AOC Crémant de Bordeaux and Oyster Fritters

The AOC Crémant de Bordeaux was introduced in 1990 and replaced the older AOC Bordeaux Mousseux and covers both white and rosé sparkling wines made in Bordeaux. These sparkling wines are high quality and are made by the same method as Champagne - the Méthode Champenoise in which the wine undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle. However wine produced outside the Champagne region of France may not be called champagne, even if made the same way and the Champagne producers have successfully lobbied the European Union to restrict that term to wines from their region. Thus wines from elsewhere may not use Méthode Champenoise when sold in the EU, and instead traditional method, Méthode Traditionnelle or the local language equivalent can be seen. Consumers outside the EU may still see Méthode Champenoise on labels, but it is becoming less common.

The grape varieties permitted for the white wine are Muscadelle, Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon with White Riesling, Colombard, Mauzac, Ondenc, and Ugni Blanc (within 30%) . Varieties permitted for the rosé are: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Carmenère, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Various versions from dry to sweet are produced. In the case of the sparkling rosé the grapes are delicately pressed (to produce only 100 litres per 150 kg of harvested berries) to avoid extracting the red pigments in the grape skins. All harvesting is done by hand, and to ensure the grapes are not crushed, they are transported in small baskets. Crémant de Bordeaux must be bottled on its lees for at least nine months and the wines must also be aged for a minimum of one year.

Production is limited and is a little over 100 acres across the Gironde. The Méthode Champenoise involves a second alcoholic fermentation which occurs in the bottle after the primary fermentation. This second fermentation is induced by adding several grams of yeast (each brand has its own secret recipe) and several grams of rock sugar.) The bottle is then capped with a crown cap and riddled so that the lees settles in the neck of the wine bottle. The wine is then disgorged. The pressure in the bottle forces out the lees, and the bottle is quickly corked to maintain the carbon dioxide in solution.

Riddling is when the the bottles are placed on special racks called pupitres. This places the bottles at a 45° with the cork pointed down. Every few days the bottles are given a slight shake and turn and dropped back into the pupitres (eventually the angle is increased). The drop back into the rack causes a slight tap, pushing sediments toward the neck of the bottle. In about 6 to 8 weeks the position of the bottle is pointed straight down with sediment in the neck of the bottle. This manual way of riddling sparkling wine is still used but nowadays it has been largely abandoned because of the high labour costs and mechanised riddling equipment called gyropalettes are used instead.

Disgorging is the next stage (invented by Madame Clicquot in 1816) and is where the cork and the lees are removed without losing large quantities of the liquid, and a varying amount of sugar is added. Until this process was invented the sparkling wine was cloudy (a style still seen occasionally today under the label Méthode Ancestrale). Modern disgorgement is automated by freezing a small amount of the liquid in the neck and removing this plug of ice containing the lees.

There are records which show that Crémant de Bordeaux was being made in the 1800s but wines with bubbles have been noted as far back as the Ancient Greeks and Romans. However the causes of this mysterious appearance of bubbles was not understood. Over time it has been attributed to phases of the moon as well as both good and evil spirits. The tendency of still wine from the Champagne region to lightly sparkle was noted in the Middle Ages but this was considered a wine fault. Dom Pérignon was originally charged by his superiors at the Abbey of Hautvillers to get rid of the bubbles since the pressure in the bottles caused many of them to burst in the cellar. Later, when deliberate sparkling wine production increased in the early 1700s, cellar workers would still have to wear heavy iron mask that resembled a baseball catcher's mask to prevent injury from spontaneously bursting bottles. The disturbance caused by one bottle's disintegration could cause a chain reaction, with it being routine for cellars to lose 20-90% of their bottles to instability – hence the sparkling wines being dubbed "The Devil's Wine"!

I have found a super recipe for Oyster Fritters which uses sparkling wine in the batter rather than the UK's more traditional beer - the sparkling wine has lots of bubbles that will release into the batter when it cooks, fluffing it up even more! And, of course, you can enjoy a glass of bubbly with your finished dish!

Beignets D’Huitres au Vin (Oyster Fritters)

Olive oil for frying
1 cup flour
½ cup cornstarch
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 cup sparkling Crémant de Bordeaux
24 fresh oysters (in the shell)
Red wine vinegar for garnish (optional)
Horseradish garnish: (optional)
2 tbsp grated, fresh horseradish
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon lemon zest

Heat the vegetable oil for frying to 375F in a deep frying pan or deep fryer. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, cornstarch, and pepper. Mix the Crémant de Bordeaux into the dry ingredients until they are thoroughly combined into a thick, smooth batter. Shuck the oysters by carefully inserting an oyster knife into the oyster near the hinge and firmly twist it to open the shell. Gently scrape the oyster meat loose and transfer it to a colander set over a plate or sink to drain. Repeat with the remaining oysters.

Dip the oysters into the prepared batter and fry them in batches of 4 in the hot oil, turning once halfway through, until they turn deep, golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. While the oysters are frying, toss the horseradish, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and set aside. Serve the oyster fritters hot, drizzled with the red wine vinegar or the horseradish-lemon garnish.