What's Laird Drinking Now?

Champagne,

No food or wine is more widely associated with celebration or occasion than Champagne. That is all well and good but, sadly, many seem to think that is all Champagne is good for. Nothing could be further from the truth. Champagne might be the most food friendly of all wines.

1: They can be white or rose

2: They can be very light, medium, or full bodied

3: They can range from bone dry through dessert sweet

This huge range of styles allow for a huge range of food pairings. The effervescence of the wine also helps to refresh the palate with each sip. Why then do we relegate Champagne to New Years Eve, weddings, and brunches where it is covered up with orange juice? The culprit is bad sparkling wine masquerading as Champagne. Two glasses of bad bubbly swill will most certainly give you a headache or heartburn. The real thing, from Champagne France, is made to a much higher standard. Yes, there are poor bubbles from Champagne, but on the whole; the bar is set higher than many other famous wine regions. Assuming good storage, Champagne is a very good wine for the novice to buy because of the champenois’ mastery of blending. The cuvee, or blend, is used both to create a house style and to assure a steady supply through the changing demands of each vintage. A basic working knowledge of house styles allows the consumer a very easy way to select the right wine for any occasion.

The other evening our wine group met for a tasting of several vintages and styles, with an emphasis on just a few producers. Non vintages wines were also poured to emphasize their importance as the primary product of each house.

In order of tasting:

1997 Diebolt-Vallois Blanc de Blanc: Creamy lemon fluff with nuts and nougat. Enticing nose of lemon-sugar icing. A wow wine that eventually gives up a sherry and iodine quality and a bit of toast. Really gains wings with an hour or so open.

1999 Diebolt-Vallois Fleur de Passion: The Tete de Cuvee from Diebolt and tonight either in need of more time or not the greatest vintage for Fleur. Smooth citrus flavors and a silky texture are very good to be sure, but this is simply buried by the 2002 version. Honey, caramel, and acacia notes peek out with air. Good, not great.

(House Style: Only grand Cru grapes go into these wines, all from Cramant, all chardonnay.)

Jacquesson Cuvee 733: A favorite for Napoleon for whatever that is worth. Notes of flowers and a vivid, powerful backbone of nuts and apples. Has a sense of butter or sweet cream.

(House Style: Jacquesson is medium to very full bodied, depending on the bottling.)

Bollinger Special Cuvee: Oak & iron with big, assertive flavors of sherry and biscuits. Loads of weight and typical Bolly size.

1999 Bollinger Grande Annee: Big and bold, such a youngster. This is not as big up front as the NV but is actually hiding more in reserve. A bit of a coiled spring here, rich and yet suave.

(House style: Bollinger is known as a “big” producer. Full bodied wines with long life spans emerge from this producer.)

De Venoge Rose:Classic salmon colored rose. Very dry and harmonious, this is the antithesis of the currently trendy electric reddish roses one sees everywhere. Biscuits and strawberries are hidden in a vinous lean form. Not flashy or explosive, just good in an old school way.

(De Venoge is owned by Burgundy house Louis Latour and it shows in the elegant style employed here.)

Moet & Chandon Rose Nectar Imperial: Sweet cream & toast. Kirsch and crème fraiche come through on the palate and roll through the sweetish finish. Many folks are scared by sweeter bubbles but this works.

(The Moet style is tricky to define since they make so much wine in so many styles. My overall impressions are of medium body and high dosage in an attempt to appeal to the widest audience.)

Champagne, just the name evokes images of decadence and the high life. I would argue, however, that Champagne should be part of your lifestyle. Not a beverage to mark a celebration, but to create one. I try to pour it at least once a week. Life is too short to fail to enjoy the wonder of Champagne. But in case you need further proof here are a number of folks more articulate than me.

"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 if I am; Otherwise I never touch it - unless I'm thirsty." -Madam Lily Bollinger.

"Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right." -Mark Twain.

"Remember, gentlemen, it's not just France we are fighting for, it's Champagne!" -Winston Churchill.

"In victory we deserve it, in defeat we need it." -Winston Churchill.