| Celebrating Life ... With Champagne | | | | By: Subhash Arora | << back  Page 2 of 2 |
Light: DeVenoge, Lanson, Perrier Jouet, Pol Roger, Ruinart, Taittinger
Medium: Moet Chandon, Mumm, Piper – Heidsieck
Full: Bollinger, Heidsieck, Drappier, Gosset, Krug, Salon
Sweetness grading like Brut etc is also a part of the style.
SWEETNESS: Champagne comes in varying degrees of sweetness, Brut, is the most popular style, with a residual sugar content of 6-15 gms.
Extra/Ultra Brut with 0-6 gms is bone dry for our palate though weight watchers may go for it. Other varieties with increasing sweetness are:
Extra dry : 12-20 gms/litre.
Dry/Sec : 17-35 gms/ lit is medium sweet
Demi Sec : 35-50 gms/lit.
Doux : 50+ gms/lit is not made commercially any more.
STORING CHAMPAGNE: Non Vintage Champagne does not improve much with age. Stored properly at 15 deg. C like any other wine, it may improve marginally for 2-4 years before which it should be consumed. Make sure the bottle is chilled before opening, because of the pressure inside the bottle. You may cool it in the refrigerator but never put it in the freezer. For quicker chilling, use ice, water and salt in a bucket.
SERVING CHAMPAGNE: Keep the cork away from people, chandeliers or other breakables. Uncork slowly by holding the cork and twisting the bottle back and forth. Don’t pop the cork to let the bubbles out as they are very important constituents of champagne. Use only flutes as they hold the bubbles better. For the same reasons you do not swirl it as that dissipates the bubbles faster. You can offer a small portion for tasting as even champagne can go bad. Serve chilled at 6-9 deg C. Vintage Champagnes should be served slightly less chilled at 8 -10 deg C.
CHAMPAGNE AND FOOD: Brut and Extra Brut may be taken as aperitifs or with meals. For wedding celebrations Sec or Demi Sec should be served as it goes better with cakes and desserts. In India we usually serve Brut for all occasions. Champagne goes well with many foods. The basic rule is the same. Lighter the food, lighter is the style of champagne that will go with it. Rose` champagnes, made by mixing some red wine have the advantage of complexity without being too weighty. I feel they go very well with our barbequed chicken, fish and mutton provided they are not chili hot. Risotto, Sushi (with blanc de blanc) get an extra bite with champagne.
CHAMPAGNE COCKTAILS: Using authentic champagne to make cocktails is waste of money. Kir Royale made by adding crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) cuts the acidity and adds sweetness to wine which the winemaker takes years to get it dry. Mimosa with orange pulp and Bellini with peach pulp are other offenders. Champagne cocktail made by adding bitters, orange peel additions really ruin the champagne. Using cheaper sparkling wines is a better way of enjoying these cocktails, if you must insist.
People usually wait for a special occasion to open a bottle of Champagne. I believe every day the sun rises; we live and therefore have reason to celebrate life. So raise a toast with Champagne to…Life.
Subhash Arora
About the Author:
Founded Delhi Wine Club five years ago to promote wine culture in India through education by organizing various programmes and training seminars, wine tasting dinners etc.Writing content and managing India's first wine webzine, with India-centric wine news since inception. The Club has organised 105 events in 5 years and has been been voted the best wine club of India by the first-ever survey carried out by Wine Business International, Germany.
Wine passion has taken him to various wine fairs, vineyards and conferences around the world. He has written regularly for a popular daily under, 'Wonderful World of Wine'and a couple of national magazines. An engineer from IIT, Delhi with Master's degrees in Industrial Engineering and Business Administaration from the University of Minnesota, he has been actively promoting wine in India by delivering talks, organizing wine appreciation courses,training waiters and managers,designing wine menus and offering wine consultancy.
He has been a juror for the Vinitaly Wine Competition in 2006. He has been invited to be a speaker at various international forums like Vinitaly, Prowein and Fenavin. He is also the India correspondent of Wine Business Interntional. He is the editor article contributor of delWine, an eNewsletter that goes out to about 6000 people around the world.
He has been also voted 'the Best Wine Journalist' in the Who's Who Survey.
Website Name: Delhi Wine Club
Website URL: www.delhiwineclub.com
|
Wine Related Articles 
