"Méthode Champenoise"

[smiling-knife]

I hope this little set is of interest and not too far off topic.

 

[Jack Black]

Absolutely beautiful S-K :thumbup:

 

[waynorth]

More please Steve!!

 

[richstag]

This thread is really getting good now

 

[Gevonovich]

Yes really good Please carry on S-K!!!

 

[sitflyer]

Love those! Very nice S-K:thumbup:

 

[knarfeng]

What ELDE wrote.

Mind you, some wine still have foil caps/plastic/wax which need slicing off before you can get at the cork. Yet corks are getting rarer, screwtop is rapidly taking over in Europe, and even plastic bottles :barf: I draw the line on these.

What I use is a Spanish made Pulltaps, a combo of foil cutter,lever corkscrew and bottle top opener. Not pretty, but effective. Soon I fear the corkscrew will be a tool relegated to the mysteries of "What WAS that? What was it for?"

A friend of mine owns a small winery. He says that getting good cork is becoming difficult. He says that if you use a poor grade of cork, it can impart a taste to the wine, or worse yet, fail to remain sealed during storage.

 

[Raymond1000]

When Dom Perignon first tasted his newly developed bubbly, he exclaimed, “Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!”

 

[smiling-knife]

Thank you everyone for your kind comments.

These are a few old circa 1900 champagne tools. The first English and the second German. Similar to the modern waiter's friend but with the end of the fulcrum doubling as a wire cutter blade.

 

[Will Power]

A friend of mine owns a small winery. He says that getting good cork is becoming difficult. He says that if you use a poor grade of cork, it can impart a taste to the wine, or worse yet, fail to remain sealed during storage.

Frank, your friend in the trade is of course correct. Cork is getting scarce and decent grade more so, I believe Portugal grows a lot of cork for Europe but many of its trees are becoming exhausted etc. Champagne corks are specially made flanged corks comprising different sections. In top maisons the cellermaster actually whips out the corks of vintage Champagne to remove the sediment&replaces them in fast measure. This is an exacting skill and can result in great loss if not done properly! Cork allows the wine to breathe and age, defective or poor cork can sour the wine so there is loss, but great vintages are enhanced over years or decades by the cork. Synthetic cork may not be able to replicate this. It is said that 1914 Champagne is still worth drinking (what is left!) and Champagne has been retrieved from shipwrecks, corks intact and in fine shape after many decades down below

S-K those are really interesting adverts and Champagne devices, many thanks as usual for showing us. What material is that foil cutter's handle? Ivory, bone or French Cell? A very fine tool to have.:thumbup:

Thanks, Will

 

[smiling-knife]

Hi Will. Thanks. The scales on that tool are ivory.

 

[Will Power]

A very impressive item s-k, you have a trove of knives&artefacts!

Thanks, Will

 

[quattromori]

S-K,
I was willing to post a few pictures of recent local examples, but after seeing yours, I'm even ashamed to search for them in my family house

Frank and Will,
North-Eastern Sardinia used to produce high quality cork, which was mainly absorbed by the local wine production (my island produces huge quantities of wine)...but lately the overall production numbers are going down, prices are going up, and only the high-end makers (or very small, niche wineries) can afford to use local cork, while other wineries have to mport, and sometimes settle with lower quality, or even choose synthetic ones. From what I've heard, it seems that certain types of wine are less forgiving when it comes to cork quality, while others don't suffer that much (unless your taste is really trained).
Yet, at least in this part of the world, anything that deserves the name "wine" is sold in glass bottles and sealed with cork and a plastic/wax topping...that's why this sort of knives (or dedicated multitools) are so common, and used as promotional items.

Fausto

 

[Jack Black]

Frank, your friend in the trade is of course correct. Cork is getting scarce and decent grade more so, I believe Portugal grows a lot of cork for Europe but many of its trees are becoming exhausted etc. Champagne corks are specially made flanged corks comprising different sections. In top maisons the cellermaster actually whips out the corks of vintage Champagne to remove the sediment&replaces them in fast measure. This is an exacting skill and can result in great loss if not done properly! Cork allows the wine to breathe and age, defective or poor cork can sour the wine so there is loss, but great vintages are enhanced over years or decades by the cork. Synthetic cork may not be able to replicate this. It is said that 1914 Champagne is still worth drinking (what is left!) and Champagne has been retrieved from shipwrecks, corks intact and in fine shape after many decades down below

S-K those are really interesting adverts and Champagne devices, many thanks as usual for showing us. What material is that foil cutter's handle? Ivory, bone or French Cell? A very fine tool to have.:thumbup:

Thanks, Will

Sorry Will, but I'm going to have to disagree with you on some of these things. Prior to secondary fermentation and the addition of the dosage, Champagne bottles are stored inverted so the sediment is in the neck of the bottle. This is then frozen (or close to it) and shot out of the bottles prior to the addition of the dosage and sealing with the final cork. The cork does not allow the wine to breathe, which is why, as you say, Champagne retrieved from shipwrecks has not only continued to age, but is not adulterated with sea-water. In fact, wine ages by a complex process of reduction, and a properly functioning cork is completely air-tight. Silicone 'corks' are technically at least as good as natural ones, but they are less aesthetically pleasing. I suspect the 1914 vintage, even the best of it, is somewhat tired now, but a couple of years ago I had bottles of the 1983 Dom Perignon and 1983 Perrier-Jouet Belle Epoque, and they were both excellent

Jack

 

[smiling-knife]

In days of yor, the bottles were stored in riddling racks. The bottles manually rotated about a 1/4 turn on a daily basis and the angle of incline gradually increased from 45 degrees to upright over about 3 year to create a plug of sediment in the neck of the bottle which would then be skilfully removed prior to the addition of the dosage and final corking.

The champagne pattern knife was a relatively high end advertising item.

Wire nippers were a less expensive and more efficient means of cutting the wire cage. This pocket version also has a cigar cutter.

More wire cutters, openers etc if there is interest. I fear I have hijacked a thread and taken it on a tangent.

 

[Jack Black]

In days of yor, the bottles were stored in riddling racks. The bottles manually rotated about a 1/4 turn on a daily basis and the angle of incline gradually increased from 45 degrees to upright over about 3 year to create a plug of sediment in the neck of the bottle which would then be skilfully removed prior to the addition of the dosage and final corking.

Indeed, I don't think a great deal has changed. They have a slightly different system to produce Catalunya's Cava

More wire cutters, openers etc if there is interest.

Yes please!

 

[smiling-knife]

Some more Champagne opening items. Hopefully of interest.

This is my oldest champagne cutters. It has the King William Royal Warrant stamp circa 1830-37.

1875 patent. These also used for piano wires.

A variety of champagne wire cutters

and pocket size cutters

A somewhat rare Watts pattern knife with a wire cutter.

 

[quattromori]

S-K,
keep them coming please!

Fausto

 

[Gevonovich]

You are right over the target, S-K!!! I am really enjoying everything you post!! Thank you!!!!

 

[Jack Black]

Yes, fantastic to see these S-K, thanks for posting them