Champagne is a very simply a beverage, but people make it far too complex with needless mystique and ritual.
Here are five very common questions I get on Champagne.
Is there a difference between Champagne and Sparkling Wine? All Champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne.
Unless the wine is made in the French Provence of Champagne, by a very specific method called the Méthode Champenoise, and from specific vineyard and the grapes that are allowed by French law, it is simply sparkling wine.
There are many great sparkling wines available from all over the world, but they do have a different taste from Champagne for sure.
Which is the best Champagne? There is no best because it is both a matter of opinion and a question of what you are eating with it, if anything.
For example with a desert, you would use a demi-sec which is rather sweet.
With appetizers you might serve a Blanc de blancs which is made of all chardonnay and usually light and crisp.
That said, here are some of my favorites and picks for "best": Cristal, Vintage Krug, Dom Perignon, Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill, Deutz Cuvee William Deutz, Salon, Veuve Cliquot La Grand Dame, Bollinger Grand Annee, and Deutz Amour de Deutz.
What is a good wedding Champagne? Usually a reasonable priced Non Vintage is suggested for weddings, but more often a good but less expensive sparkling wine is served.
Great examples include Spanish Cava which is delicious and inexpensive, California Sparkling Wine, or Italian Prosecco.
Quite honestly most people at wedding will neither know the difference nor care, so save the great stuff for later and serve something very good instead.
How Long Does Champagne Last? If kept away from light and heat, its two enemies, an entry level non vintage one will easily last for 3 or 4 years.
For a prestige cuvee like Dom Perignon or Krug from a great year, easily for decades.
There are still ones from the 1920s that are drinking extremely well.
How can you keep Champagne from going flat once it is opened? This is rarely an issue as most is immediately consumed, but keeping it cold will help enormously.
Just put it back in the fridge.
Also there is a simple and cheap device called a champagne stopper than can help keep it from going flat for up to week if it's kept cold.
Here are five very common questions I get on Champagne.
Is there a difference between Champagne and Sparkling Wine? All Champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne.
Unless the wine is made in the French Provence of Champagne, by a very specific method called the Méthode Champenoise, and from specific vineyard and the grapes that are allowed by French law, it is simply sparkling wine.
There are many great sparkling wines available from all over the world, but they do have a different taste from Champagne for sure.
Which is the best Champagne? There is no best because it is both a matter of opinion and a question of what you are eating with it, if anything.
For example with a desert, you would use a demi-sec which is rather sweet.
With appetizers you might serve a Blanc de blancs which is made of all chardonnay and usually light and crisp.
That said, here are some of my favorites and picks for "best": Cristal, Vintage Krug, Dom Perignon, Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill, Deutz Cuvee William Deutz, Salon, Veuve Cliquot La Grand Dame, Bollinger Grand Annee, and Deutz Amour de Deutz.
What is a good wedding Champagne? Usually a reasonable priced Non Vintage is suggested for weddings, but more often a good but less expensive sparkling wine is served.
Great examples include Spanish Cava which is delicious and inexpensive, California Sparkling Wine, or Italian Prosecco.
Quite honestly most people at wedding will neither know the difference nor care, so save the great stuff for later and serve something very good instead.
How Long Does Champagne Last? If kept away from light and heat, its two enemies, an entry level non vintage one will easily last for 3 or 4 years.
For a prestige cuvee like Dom Perignon or Krug from a great year, easily for decades.
There are still ones from the 1920s that are drinking extremely well.
How can you keep Champagne from going flat once it is opened? This is rarely an issue as most is immediately consumed, but keeping it cold will help enormously.
Just put it back in the fridge.
Also there is a simple and cheap device called a champagne stopper than can help keep it from going flat for up to week if it's kept cold.
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