ML - Michigan Avenue

2012 - Issue 4 - Summer

Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!

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bar exam c Gregg Anglebrandt prepares to saber a bottle of Champagne. ontinued from page 84 Pops makes the pairing wallet-friendly with $1 oysters on weeknights 3–7 pm. H. Billiot 2004 Grand Cru: A vintage wine aged for five years and composed entirely of that year's harvest. This particular selection comes mainly from Pinot Noir grapes with an intense, layered flavor. The rich and rewarding taste is worth the investment. MA Grand Opening Be the hit of your next fête by sabering your bottle of choice. Popping a bottle of Champagne is always a spectacle, but that doesn't mean it can't be intensified. Sabrage, a grand and dramatic technique dating back to Napoleon, actually severs the neck of the bottle and decapitates the cork. While not every sparkling wine occasion merits a sabering, there's no time like the present to make a scene. Pops's general manager, Gregg Anglebrandt, shows us how it's done. ●Ensure the bottle is extremely cold—the colder the wine, the less pressure there will be in the bottle. ●Remove all the foil and paper from the bottle, so you have a clear line of glass all the way to the neck. ●Unscrew and remove the metal cage around the cork. Find the seam in the glass. ● Score the bottle where the seam meets the lip of the neck. Slowly and with some force, rub the blade back and forth over this spot to "score" the glass where you will strike it. ●Ride the blade down the seam of the bottle in a fluid motion and follow through in one smooth movement up the neck. ●Pour and enjoy. Editor's note: Sabrage can be a dangerous process. Attempt it only with the help of a professional. After removing the foil. paper, and metal cage, he scores the bottle neck. Brilliant BuBBles TR Napa Valley owner Andrew Li offers four standout Champagnes for the summer season. Bollinger Special Cuvée: Full-bodied with great acidity, this rich, smoky Champagne has hints of marzipan and fennel seed accenting honeyed malt, bread dough, baked apple, and gingersnap flavors. Bruno Paillard Brut Première Cuvée: Initial flavors of citrus fruit and toast are followed by red currant jelly, cherry, and blackberry. A traditional Champagne that exhibits classic, chalky minerality, it's complete without being heavy, with a long, clear finish—elegant, fruity, and refreshing. Philipponnat Brut Premiere Cuvée: This Champagne has a full mouth, is nicely vinous, and remains fruity. Red currant, raspberry, and biscuit notes are present, along with a hint of fresh-baked bread; a light, crisp wine. Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label: The classic brut has a toasty crispness with notes of yeast, almond, and apple. It's a full-bodied, dry wine that's complex and elegant. Veuve is a Pinot-based Champagne, which gives it great depth. And in one fluid motion he strikes the neck with the blade. 86 miChigANAVemAg.Com phoTogRAphy By jimmy fishBeiN (sABeRiNg)

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