Hey Mike

If you still have your Petite Liqueur...

::HISTORY AND TASTING NOTES FOR MOET & CHANDON PETITE LIQUEUR::
:: ::
::A LITTLE HISTORY:::
::The last bottling of Moet Petite Liqueur occurred in 1992. Contrary
to popular belief Moet distributed Petite Liqueur worldwide in various
livery, Petite Licorelle was another name used throughout Europe.
::::The wine did not sell well overseas, had strong established
competition and was not marketed well. :::: ::
::Several theories exist as to why this product sold so convincingly in
Australia, one was of course the name, which the Australian distributor,
Swift & Moore changed to reflect their other products which were
overwhelmingly liqueur based, Another was the aggressive marketing that
was embarked upon here by S&M which ensured most of the major hotel
groups were able to obtain supplies at massive discounts. This saw top
hotels offering Petite Liqueur as a package of some sort in room deals
for honeymoons’ and special occasions. :::: ::
::Australians were exposed and seduced in their thousands by this
remarkable wine and a legend was born that married special occasions and
Moet Petite Liqueur together. ::
::The above model was not pursued overseas and the makers,
short-sightedly, thought that the Australian experience was a ‘one off.’
Research was never carried out to find out what was producing the
Australian phenomena and it was decided to send all remaining bottles to
Australia, where they were relabled as Petite Liqueur. The last supplies
ran out suddenly and without fanfare in 1999.::
:: ::
::Thus an amazing little fortified liqueur wine was lost to the
world.::
:: ::
::TASTING NOTES:::
::As the fine Bordeaux wine used in Petite Liqueur has been mellowed
with old cognac, if it has been cellared correctly, t::::he only
difference in this product should be a strengthening of the flavour as
the product has matured. The natural sparkle however could be diminished
or non existent. ::
:: ::
::It would be prudent to:::

- ::Serve very chilled.::
- ::Have another chilled bottle of sparkling white wine on ice.::
- ::If necessary augment the Petite Liqueur with the sparkling wine
to produce an effervescence (but also to prolong the liqueur on hand
and to reduce the flavour strength to its original level)::
- :o not overdo it, you would not need much sparkling wine. (if
any)::
- ::Even if your Petite is still sparkling, I think extending to
reduce the stronger flavour levels of the cognac is, to me, desirable.
Cheers, Urbancowboy::


--
urbancowboy
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