Marc de Champagne

[mostlylana]

Lana here from the Pastry and Baking forum! I have been searching to no avail for Marc de Champagne to make truffles. I am in Kamloops, BC and have called every liquor store in our area and several in Vancouver as well. It seems no-one has heard of this! I'm scratching my head as to where I might purchase a bottle.

Any suggestions? I am happy to purchase online. The issue with a special order from a liquor store is I would need to bring in a case. That's a lot of truffles...

I've also noticed a distinction between Vieux Marc de Champagne and Tres Vieux Marc de Champagne (Old and Very Old). Would the latter be stronger in flavour (and therefore better for truffle making...)?

I would appreciate any help that's out there!

Thank you!

[bostonapothecary]

hurst hannum and robert s. blumburg's "brandies and liqueurs of the world" claims that "marc de champagne tends to be lighter and more perfumed than marc de bourgogne, reflecting differences in climate, the resulting base wine, and distilling methods."

as of 1976 when their book was written the only producer was jean goyard.

i'd say use any grappa you can afford. the Portuguese make great affordable stuff. you are going to be overshadowing part of the aroma anyway and introducing texture distraction which will also compete with the aroma.

good luck.

[thirtyoneknots]

This may or may not be useful, but the grapes used in making Champagne are the same ones used in making Burgundy. It seems that a Marc de Bourgogne would probably be an appropriate substitute, and undoubtedly much easier to find. I'm not even close to being a marc/grappa expert, but my hunch is that the recipe's specifying of Marc de Champagne is probably for the luxury connotations that famous region has to a general audience.

As for the age, again my knowledge is limited on marc specifically but as a rule the more something is aged in a barrel the more it takes on a mellow character but less of the fruitiness (and roughness, in some cases) of the raw distillate. It would seem a younger one would be more desireable for truffle making but I'm even less of an expert on candy making than I am on marc.

Good luck with your search!

Edit to add: What bostonapothecary said.

Edited December 13, 2010 by thirtyoneknots (log)

[mostlylana]

Thank you so much the info. Yes, I think Marc de Bourgogne would be a great substitute as well. The only issue is that I would like 'Marc de Champagne' on the label. These truffles are a commercial venture.

I looked up Distillerie Goyard and it looks as though they will ship. Having never brought alcohol into the country before I'm wondering how the legalities work. Anyone know? I'm in BC, Canada. I called our provincial liquor board and they said it is all above board although I will have to pay high taxes. But then he wasn't sure... Hmmmmmm...

[bgood]

I feel your pain.

Several years ago the Liquor Board carried Marc de Champagne at Christmas time in the Cambie store. It was de Venoges I think. It is fantastic stuff. They haven't carried it for at least 4 years unfortunately.

I was in Paris a few years ago and thought it would be the ideal chance to pick some up. It went to supposedly the best store and they gave me a blank look, the woman had to get her manager and all they could come up with was Marc de Bourgogne. It was a very weak substitute. The Marc de Champagne has a carmelly/burnt sugar flavour that is fantastic. The Bourgogne was more one dimensional, not bad but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.

Xolatl (sp?) on Burrard in Vancouver carries a line of filled chocolates and one of them is Marc de Champagne and it is very nice. I think the brand is Zotter or something.

Good luck, it's worth looking for if its available.

[mostlylana]

bgood, thanks. I'm going to go to our Signature Liquor Store with the info you gave. They were willing to bring in a case of Marc de Bourgogne for me - and there are only 3 bottles per case. Maybe there will only be 3 bottles in a case of Marc de Champagne as well. If I get anywhere I'll let you know. Maybe we can split a case if they're willing to ship to the Cambie store!

[lironp]

I've finally been able to get my hands on a bottle of Marc de Champagne which I intend to use for truffles, but I have one question- I understand that it's a type of brandy, but if so, why does it come with a champagne opening? Is it bubbly or clear? I'm now afraid to open it because I don't know if it will keep... (I don't think I can make enough truffles at once in order to finish the entire bottle...)

[lstrelau]

Marc is just a white spirit distilled from the skins, stems, pulp (called pomace) etc left after the primary fermentation of Champagne (in this case) - same as grappa or marc de bourgogne or brandy and cognac. Except the two latter products are usually aged in barrels and will be amber coloured (either from the wood or because of added caramel colourant rather than the colourless spirits like marc and grappa.

I expect the champagne cork is just to make it pretty. It should keep quite a while once open, over a long time you could lose some of the more delicate fragrances but doubt it would make a difference once incorporated into the ganache or whatever you are using for the filling. You could decant the leftover into smaller bottles with minimal airpace and keep in cool dark place.

It would be interesting to make the same truffle using the marc de Champagne and basic grappa (you can get grappa from some of the wineries in the Okanagan by the way) and see if you can detect the difference.

Check out www.okanaganspirits.com- they make grappa from different grapes (Pinot Gris, Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Noir etc). You can make "Local" truffles!

You can also use spirits distilled from fruit like apples, pears, raspberries etc. Not the sweet coloured liquers types but the clear distilled ones - (a.k.a. eaux de vie)Okanagan Spirits has some of these too. noticed that they also had 60% alcohol fruit 'fragrance' that would be good for culinary use.

(edited for spelling and content)

Edited March 22, 2011 by lstrelau (log)

[lironp]

Wow, thanks for the detailed reply! I think I can manage finishing the open bottle in a couple of months, I just thought that if it was bubbly, then I'd have to finish it off in a day We don't have it in Israel, so I wanted to keep it for a special occasion...