Champagne remains the choice libation for celebrating life’s special moments
Champagne – the very word is magic. It has the class of Cartier, Gucci and Porsche, without the price tag. It adds an air of ‘specialness’ to all occasions, signifying that what is happening is really an event.
I can think of no other wine “appellation” where the quality is so consistently evident, whether vintage or non-vintage, while offering a range of categories and an array of house styles with a kaleidoscope of flavours. The categories run from the very driest ‘natur’ through ‘brut’ to ‘sec’ and ‘demi-sec’.
The style of champagne may range from a dry and racy Dom Ruinart to the full, luscious offerings of a vintage Drappier Carte d’Or. These variations are really the personification of the individual champagne house. They reflect the artistry of each cuvée master who creates the blends to exemplify and project the image of the particular house.
As an initiate into the world of wine, I never fully understood the fuss over fizz, and especially why anyone – except for the “image” value – would tipple champagne at triple the price. Perhaps an inhibiting factor in this evolution was my predisposition to red wine, which seemed a logical choice when pulling a bottle for pulling a cork. As my palate evolved, I realized there was more to sparkle than status. An awareness of taste differences was evoked, and an appreciation of quality and value developed.
I passed from the primary to secondary stage of my bubbly evolution thanks to friends and mentors, who had me taste a cross-section of champagnes and sparkling wines. Now I tend to agree with Madame Lilly Bollinger who said, when asked when she drank champagne: “I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it … unless I’m thirsty.”
There was an opportunity one morning with the Champagne Bureau to comparatively taste six different champagnes, and the following morning to taste a different six, for a tutorial total of 12 in 26 hours. It was surely then that I passed to a postsecondary level. This chance to taste vintage (which denotes the year the grapes were harvested), non-vintage (a blend of different harvest years), Blanc de Blanc (white champagne from white grapes), Blanc de Noir (white champagne from dark grapes), as well as blends (usually Chardonnay for elegance and Pinot Noir for character, but perhaps with a splash of the bountiful Meunier), enabled me to appreciate more fully the product and the profile projected by each producer.
On another occasion I commenced graduate studies. The Champagne Bureau conducted a tasting of six different rosé champagnes comprised of vintage and non-vintage, in traditional and contemporary styles.
While some may feel that schooling their palate by sampling half a dozen bottles of champagne at a time is a bit extravagant, this is easy to justify (if you insist on rationalizing).
Think of how little it costs in comparison to a semester at university – let alone a full degree program. And it is certainly less costly than the Porsche, which you should not drive anyway after tasting this many.
If you have convinced yourself, but not your budget, then bypass individual lessons and arrange group tutoring. With a contingent of friends plan a party with a selection of different champagnes. Think of each one as a course option and enjoy the “school for aesthetes.”
My post-graduate studies entail a thesis of relating horoscope signs to champagne styles. The following is but an outline, as more in-depth research of the “houses” must be pursued.