How to choose the right champagne
for when the clock strikes 12
I can’t help but notice that trendy socialites, scenester celebrities, and the uber-rich seem to be enjoying champagne on a regular basis.
For the rest of us, champagne is probably an indulgence on a special occasion and mostly associated with festivities and celebration. I guess it’s fitting then that when I think of champagne, New Years Eve comes to mind.
So how do you pick the right champagne for when the clock strikes 12 this New Years Eve 2007? The last thing you want to do is show up at a friends NYE party with a bottle that leaves everyone’s mouths sickeningly sweet or unfavourably dry. Nor do you want to be stuck at a glamorous New Years Eve ball, a New Years Eve cruise or a New Years restaurant not knowing what to order or even how to begin to start choosing from the lists provided.
Relax, here’s what you need to know….
The best thing about champagne is that there are relatively few choices out there. All you really need to learn are a few classics that are sure to appear on any menu. If you're purchasing your champagne at a liquor store, your choice will be even easier.
Here are a few things to consider when choosing a good bottle:
Marque
The first thing you will need to decide on is which brand and year you plan to order. First, you should know that by definition, true "champagne" comes only from the region of France also called Champagne. Champagnes are named for the houses that produce them. These houses, in turn, produce several brands of champagne, which are known as marques (Examples of marques are Moet et Chandon, and Veuve Cliquot). When you choose a bottle of champagne, it will be these marques that you are choosing from. Don’t worry, the list of most famous champagne marques is relatively short, so if can remember even just a few names on it , you will never fail to find something familiar in a liquor store or on a restaurant menu. For a list of the most popular marques click Here
Vintage
Quality of champagnes varies across the years corresponding with the quality of the grapes harvested that year and the weather of the harvesting season. Champagne is typically held for up to five years by the manufacturing house. When it is eventually released for purchase, it should be consumed within two years. This is great because this means that choosing a young champagne, is not taboo!
You should also know that champagne is often blended across years. For a champagne to be considered of a particular year's vintage, at least 80% of the grapes used in producing it must have been harvested in that year. This means that the remaining 20% of the grapes can be from other years. This is another reason why choosing any particular vintage of champagne is not all that important, really, all those of a given marque will be quite similar.
For a more precise evaluation of the quality of different vintages, however, check out this Champagne Vintage chart.
Dryness
The last step in choosing a champagne is its level of dryness. Champagne is unique in that the dryness is largely determined by the winemaker. To understand the process of making a champagne dryer or sweeter than usual, click HERE to get a grasp on how the stuff is made.
Basically, the winemaker adds more or less amounts of sugar to change the strength of the finished product. Of course, adding more sugar is also going to make the champagne taste sweeter. As you enjoy more and more glasses of champagne, you’ll quickly develop a taste for whether you prefer it dry or sweet….
Click HERE for a list of the levels of dryness that you can choose in your champagne.
So, now you know the basis of what it takes to choose the right bottle of champagne. This New Years Eve, shake it up, pop the cork and enjoy! Now that you’ve learned how to pick an amazing bottle of bubbly, you might even be joining the ranks of those trendy socialites, scenester celebrities, and the uber-rich and start enjoying this delicious treat on a more regular basis.
Happy New Years 2007!!!!
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