Unity

The BFC middleweight belt has been unified.

Anne and Arnaud Goisot's Cremant de Bourgogne NV easily handled the Alsatian Cremant and now, after months of tulmult, there is once again a single title-holder in the Bubbledome.

Flinty, pure and nervy. This bottle is more vinous than the last, with some red fruit evident mid-palate. The wine has stunning precision and elegant balance. The brilliant, briny, stony finish eliminated any doubt about victory.

Given this costs a mere $15, it's hard to imagine anything other than a long and illustrious championship reign.

K&L Wines has more in stock. Those guys should offer me a job.

2008 In Review: BFC

The New Year is a time for reflection, remembrance and top 10 lists. Best of's. Worst of's. Year in reviews.

None of which I care about.

But I did want to take the opportunity to reset the Championship Ladder in the Bubbledome and this seemed a good way to do it.

As many of you know, the biggest news out of BFC this year was bad. The back-alley, midget wrestling scandal remains a black mark on the sport. And while the World Cage Match was a huge commercial success, it served mostly to confuse the Championship Ladder. I even asked around at the Lab. No one was really sure who currently holds the Champion's Belt.

After the Greek shocked the world by coming out of the cage victorious, it was throttled in its first match against a Frenchie from Alsace. Meanwhile, a brilliant Burgundy sparkler won the last official match in the Dome. So who's the Champ?

A New Year's bout has been scheduled to unify the Championship. Goisot le Bourgogne versus Becker the Alsatian.

And there's even bigger news ahead for BFC in the Bubbledome. The sport's sanctioning body has approved a new Heavyweight Division. This weight class will pit Grand Marque Champagnes (the big, famous estates) against Artisanal Champagnes from Grower-Producers. Head to head.

I personally lobbied long and hard against this. Stripped of their massive marketing budgets, wine from the Big Houses is practically defenseless. But bloodsport is good for ratings and my efforts were defeated.

2009 will be big in the Dome. I can't wait to review it next year. Make some cool lists.

BFC 8: A New, Improved Definition of Small

This was never really a fair fight. A tiny, family-owned vineyard's base wine versus a slightly larger, but still small, family-owned vineyard's reserve cuvée.

Ployez-Jacquemart produces 6000 cases a year. Gaston Chiquet is comparably huge with 16,700. Compare this to Moët & Chandon's 2,000,000 or Veuve Clicquot's more than a million cases produced annually. This was a TRUE battle of Little Guys.

And both wines impressed. One a classic expression of Champagne. The other, an intriguing old-school, throw-back. The clear winner... was the crowd.

Ployez-Jacquemart Brut, NV. As they like to say in Champagnese, "This one is 50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay and the rest Pinot Meunier." They grow red grapes organically on a couple of small parcels near the village of Ludes, and source Chardonnay from grand cru villages elsewhere. Their wines never see malolactic fermentation and are always at the low end dosage-wise. This had a lightly yeasty nose of white wafer and honeyed lemon. It is elegant Champagne, linear, well-balanced and chalky. Fresh lemony apple fruit with layers of strawberry and red currant. And a zippy, stainless-steel and mineral finish.

Gaston Chiquet's Cuvée de Réserve. This is old-school Champagne. Intentionally crafted in an antique, oxidized style. This was disgorged April 2004 and is one-third each Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. It's half 1995, half 1996 (1996 was a biggie, and 1995 didn't suck). The Réserve spends 7 years on its lees. The nose was baked apple, ripe fig, saffron and toffee. This was a big, sensual wine, achey with lees and finished with a brilliant, saline minerality.

Jack Purcells versus satin toe shoes. How do you score a contest like that? Good thing it was only an exhibition.

BFC 8, After the Scandal

Things have been quiet in the Bubbledome since the embarrassment of the Little Bottle wrestling incident (I've been informed by staff that "little bottle" is the politically correct term). And while the local authorities continue their investigation into those unfortunate, back-alley events, all at the Lab feel it's time we pick up, try to move forward. We can only hope the stain will fade over time.

If you are new to BFC, you can catch up by reading THIS. And THIS. Or just cleverly figure it out from context.

In an effort to restore the Bubbledome to its illustrious, pre-scandal grandeur, the BFC Organizing Committee has decided on a bold course of action for BFC 8. The Bubbledome will play host to a Light Heavyweight Exhibition Match featuring two non-vintage Bruts from Champagne.

The real French deal in the Bubbledome.

Ployez-Jacquemart Brut versus Gaston Chiquet's Cuvée de Réserve .

I know you won't want to miss seeing these big boys get after it.


(blurry gloves: © Sailorman | Dreamstime.com)

Dark Days at the Bubbledome

I am shocked and horrified.

It seems that some of the exuberance of the Bubbledome has spilled into a back alley behind the Lab. In said alley, several members of the staff -- all of whom are now on official "administrative" leave -- have apparently been running unsanctioned, Dome-style competitions.

These grotesque battles pit 375 ml "demis" against each other in what is being called "Midget BFC."

Like you, I am appalled. This is highly insensitive and completely inappropriate, and all participants will be dealt with harshly.

It is worth noting, however, that the competitors were of a fairly high quality.

I found these notes on the ground after the local authorities completed their raid:

Fleury, Carte Rouge Brut, NV. First whiffs are wet leaves (oxidation), spiced apple, lemon and a trace of toffee. After 20 minutes reveals itself to be a moving target. Now nutty with a clear aroma of caramel apple. Cherry and green apple fruit with bright tangerine acid on the attack, a creamy texture mid-palate and a zippy, acid return on the finish.

versus Camile Saves, Premier Cru Brut, NV. Classic autolytics. Yeasty biscuits with an almond-y undertone. Elegant, with a vinous depth reaching down to a subtle mineral floor. Great red fruit fruit tang and sweet chalk on the finish.

A nice showing by both little guys.

Wonder who won?

BFC 6: A Crushing Victory for the Cremant

The Greek Brut survived the cage only to be trounced by a Bubbly Alsatian (that wine vocabulary can so easily substitute as pro-wrestling lingo is, I think, quite remarkable).

The "B" de Becker, Cremant d'Alsace, Extra Brut, NV, is from the Domaine Jean Becker in the hilltop village of Zellenberg. The three Becker siblings, who run the vineyards and winery together, trace their wine-making lineage back to the early 17th century. The "B" is a blend of Pinot, Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc. It's $18 at K&L Wines.

It has a beautiful nose of white flowers and tropical fruits including that faintly banana smell you sometimes get from new oak. And I'd swear there's an elusive fusel aroma as well. The palate is breathtakingly austere. Beautifully balanced, with a chalky minerality and a crisp, pencil-lead finish. The label looks like the page of a brochure from one of those wretched village museums, musée d'histoire de la ville, but the wine is quite elegant.

Next up in the Bubbledome, champion versus challenger. Two Cremants go toe to toe.

One unrelated note: It would seem that democracy has caught on more quickly at the Lab than in some parts of the Middle East (without naming names). After getting to vote on the Dome contest, the staff now votes on almost everything. They all voted the photo above as the worst in Lab history. When I tried to point out that a constant and direct democracy wasn't very practical, they voted that I leave the cafeteria.

BFC 6: Out of the Cage, Into the Fire

A rare democratic moment at the Lab today.

Some of the kids pointed out that the Greek winner, Tselepos Amalia Brut, in the BFC 5 Cagematch was very likely to get stomped by the current BFC Champion from Burgundy, Goisot's Cremant de Bourgogne. They thought it unfair to send the Greek in for an obvious brutalization. I argued that some of the best fights I've seen were one-sided. Who can forget Mike Tyson pulverizing Michael Spinks in 91 seconds 20 years ago?



But the kids were insistent. Fair play, sportsmanship and blah, blah, blah...

So we put it to a vote.

Turns out, I was voted down pretty much unanimously.

So this weekend in the Dome, the Greek Brut avoids the current champion, but will have to take on a different Frenchie.

Don't miss it. Results Monday.

BFC#5: A Lightning Bolt from Zeus!

Stunned.

No other way to describe it. We were stunned. All of us. None could believe that we'd all voted for a sparkling wine made from an antique grape we'd never heard of. Moschofilero? When the blindfolds came off -- we have a slightly unorthodox approach to blind tasting at the Lab, more like waterboarding really -- every jaw dropped. There before us, an international smörgåsbord of sparkling wines, and we had all picked the Greek as our favorite.

Tselepos Amalia Brut, NV. Nose was musty and graphitic with faint hint of apple. Elegant and balanced on the palate with nervy acid, delicate, honeyed orchard fruit and a clean, crisp stony finish.

So Amalia will be back to take on Goisot in the Bubbledome.

The rest of the competition, in order of finish:

Gruet Brut, NV. Strongly effervescent. The cork took out a chunk of ceiling plaster. Fruity nose of white flower and melon. In the mouth, a little flabby but not without some energetic acid.

Toso Brut, NV. Weird. And not in a good way. Tropical fruit and honeysuckle and a faint, almost Rieslingesque petrol quality. Less complex in the mouth, melon with some almond and a flat and dull finish. Very strange expression of pinot/chardonnay blend.

Taltarni Brut Taché, NV. Almost exactly that unique, rusty pink color of Dom Perignon Rosé. Beyond the color, this was disappointing. Closed, yeasty nose. Slightly overripe, apple fruit and tart, attention-demanding acid. This isn't bad as much as it's generic.

We all thought the Zipang Sparkling Sake was out of category, but really interesting. So we pulled it from the cage before it suffered any real damage. We'll bring it back for sushi night in the Dome. Coming soon.


(passport image © Icefields | Dreamstime.com)

BFC #5: Olympic-style Cagematch

To commem-
orate the spirit of the Olympics, I suggested to the boys that we host an event in the Brooklynguy Bubbledome with an international flair, something aimed at fostering understanding across cultural divides and promoting the ideals of world peace.

They were having none of it. So instead we're holding an old fashioned CAGE MATCH in the Dome tomorrow.

Five will enter. Only one will exit. And the winner will earn a shot at the current BFC champion, Goisot Cremant in BFC #6.

You'll notice though, I did manage to sneak in my internationalist agenda via the fight card.

The competitors (btw, I've been practicing trying to make my digital photos look like old, cheap polaroids. I'm getting pretty good, I think):

From Tasmania, Australia: Taltarni Brut Taché, NV. I've seen this on a lot of restaurant wine lists lately, universally overpriced. So I bought one at the shop for $14. Traditional 3 grape, Champagne blend. Bottle fermented. Taché means "stained". So the wine is essentially "pinked" with red wine blended into the liqueur d'expédition.

From Mendoza, Argentina, Toso Brut, NV. Only $10! A Blanc de Blanc (though the label doesn't say so), from Pascual Toso, a winery established by the eponymous Italian in the 19th century. Secondary fermentation in tanks (method charmant).

From Peloponesus, Greece, Domaine Tselepos Amalia Brut, NV. $19. An original Olympian. Made from a traditional Grecian grape, the Moschophilero.

From New Mexico, USA, Gruet Brut, NV. $13. I see this all the time. And I walk past this all the time. Except today. Today I thought, let's see how New Mexico holds up against the world.

From Fushimi, Japan, Zipang Sparkling Sake, NV, $6 (250 ml). This should be interesting? Naturally carbonated rice wine. One of the kids from our neuro-chemistry group brought this back to the Lab when we sent him for sushi from the Japanese convenience store up the street. Figured why not toss it in the cage?

Rules are blind-tasting with scorecards and no eye-gouging. Results will be posted as soon as they're tabulated. It'll be soon, but the new kid in accounting who's adding up the scores isn't exactly the sharpest stick in the pile.

(If you're new to the exciting world of no-holds barred, sparkling wine fighting, you can read about the origins of the Bubbledome here. Or search keyword: Bubbledome for the whole exciting history.)

image credit © Claudio Bertoloni | Dreamstime.com.

BFC #4: Bubbles Bourguinon!

Bottex was good, but the title reign was brief.

In the Brooklynguy Bubbledome, Anne and Arnaud Goisot's Cremant de Bourgogne NV was too much for the Sweet Pink from Bugey.

The Cremant comes from a tiny hamlet called St Bris les Vineux which lies between Auxerre and Chablis. The Goisots grow biodynamically, are fastidious vignerons and amazing wine-makers. Their dirt is less famous than their neighbors to the South, which means their wines are an incredible value. K&L Wines imports the sparkling wine themselves, so there's also no middleman. Retail price is an astonishing $15!

This sparkler is 100% Pinot Noir, a true Blanc de Noirs, made in the traditional method champenoise and disgorged by hand.

One of the reasons we're big fans at the Lab (besides that it tastes amazing) is this is really an education in a bottle. It has forced us to rethink most of our assumption about the role of Pinot Noir in the classic Champagne mix. Blind, we would have unanimously called this a Blanc de Blanc aged in stainless steel.

Here's the notes from the fight:

The nose is fairly closed. But on the palate, this is elegant and graceful. Dry, with crisp, pure fruit (reminiscent of a Chablis), a near perfect acid balance and a beautiful, briny chalkiness that builds quietly from the attack and then dominates the finish. It's not particularly complex, but it's seamless. If I'm scoring this against the other Cremants I've had, it's off the charts. It could compete easily against true Champagnes... if there was anything in its league at this price.

No contest. New champ.

An Ode to Brooklynguy

DATELINE: Bubbledome. All good things must come to an end. So today is both a sad and happy one at the Lab. Today we pass a torch at the Bubbledome. A crew has been working well into the night to take down the massive McDuff Food and Wine Trail sign, to replace it with an equally massive Brooklynguy sign.

Le roi est mort! Vive le roi!

Welcome to the Brooklynguy Bubbledome.

Okay, other than living up to the Lab's socialistic ideals of wealth-sharing (we are impractical scientists, after all) and the obvious benefits of alliteration, we wanted to honor another of our favorite wine writers with a term on the marquee.

For me, Brooklynguy is the anti-Jay McInerney. Which is to say he writes with straightforward humility and approachable clarity. He doesn't drop the names of famous winemakers he's had dinner with. And if he did, he wouldn't tell you what celebrity they most resemble. His stories, recipes and tasting notes are penned with an infectious enthusiasm that make you want to eat what he's eating and drink what he's drinking. He also offers up a regular Friday review of sparkling wines that make his association with the Bubbledome seem very appropriate.

At least that's our hope, since we didn't bother to ask permission about this.


(stadium: © Predrag Novakovic | Dreamstime.com )

BFC #3 : Pink Wins, Pink Wins!

There's a new champion in the McDuff Food & Wine Trail Bubbledome!

A sweet and funky Vin du Bugey-Cerdon, Patrick Bottex, La Cueille, NV has smashed the Italian champion, Ferrari Brut, NV (see here and here for past results) in a unanimous decision.

Bugey, in Southeastern France (in the Ain Department, see map below), is 20 miles up the Rhone River from Lyon and about the same distance from the Swiss Border. Historically, it was under the rule of the House of Savoy for those of you keeping track of the holdings of Renaissance kings.

The rosé sparkling wine from there, called Vin du Bugey-Cerdon, is VDQS, Vin Délimité de Qualité Superieure, which is just below the highest rank for French wine, AOC, Appellation d’origine contrôlée, but above VDP, Vin de pays (country wine), and Vin de table. Think of these as weight classes for our fighters, with the heavyweights being AOC and the table wines as flyweights.

According to the VDQS rules, it is made from either all Gamay or a Gamay and Poulsard blend. It is usually pink. In my experience, brightly so. Playful, often tasting like raspberry soda or sparkling kool-aid. And usually on the light-side, alcohol-wise, 8%. Bugey-Cerdon is a great conversation piece for a hot summer afternoon. Though rarely does the memory of the wine survive the sunset.

This wine from Patrick Bottex maps to my preconceptions of Bugey-Cerdon, except in one important category. It's awesome.

It's imported by the crème de la crème of West Coast Francophile wine importers, Kermit Lynch. You really can't judge a wine by it's front label, but a Kermit Lynch imprint on the back label usually implies a reasonable level of excellence in the bottle.

Here's the results:

A full-fizz method ancestrale sparkler, this looks (and tastes a bit) like black cherry soda. It has a sweet, yeasty nose of Mirabelle plum and strawberries. In the mouth, it's sweet, but not cloyingly so. In fact, it feels more sweet than it actually is. Your first sip you almost can't believe the big, bright, honeyed black cherry and strawberry flavors, but before the delicate, faintly chalky finish has passed, you realize it's really not as big, or ripe, or sweet as you thought. You blink, taste it again, and realize that this bottle of giddy pinkness has remarkable structure. You might even call it cultured, approaching elegant. But before you get carried away, you remember it is what it is, which is something like liquified Jolly Rancher cherry candy with a fake Pirate map label. Let's say it's like a guy in a tuxedo, eating cotton candy at the county fair. Oh, and he's got an eye-patch too.

I've seen it a few places, but I bought this one at K&L Wines, $20.

(map of Ain, France by Marmelad used per the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License. Don't borrow it without checking out how.)

BFC in the Bubbledome

One of the younger guys in the Lab called me an old dork. Because, apparently, I know next to nothing about kick-boxing, the sport of the future. You may know it as MMA. Or, like me, you may have no idea what I'm talking about.

He told me if I wanted to be cool (and who doesn't?), I'd refer to our occasional battles between sparkling wines in the McDuff's Food & Wine Trail Bubbledome as BFC.

Okay... Done.

But Junior, better get ready for my guillotine choke submission hold. Coming when you least expect it.


(image: © Aloysius Patrimonio | Dreamstime.com)

Bubbledome #2: A Spaniard in the Dome

Main Event in the McDuff Bubbledome:

Today, the Gran Sarao Brut Cava NV from Spain takes on our current champion, Ferarri Brut NV, from Trento, Italy.

The Italian took the belt in the first-ever battle in the B-dome with a solid, Champenoise nose and autumnal palate. (click here to see the tasting notes.)

The challenger is a Cava made from a blend of mostly traditional Spanish varietals, Macabeo, Xarel-lo, Parellada, and a dose of Chardonnay (10%). It's produced by the Mont Marçal winery in the Penedès wine region and bottled and branded as Gran Sarao for the importer. The Penedès dates the origins of its wine production to the 6th century BC when Phoenicians brought Chardonnay to the area. So it's not like they're José-come-lately to the wine game.

A couple of my favorite sparkling wines are Cavas from Spain. In general, I'm a fan. I bought this one because the tasting notes at K&L Wines made it sound exciting even if the label design is basically lame. I know there's no relationship between what's on the bottle and what's in the bottle. But I couldn't help lowering my expectations. I even bet one of Lab's chemists a week's pay that the Italian takes the fight in a wash.

But the Cava was surprisingly good. Dominating citrus and lemon zest on the nose with hints of almond paste and honey. It was austere, almost elegant, with zippy acid, muted golden apple flavors and a chalky, nutty finish, which, unfortunately, turns bitter at the end, morphing into something like ground peach pit on the tongue.

Not quite the complexity of the Ferrari and lagging behind in structure as well, but the Gran Sarao only cost 8 bucks! That's a huge advantage in the value category.

If it weren't for the bitter finish (and the fact I didn't feel like losing my bet), we might be crowning a new champion today in the B-Dome. But the Italian sparkler had enough stuffing to hang on to the title against this very inexpensive competitor. And I've got a chemist who will be working for free next week.

Olé.

(bullfight image: © Chantal Ringuette | Dreamstime.com)

Bubbledome #1: A Winner by Knockout!

One would expect the French to dominate these events. Champagne is, after all, the sparkling wine equivalent of the US Basketball Dream Team (Barcelona, not Athens). But our first champion in the Bubbledome hails from Italy. The non-vintage Ferrari Brut (no relation to the fancy cars) was the hands down winner against the 2005 Pétillant Naturel from Puzelat.

So it's a win for Italy out of the gate. But Giulio Ferrari was inspired by France. When he founded his winery in 1902, he actually planted cuttings originally from Champagne. He chose to put them in the nearly Alpen regions outside Trento (north of Verona) because the soil matched that of the famed French region.

Thierry Puzelat is a celebrated grower based in the Eastern stretches of the Loire Valley. He has a cult following amongst aficionados of "natural wines". (Lab note: there are subtle differences between "organic," a term for vegetables, "natural," which usually involves some form of organic farming and non-interventionist winemaking, and "biodynamic," which is kind of natural+plus. We will will try to illuminate the distinctions in a future report. And if anyone knows of a succinct explanation somewhere we'd love to know about it.). A writer who's tasting notes I always enjoy, Brooklynguy, recently wrote up several of Puzelat's wines with an enthusiasm that makes you want to drink them.

Puzelat's sparkler is made from Chenin Blanc in a méthode ancestrale, meaning the secondary fermentation (where the bubbles are produced) happens without liqueur de tirage (additional of sugar) or additional yeast. Fermentation, and therefore bubble production, simply stops when the yeast in the bottle is exhausted. Sparkling wines made in this manner are sometimes not so bubbly.

But this one had a fair amount of fizz. And an unexpected nose, faint hints of lanolin and Fuji apple and something strange and pleasant that I could only describe as caramelized rubber bands (and not at all like cork taint, promise). In the mouth, it falls fairly flat. Green apple (and you scoffed at our palate training exercise) with some faint mineral tones on the finish.

So the Puzelat wasn't bad, but it was out-classed by the Brut from Trento.

The Ferrari started out strong with a really interesting nose of doughy, buttery French toast and spiced apples. It continued to be impressive on the palate. Golden Delicious apple (again the palate training pays dividends!) with a lovely toffee undertone. Great acid balance and a sexy, if too brief, finish that was less chalk and maybe more like a white nougat. Hard to be precise because the delights of the finish are more about texture than flavor. Overall, this wine leaves a deep impression of Autumn with its buttery spices, crisp apples and falling leaves. I'm buying another bottle to drink in October.

This one could hold onto the champion's belt for a while.

Big News from the Bubbledome

One of the Lab staff recently pointed out that she felt we were missing an important commercial opportunity. I replied that we were a scientific research lab, unmotivated by petty, material concerns. Then I thought about it and asked her what she had in mind. Given the inevitable success of our Bubbledome competitions, the enormous (likely) fan base and the inestimable value of electronic real estate, she thought we should sell naming rights for the stadium. What a great idea! She also thought we should make tiny little boxing gloves to tape on the bottles. I guess it's true lightning doesn't strike twice.

The negotiations for the sale of the naming rights are likely to be protracted. How do you value "priceless?" So until we have the details worked out, we thought we'd offer the rights free-of-charge to some our favorite wine writers on the Web.

First up: McDuff's Food & Wine Trail penned by Philadelphian David McDuff, who was kind enough to offer the Lab it's first public encouragement (Thanks David!). McDuff is a highly knowledgeable wine connoisseur and a devoted foodie. His detailed accounts of treks to vintners and highly perceptive tasting notes are a valuable aid to the Lab's research.

So without additional ado, the Lab is excited to announce our inaugural match.

THE MCDUFF FOOD & WINE TRAIL BUBBLEDOME PRESENTS

Thierry Puzelat Vin Pétillant Naturel, 2005, Touraine, France ($18 at Chambers Street Wines, Manhattan)

vs.

Ferrari Brut Spumante, NV, Trento, Italy ($20 at K&L Wines, Hollywood)

Fight results tomorrow...

(Image credit: © Ryan Gerdts | Dreamstime.com)

Welcome to the Bubbledome

To break up the often dreary monotony of our experimental efforts and to reward the discipline and dedication of the Lab staff, I've decided to let some of the boys work off their excess testosterone with a semi-regular competition. But don't be fooled by the fun, sexy, and super-hipness of this. These competitions, like all (some would argue less than that) our other work at the Lab, will have a serious purpose as well.

Because our goal is both simple and bold. We aim to find the best, reasonably priced sparkling wine in the entire world. Bottle versus bottle, in a no-holds barred, ladder-style competition. The current champion holds the belt until defeated.

The rules are straightforward, if somewhat arbitrary. I prefer blanc de blancs from Champagne, so they will have a clear advantage. But anything that has undergone a secondary fermentation in the bottle can compete. Fair is fair, so the competition will be handicapped, points being awarded for perceived value. And extra points awarded for anything under $15 that doesn't totally suck. Similarly, anything costing more than $59 will be immediately disqualified. Unless someone happens to brings the bottle to a dinner party and we don't get around to opening it on the night. Or if it comes in a gift basket from my agent.

Oh, there's one more rule. And this last one is important. If we feel a producer has devoted an excessive amount of operating expense to advertising, then their bottle cannot compete in the B-Dome. If you know a few things about Champagne, you may be thinking to yourself, "This will rule out many of the Grand Marques champagnes, like Moet & Chandon, Louis Roederer and Veuve Clicquot." And if we could read minds (and maybe we can), we'd smile and say aloud: "Exactly. Who wants to drink really expensive lifestyle-accessories?"

We certainly don't.

The Bubbledome will opens for competition in the next couple days. Be sure to tune in.

(The image is a chair I made from the cage -- the wire thing that's wrapped around a Champagne cork -- of a bottle of Terre de Vertus from Larmandier-Bernier, a genius, biodynamic producer in the village of Vertus in Champagne. Ever notice how often genius and biodynamic go together? Coincidence? The TdV would have kicked major butt in the Bubbledome.)