Classic Method

Join us Friday, January 28th at 11 am ET / 8am PT as @akbl chats with the entrepreneurial @alexschrec of @virtualwithus & @culturewithus . They’ll discuss how her idea of culture, community, and giving back came to fruition with her businesses, and what that means during our continued COVID experience. In addition, how Alex focuses on providing more opportunities for women and minorities. #joinus #community #sommation #sommelier #wineprofessional #entrepreneur #female #uplift #opportunity #culturewithus #virtualwithus #givingback #jamesbeardfoundation #career #goals #womeninwine #womenowned

Sorting through the library and came across this in Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1915 printing of “Treasure Island” #class #style #literature #library #writer #classic #qualityoflife #tastemaker #gay #nyc #ues

As we close out another year with @sommation_live the bubbles are flowing and we’re looking forward to a new year of toasts, learning, and celebrations. Today @stefanieschwartz and I discussed some of our favorite wines of the year as well as a few memories of connectivity during a difficult year. We both chose some delicious Champagnes. Stef went with @etiennecalsac “Rocheforts” Blanc de Blancs NV and I went with @champagne_paul_bara Special Club Rosé 2014. For those unfamiliar with the Club Trésor or Special Club, it’s a group of likeminded winemakers who exact a higher standard than the normal AOC rules for the region. Established in 1971, this collective now has 28 members. Only made in outstanding vintages, comprised only of estate fruit and facilities, and passing two blind tests: once as a vin clair (still wine) and once after 3 years in bottle. This wine highlights the varietal near and dear to the Bara family: Pinot Noir at 70% with the remainder being Chardonnay. The Pinot Noir doesn’t undergo malolactic fermentation so the wine holds a crisp and crunchy structure while still providing breadth and red fruit on the palate. Aged 9 years and has 7 g/L which is a lovely dry style that also balances the acidity beautifully. La Caravelle is a NYC staple paying homage to the restaurant André and @ritajammet owned. I was feeling pink, so I chose their Rosé bottling. Something that is fun, fresh, and approachable. Aged for 2 years on the lees, this wine is 40% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, and 30% Meunier. Juicy red berries and a hint of brioche make this wuaffable wine go down so easily!! Yum. Cheers to surviving another year and popping more bubbly than ever before! #champagne #sparklingwine #grower #negociant #specialclub #sommation #getsomm #quality #style #festive #gay #sommelier #sommlife #qualityoflife #cheers #sante #prost #salud #salute

Boxing Day Tea Time. #teatime #refresh #quality #teacup #collector #peppermint #china #porcelain #teapot #blueandgold #antique #style #gay #design #silver

When you work on a day off, you deserve a proper reward…but for real though. #cantstopwontstop #winedirector #oceans #nyc #qualityoflife #quality #somm #beverage #getsomm #sommation #martini #inandout #twist #happyplace

It’s #champagneday with @sommation_live and @champagne_officiel and I couldn’t be more excited. While we continue to persevere through the hardships this global pandemic has brought, take a moment to step back, be with loved ones, and open a bottle of Champagne. Here’s a toast to Champagne itself. To establishing a Sustainable Development, for working on a conservation plan for biodiversity, for water management in the vineyards and cellars, and for promoting eco-friendly aspects into the wineries. Want to know more about how the Champagne Comité and their work with the people who make this fine beverage? Well, check out the link in my profile for the Champagne MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) where you can strengthen your knowledge on this legendary wine, the region, and the people who work the land. Santé!! #getsomm #sommation #champagneday #2021 #france #vin #history #community #nyc #gay #somm #sommlife #leschampenois #santé

Traditions Thursday with @sommation_live and @champagne_official is bringing in the ties that bind! We ALL know Champagne as the way to celebrate, whether it be a wedding, a promotion, a birth, opening night at the Met, or ringing in a new year! Champange is present for so many joyous occasions. The seminal moment for Champagne being the baptism of Clovis I, the first King of what would become France, in Reims in 508 AD. Did you know that in 2015 Champagne Hillsides, Houses, and Cellars were marked as a UNESCO World Heritage Site? VERY COOL. Also very appropriate as this bubbly beverage has been enjoyed the world over. Les Champenois have always forged new paths, and will unfailingly continue on in that tradition. I thank them for their ingenuity, their perseverance, and their respect of the land. Here’s to another millennium of Champagne Traditions and Celebrations. My Tradition with @caseyvogler is our Love Book. It was his gift for our first wedding anniversary (traditionally paper) and it’s a place where we can record our special times, trips, or even a moment of appreciation for the love we share and how we grow together. Santé to my lifetime love, Casey! You are, and always will be, my heart! (The rose petal is from the time I proposed to Casey [after his proposal] because he called dibs on doing it first, and he crushed it!) What are your Champagne moments? (Nerd emoji) Don’t forget to check out the Champagne MOOC (link in profile) to brighten your day(s) with all that moving parts that make Champagne the “Wine of Kings and the King of Wines”! #champagne #celebrate #ingenuity #perserverance #france #clovis #sommation #getsomm #gay #sommelier #sommlife #traditions #roy #reine #vin #joinus #poppinbottles #love #forlife #forbetterorworse #blc

Welcome to Wellness Wednesday as @sommation_live continues it’s weeklong collaboration with @champagne_officiel Mental and physical well-being are just as important as the hustle and satisfaction of a full day. This self-care time and awareness allows you to reflect, process, and create the space for your heart and mind to integrate with the self. Much like the time Champagne spends resting ‘sur latte’, or as I call it: Wine Therapy. Champagne is my preferred beverage to pop open when I sit down, crack a book, and have some chill Vivaldi, Mozart, or Handel playing in the background. Talk about a #sensorycépage am I right?!? Evelyn Waugh’s “Brideshead Revisited” is a novel near and dear to my heart. While there is tradition and beauty in its pages, there are also themes and characters which highlight the fluidity of humanity. How breaking with tradition/status quo can enlighten and broaden ones perspective. Champagne is past, present, and future tense. Just as we are as individuals. LEARN from the past, BE in the present, and WORK toward the future. If you’re looking for inspiration on how to celebrate yourself with a bottle of Champagne, check out Episode 225 of @sommation_live with @carrielynstrong and @winegoddesslv for an inspirational chat on Champagne Color Therapy and how you can prolong that bottle of bubbles. #sensorycépage #sommation #champagne #france #getsomm #gay #sommelier #sommlife #qualityoflife #selfcare #integration #mentalhealth #community #joinus #nyc #champagneweek

It’s TIRAGE TUESDAY with @sommation_live and @champagne_officiel ! The process of making Champagne can be a little confusing, but one of the most important steps is the SECOND fermentation in the bottle, which the Liqueur de Tirage plays the leading role. With Champagne (or any wine made by this method) you make the wine TWICE! The first fermentation produces the Vin Clair, or still Champagne wine, which then gets hooked up with Liqueur de Tirage. What, pray tell, is in this liqueur? Still Champagne wine (Vin Clair), Cane or Beet sugar, Yeast. This liquid jump starts the second alcoholic fermentation providing the byproduct: carbon dioxide aka BUBBLES! Dosage, or Liqueur d’Expedition, is often confused with Tirage as they have similar ingredients. Dosage contains no yeast. This final stage in the process replaces the wine lost from disgorgement. It determines the final sweetness in the wine, which can be referred to as Residual Sugar (RS), and that sweetness ranges from Brut Nature (no dosage) to Doux (sweet) containing 50+ g/L RS! While Brut may be the most produced category now a days, Champagne began as a SWEET WINE drunk only by the crème de la crème. And boy do I like to have sweets with Champagne. Bakewell tarts are always a favorite. The nuttiness of the frangipane accentuates the brioche and toastiness in the wine and hits you with the sweetness of the raspberry (or cherry) jam. Heaven. Thank you @willtorrent for the recipe! Check out the chat between @annachristina722 and @stefanieschwartz for myriad pairings and bubbly energy. #sensorycépage #getsomm #sommation #champagne #champagneweek #france #tirage #dosage #classicmethod #gay #nyc #sommlife #community #sweetness #bubbles #perfectpairing

The French Horn section sounds the call for the piano’s melody to enter in sweeping chords spanning the full keyboard, while the strings begin the romantic and lush melody of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor. Soon, the piano takes over the melody, while the strings pizzicato texture brings in effervescence and a lightheartedness to the profound and heroic melody. Listen through the link in my profile! It is only through the synergy and collaboration of the various textures of the orchestra that this is possible. Much is the same with Champagne. The balance and complexity for a unified expression of different vintages and grape varieties is part of what resonates within us when we drink Champagne, whether you’re aware of it or not… Today, @ordinairepierre and I talked about how music completes the sensory cépage of Champagne. We are already seeing, smelling, and tasting. By bringing in the aural sensory experience you’re able to access areas of your mind and palate you wouldn’t have otherwise been able to. I am inclined to the correlation of classical music with Champagne due to my passion and training in this genre of music. This is MY story. What is yours? What style/genre does your mind associate and get activated by when you hear that cork pop or when you take that first, second, third sip? Share in the Comments!! Dive into Champagne with @sommation_live & @champagne_officiel as we highlight the accessibility and uniqueness of this famous region. Nerd out with the Comité’s Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for a free way to beef up on your knowledge and listen to some curated playlists via the Link in my profile. #sensorycépage #champagne #comite #france #bubbles #sommation #sommlife #champagneday #getsomm #nyc #gay #community #joinus

Today @sommation_live kicks off Champagne Week Part Deux in collaboration with @champagne_officiel Tune in today, and all week, for great convos ranging from music pairings to blending to environmental practices! Take your knowledge from this week to the next level by completing the Champagne MOOC (link in profile) to get your certifiably sound! #champagne #sommation #sommlife #knowledge #music #gay #pairings #community #quality #qualityoflife

Merryvale Vineyards 🍷Antigua 🍇Muscat de Frontignan 📍Napa, CA Father/Son team Jack and René Schlatter, along with winemaker Andrew Wright, center on the classic varietal of Napa: Cabernet Sauvignon. THIS wine, however, is an outlier utilizing the Muscat grape, and one that is a delicious foray into sweet wines. The origins of this wine actually start with André Tchelistcheff when he was at Beaulieu Vineyards in the ’60’s when he was first using the barrels, later purchased by the Schlatter family in the ’80’s, to make his solar style sweet wine. That’s right SOLERA SYSTEM!!! (Hold for applause) Today this delicious sweet wine, comprised of 100% Muscat de Frontignan, aka Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, a nod to the Vins Doux Naturels of the Languedoc-Roussillon where it has its own AOC. Their Solera is now an average of 35 years old. This cutie is packed full of flavor with pithy orange peel, toasted nuts, baking spice, and a floral, fleshy and caramel fruit. Pair this with a cheese plate, a crème brûlée, or simply as a nightcap. You won’t be disappointed. #muscat #sweetwine #california #napa #solera #handmedown #gay #sommelier #sommlife #nyc #getsomm #sommation_live