flipChampagne Ratafia with Aube Fruits
Champagne Ratafia with Aube Fruits
Why this dish? Throughout the Champagne wine-growing region, ratafia is made by muting fresh grape juice with eau-de-vie: it is a reserve drink kept for months in the cellar and brought out for guests. Boucher, a child of this vine-growing land, surely knew this amber bottle offered to visitors as a sign of welcome.
A homemade liqueur wine: the fermentation of grape must is stopped with marc, preserving the grape's natural sugar. Sweet, fruity, slightly tangy, it keeps well and is enjoyed as an aperitif or with dessert.
Here, have a small glass of my ratafia — no, no, don't refuse! At the Champenois winemaker's, we always keep a bottle in the cellar to celebrate a visit. We stop the grape juice with a little marc, you see, and the fruit's sugar stays trapped, all quiet. You must let it sleep for months in the dark before pouring. Drink it cool, in small sips: it's all the sunshine of our hillsides bottled up.
- •Fresh grape must (unfermented juice) — two thirds (base)
- •Marc de Champagne (grape eau-de-vie) — one third (mutage and preservation)
- •Cinnamon stick, zest — optional (flavoring)
Champagne Ratafia with Aube Fruits
A homemade liqueur wine: the fermentation of grape must is stopped with marc, preserving the grape's natural sugar. Sweet, fruity, slightly tangy, it keeps well and is enjoyed as an aperitif or with dessert.
Why this dish? Throughout the Champagne wine-growing region, ratafia is made by muting fresh grape juice with eau-de-vie: it is a reserve drink kept for months in the cellar and brought out for guests. Boucher, a child of this vine-growing land, surely knew this amber bottle offered to visitors as a sign of welcome.
Here, have a small glass of my ratafia — no, no, don't refuse! At the Champenois winemaker's, we always keep a bottle in the cellar to celebrate a visit. We stop the grape juice with a little marc, you see, and the fruit's sugar stays trapped, all quiet. You must let it sleep for months in the dark before pouring. Drink it cool, in small sips: it's all the sunshine of our hillsides bottled up.
Ingredients (period version)
- Fresh grape must (unfermented juice) — two thirds (base)
- Marc de Champagne (grape eau-de-vie) — one third (mutage and preservation)
- Cinnamon stick, zest — optional (flavoring)
Ingredients
- Pure white grape juice (fresh or unsweetened pasteurized) — 70 cl (base)
- Marc eau-de-vie (or grape brandy), 40% ABV — 30 cl (mutage)
- Sugar — 50 to 80 g (depending on juice) (sweetness adjustment)
- Cinnamon stick — 1 (optional) (flavoring)
Method
- Mix the grape juice and eau-de-vie in a large clean jar; add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
- Optionally add the cinnamon stick; seal tightly.
- Let macerate in a cool, dark place for at least 2 months (ideally 6), shaking occasionally.
- Filter through cheesecloth, bottle, and store in a cellar.
- Serve well chilled as an aperitif or over a slice of tart.
How it was made : Ratafia is an old practice in French wine regions: unable to vinify everything, the winemaker would "mute" part of the must with alcohol to preserve it. In Champagne, it was long made at home with marc distilled on site; it accompanied major family moments and the welcoming of guests.
The contemporary twist : Present it in a small cut-crystal liqueur glass with a slice of fresh pear at the bottom — guaranteed fin-de-siècle elegance.
Alfred Boucher · Charactorium
