

There is nothing slow about the effects sloe gin may have on the inexperienced drinker who takes this to be some gentle country beverage.

Long made by country folk from the fruit of the blackthorn tree, mixed with gin, it packs a powerful punch from an alcohol content between 15 to 30 per cent. Now, it is being re-appreciated with country/natural/traditional credentials that appeal to a new batch of environmentally concerned drinkers and it is appearing in greater variety on supermarket shelves.

SLOEmotion has seen a 39per cent increase in its Sloegin sales in the first quarter of this year over last, helped by new marketing. This Yorkshire-based company has garnered a heap of awards for the quality of its product, including a Gold Star in the nationwide Great Taste Awards and Gold Medals in the Daily Telegraph’s Taste of Britain Awards.

In addition to sloe gin, they also make sloe whisky, brandy and vodka liqueurs, as well as scrumptious truffles and chutney that use the fruit left from the gin-making process. Recycled treats. www.sloemotion.com