Champagne is a satisfaction often associated with celebratory moments or lavish occasions. Serving champagne is an art form, which includes choosing champagne, how to pour it, and how to pair it with food. Whether it's champagne or sparkling wine, the bubbles in this kind of wine cleanse the mouth, while its high acidity provides a refreshing flavor. To better enjoy your experience with champagne or sparkling wine, learn a little about this art.
Steps
Step 1. Try to understand the difference between champagne and sparkling wine
For a long time, sparkling wines were referred to as "champagne", until many countries chose to apply the "wine naming rules". This has narrowed down the technical denomination of champagne referring it only to those sparkling wines grown and produced in Champagne, which is a region in northeastern France. Champagne from the Champagne region of France continues to be the "gold standard" for sparkling wines, thanks to the cool climate in combination with a calcareous soil that produces grapes with high acidity, ideal for making sparkling wines. In addition, champagne from this region is typically aged for years rather than a few months as is allowed for most other varieties. In other regions where sparkling wines are produced, the appellations used are: Cava in Spain, Sekt in Germany, Spumante in Italy and sparkling wine in Australia, the United States, New Zealand and South Africa. This article refers to both champagne and other sparkling wines of this type.
Step 2. Choose the champagne
Different methods can be used to produce sparkling wine, including the champenoise, charmat or cube close method, which require more or less long fermentation times in bottles or containers. An intensive process that requires less time and work is that of the artificial carbonation of a still wine (known in some places as a method for obtaining "sparkling wine"), which can still produce a pleasant sparkling wine. Many sparkling wines, but not all, they are white and dry (brut) in the style of French Champagne, while others are sweet in the style of Italian Spumante Asti. Originally, champagne was a sweet wine but, with the evolution of tastes, the drier varieties have prevailed, gaining greater favor from consumers; today, there is nothing right or wrong in preferring a type of sparkling wine, it is, in fact, a personal choice. If you do not want a champagne that is too sweet, there is a wide choice of semi-sweet, such as Chandon Cuvée Riche, which can be the intermediate solution between sweet and dry to satisfy your palate. And if you want some color for your dinner, there are also sparkling pink wines (with undertones from rosé to red), as well as sparkling red wines made in Australia and Argentina. While there is, therefore, a wide variety of assortments to find your way around, some good choices include:
- Champagne: Dom Pérignon, Taittinger Comtes de Champagne, Krug Grande Cuvée.
- Sparkling wine: Asti, Franciacorta, Trento.
- Sparkling wines: Schramsberg, Roederer Estate, Domaine Carneros, sparkling wines from Tasmania and the Marlborough region.
- Price is a guide to quality - bottled fermented champagnes and sparkling wines are an indication of a more labor-intensive production and the price should reflect this, while the artificially carbonated types should be much cheaper.. Basically you get what you pay for with champagne and sparkling wine, so the more you pay, the better the quality should be.
Step 3. Store the champagne in a cool place
Before it's ready to serve, keep your champagne (and all wines) in cool but not cold conditions, with little direct light and little temperature variation. Basements with temperatures between 4 ° C and 15 ° C are perfect.
Step 4. Decide how to serve the champagne
The traditional champagne flute - a tall and narrow glass - will preserve carbon dioxide better. A slightly rounded glass at the base will allow you to enhance the aromas of the wine more without losing too much carbon dioxide. A champagne glass is a wide-mouthed glass that is very often seen at wedding parties. These glasses are not ideal for the dry champagnes that are in fashion today, because they release a lot of carbon dioxide and do not concentrate or enhance the aromas.
Despite the less ideal shape of the champagne glass, a pyramid made with champagne glasses can be an incredibly exciting and beautiful way to present champagne on important occasions such as a large party, wedding ceremony or company celebration, consequently perhaps. it is preferable to use the sweeter or less expensive varieties of champagne for this presentation. If you make a pyramid out of champagne glasses, get help from other people who know how to build it because it requires precision and great attention to succeed
Step 5. Chill the champagne before serving
Colder champagnes taste better, plus they tend to overflow less when you open them. Champagne buckets are often larger than those for keeping other wines cool because they can hold more water and ice. The ideal temperature to drink it is between 7 ° C and 9 ° C. If you have the time, four hours or more in a regular refrigerator compartment will be enough to get your champagne to the right temperature.
Step 6. Learn how to pour champagne
Knowing how to pour is very important because if champagne is poured incorrectly, it can lose its characteristic sparkling taste. For perfect pouring, check out the wiki: How to pour a glass of champagne.
Step 7. Pair the champagne successfully
When you read the warnings for pairing a wine, do not be too influenced by having to follow the "rules" religiously, because personal tastes vary considerably. However, in general you will find that champagne varieties go well with cheese, shellfish, lobster, shrimp and crab (in light sauces), oysters, sashimi, salmon roe, fish pies, tempura, poultry, oriental foods, dishes with basil and cilantro, soy, wasabi and sweets, including, of course, the wedding cake. The bubbly "bubbly effect" suggests that champagne also tends to pair well with crunchy foods. In addition to considering the suggestions, always be willing to try other pairings and see how they work for you personally.
- Dry champagnes can be used as an aperitif to cleanse the palate, after eating savory snacks or sushi. Or you can finish a meal with champagne to cleanse the palate rather than using dessert.
- Champagnes and sparkling wines are a good combination with rich and creamy foods, due to the strong acidity of the wine, especially dry champagnes.
- Semi-sweet champagnes are not great choices to accompany food, unless they are sweet desserts or pastries suitable for afternoon tea. They are perfect for garden parties!
- Very sweet sparkling wines (with artificial carbonation or very sweet sparkling wines) are good to drink for fun, to add to punch and to combine with ice creams.
- The rosé types contain tannin and are good for pairing with fish dishes with a rich taste, such as trout or salmon. Serious red champagnes (with bottle fermentation, not artificial carbonation) are great pairings with red meat, game and turkey dishes. Artificially carbonated red sparkling wines should be paired like very sweet sparkling wines.
Step 8. Serve the champagne as part of another drink
Champagne can be used to make cocktails, paired with a wide range of liqueurs and spirits to mix together, or even used in cooking or for baking. It is just another way to serve your champagne, although it is probably best to reserve this use for less esteemed champagnes!
- For example, to make a very simple champagne cocktail, put a sugar cube in a champagne glass, add 5 drops of Angostura, then fill two thirds of the glass with chilled champagne. Garnish with an orange wedge or half a strawberry. If you use just under two-thirds of a glass of champagne, you should get about five cocktails from a standard bottle of champagne.
- Make a champagne sorbet for dessert.
- And if you have champagne that has lost its bubbles, don't let it go to waste! Try making champagne cake, a brilliant solution for using leftover champagne in a tasty way.
Advice
- A winery in the United States, Korbel Winery, was using the term "champagne" prior to 2006 and still has permission to use it.
- If you can't find a champagne that has an affordable price for you, try a prosecco or a lambrusco, both are Italian sparkling wines with less "prestige" but with all the bubbles.
- "Vintage" refers to champagne produced in a specific year, while "non-vintage" refers to champagne made with multi-year blends that form a "house style".
- The stronger flavors associated with grilled fish and red meat can bring your champagne down. However, some find steak with champagne to be an absolutely delicious treat and a great way to celebrate a birthday or anniversary.
Warnings
- Always drink responsibly! Share your bottles and organize to go home without incident!
- Before serving to minors ascertained of the current legislation on alcoholic beverages.
