Bevinars Tasting by Mark Oldman: Secrets of Champagne

Pair with Bevinars by Mark Oldman: Secrets of Champagne

You could pay a fortune to see one of Mark Oldman’s famous, “five-star” (Food & Wine) “wildly popular” (Aspen magazine) live seminars at the nation’s top food festivals or you can take this Bevinars virtual series for a fraction of the cost and from the comfort of your own living room. In his trademark style that Bon Appétit calls “winespeak without the geek,” award-winning author and renowned speaker Mark Oldman will discuss classic grapes and flavor profiles, how to decipher a label, food pairings, ageability, and more. But Mark’s presentations always have more: he fills each session with his trademark “nuggets” of useful insider information that you won’t find anywhere else.

SECRETS OF CHAMPAGNE:
If you polled any group of wine experts, the majority of them would name Champagne as their desert-island wine pick. This precious potion from northeast France remains one of life’s great glittering indulgences, primed to mark a celebration or as reason for one, and increasingly a wonderful accompaniment to almost any meal.

We will consider a range of key subjects, including how to distinguish between seemingly similar types of Champagne, how to find the house style that best fits with your taste, what accounts for the growing appeal of grower Champagne, whether prestige cuvée Champagnes are worth their price, and the best bottles for the upcoming holiday season.

We start with grower Champagne, the small, privately-owned producers that grow their own grapes and are currently all the rage with insiders. Next, we examine an all-Chardonnay Champagne against a Pinot-dominant bottling and see how grape proportions, and other factors, can account for stylistic differences. Finally, we look at rosé Champagne, the category most coveted among connoisseurs and most versatile for pairing with food.

In additional to the featured wines being presented, Mark will clue you into other Champagne types, including brut nature and demi-sec styles. And, as is his tradition, he will demonstrate the fine art of sabering a bottle of Champagne.

Please visit bevinars.com to view upcoming class dates and to register. Registration is $55 per household/Zoom link or $176 (20% off) for the full four-week course.

Four featured wines, one bottle each representing this style:

• Grower Champagne
• Blanc de Blancs Champagne
• Pinot Noir-dominant Champagne
• Rosé Champagne

The specific selection of wine, and vintage, can vary state to state but will always be fitting of the style required to best enjoy the class. All wines have been personally approved by Mark.

About Mark Oldman
Known for his singular ability to unravel wine’s complexities with a potent blend of knowledge, entertainment, and imagination, Mark Oldman is one of the country’s top wine personalities and founder and CEO of Bevinars. He is author of several award-winning wine books that are considered the best of their kind, including the IACP-Award-winning How to Drink Like a Billionaire and Oldman’s Guide to Outsmarting Wine. Mark’s long-standing invitations to the country’s top food festivals and consistently sold-out appearances there attest to his position as one of food world’s most popular speakers. And when Amazon or Estee Lauder or dozens of other blue-chip companies need a wine expert to enthrall audiences, they turn to Mark. You might say that Mark has perfected the ability to distill complex subjects into enlightening, easily digested insights. Before turning to wine full-time, Mark cofounded and ran the career portal Vault.com. And as a former trustee and three-time graduate of Stanford University, Mark has long been dedicated to education at its highest level.