"A bottle of champagne is too much for one and too little for two"
-- Winston Churchill
When we gathered with friends this New Year's Eve, and said goodbye to the fiscal disasters of 2008 -- blissfully ignorant to the colossal recession around the corner -- we probably did so with a tall glass of bubbly. Champagne has become synonymous with New Years, and really celebration in general. Weddings: champagne. Job promotions: champagne. You get the idea. I don't know when it started, but I'm glad it did.
Champagne is really just sparkling wine made in the tiny area of Champagne, France. If it doesn't hail from this region of the world, it's not champagne. Long ago, the folks in Champagne branded their product -- essentially protecting it -- and claimed it for their own. Many countries make sparkling wine, but only the fastidious grape-growers in Champagne get to label it that way. And charge, what I feel, is a ridiculous amount of money for wine with bubbles in it. I mean seriously.
But it's soooooo good.
Champagne is a blend of grapes, but it is mostly made with chardonnay (see post #3) and pinot noir (see post #6), plus a bit of pinot meunier. It is usually a soft, yellowish golden color, and to achieve this, the crafty wine makers remove the skins from the pinot noir grape (the flesh of the pinot noir grape is actually clear, think red grapes when you bite into them) to prevent the elegant liquid from turning, well, pink. (If you've ever wondered what a rosé is, here's your answer: some skins are left on, some taken away, yellow plus red equals pink, or rosé).
When looking at a sparkling wine label, if you see term blanc de blanc, it means it's 100 percent chardonnay. Likewise, if you ever see the label blanc do noir, it means it's 100 percent pinot noir. In case you were wondering.
As for taste, there is a complexity often times, to the sparkling wines of Champagne. It may be the wind in the air. It may be the soil. Or it may be because they've been producing that wine since the 16th century. Whatever the cause, the wine is special. There's a reason that people only drink when the have something to celebrate. It's "luxury" wine. It always will be. That's also the reason the Nazi's tried to take over Champagne in World War II.
However, there is some fine fizz coming from our country these days, too (and for a fraction of the cost). Some countries have followed suit with Champagne and labeled their sparkling wine. For example, if it's called cava, it comes from Spain. If it's prosecco, it is made in Italy.
Made in the style of true champagne, this sparkling wine from New Mexico rocks (that's right, I said New Mexico). It's called Gruet, and it will only set you back about $15.
Of course, if you are awash with stimulus money, feel free to plunk down the full $150 for a bottle of Dom Perignon*, the original and true CHAMPAGNE. If it doesn't break your bank, you might be happy you did.
**I have never personally purchased this. I have been privy to mere tastings. It's out-of-this-world yummy, albeit hard to justify.
Cheers.
-- Winston Churchill
When we gathered with friends this New Year's Eve, and said goodbye to the fiscal disasters of 2008 -- blissfully ignorant to the colossal recession around the corner -- we probably did so with a tall glass of bubbly. Champagne has become synonymous with New Years, and really celebration in general. Weddings: champagne. Job promotions: champagne. You get the idea. I don't know when it started, but I'm glad it did.
Champagne is really just sparkling wine made in the tiny area of Champagne, France. If it doesn't hail from this region of the world, it's not champagne. Long ago, the folks in Champagne branded their product -- essentially protecting it -- and claimed it for their own. Many countries make sparkling wine, but only the fastidious grape-growers in Champagne get to label it that way. And charge, what I feel, is a ridiculous amount of money for wine with bubbles in it. I mean seriously.
But it's soooooo good.
Champagne is a blend of grapes, but it is mostly made with chardonnay (see post #3) and pinot noir (see post #6), plus a bit of pinot meunier. It is usually a soft, yellowish golden color, and to achieve this, the crafty wine makers remove the skins from the pinot noir grape (the flesh of the pinot noir grape is actually clear, think red grapes when you bite into them) to prevent the elegant liquid from turning, well, pink. (If you've ever wondered what a rosé is, here's your answer: some skins are left on, some taken away, yellow plus red equals pink, or rosé).
When looking at a sparkling wine label, if you see term blanc de blanc, it means it's 100 percent chardonnay. Likewise, if you ever see the label blanc do noir, it means it's 100 percent pinot noir. In case you were wondering.
As for taste, there is a complexity often times, to the sparkling wines of Champagne. It may be the wind in the air. It may be the soil. Or it may be because they've been producing that wine since the 16th century. Whatever the cause, the wine is special. There's a reason that people only drink when the have something to celebrate. It's "luxury" wine. It always will be. That's also the reason the Nazi's tried to take over Champagne in World War II.
However, there is some fine fizz coming from our country these days, too (and for a fraction of the cost). Some countries have followed suit with Champagne and labeled their sparkling wine. For example, if it's called cava, it comes from Spain. If it's prosecco, it is made in Italy.
Made in the style of true champagne, this sparkling wine from New Mexico rocks (that's right, I said New Mexico). It's called Gruet, and it will only set you back about $15.
Of course, if you are awash with stimulus money, feel free to plunk down the full $150 for a bottle of Dom Perignon*, the original and true CHAMPAGNE. If it doesn't break your bank, you might be happy you did.
**I have never personally purchased this. I have been privy to mere tastings. It's out-of-this-world yummy, albeit hard to justify.
Cheers.
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