Champagne Encyclopedia, Part II

Last week’s column addressed some history about sparkling wines in general and Champagne in particular.  This week I’ll finish with a little more about sparkling wines and how to choose and serve them.

True Champagne may only be made of some combination of the following six grapes:  chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot meunier, pinot blanc, arbane and petit meslier.  The first three are by far the most common.  And just like still wines, a Champagne made from chardonnay is going to taste quite different from one that is made from pinot noir.  I’ve written before about the fact that wine’s color typically comes from contact with the skin during fermentation.  Sparkling wine is usually not in contact with the skin for very long and this is why the darkest Champagne you’ll find is pink in color.

You may have noticed that generally, sparkling wine bottles are heavier than regular wine bottles and they also nearly always have a “punt,” which is the hollow part in the bottom where you stick your fingers to make sure you don’t drop the bottle while opening or serving it.
  Both of these features are designed to protect the bottle from the pressure exerted by the trapped carbon dioxide.  The thicker bottle is harder to break and the punt creates more surface area, which diffuses the pressure.

Now you know how champagne is made and a little about the grapes that are in it and the bottles that hold it.  So, how do you choose one?
  Here are a few explanations to help you decipher the confusing labels:

Blanc de blancs – a white wine made from a white grape.  It typically means the wine is made from the white chardonnay grape.

Blanc de noirs – a white (or pink) wine made from a red/black grape.  This typically means the wine is made from pinot noir or pinot meunier.

Brut zéro or brut natural, brut, extra dry, sec, demi-sec, doux – these are the terms that describe how much sugar was put into the wine to promote the secondary fermentation.  They are listed in order from the least amount of sugar to the most.  Correspondingly, a brut zero/brut natural will be most dry while a doux will be most sweet.  Brut is probably the most common style, but unless you are a connoisseur, you might find extra dry or sec more to your liking.

My favorite Champagnes are made by Louis Roederer, which got its start producing wine for the Russian royal family.  Its most famous brand is Cristal.  In addition, I like Taittinger, Pol Roger, Moet et Chandon (which also makes Dom Pérignon) and Piper Heidsieck.  If you can convince your spouse, significant other or other dinner partner to spring for one of the vintage bottles of these labels, you’re in for a real treat, since they typically cost several hundred dollars for a bottle.  Fortunately for the rest of us who must live on realistic salaries, each of these makers also makes a more economical bottle available for $50 or less, which is still pretty expensive.

Expensive champagne aside, for those of us who fly economy class, there’s sparkling wine.  Each of the producers named above also makes quality sparkling wine in the United States using the méthode champenoise for the reasonable price of $15 to $20. In particular I recommend the Roederer Estate, Domaine Chandon or Piper Sonoma.  I can also recommend a beautiful brut sparkling wine made by Chateau Ste. Michelle, which retails for about $10. 

Whatever you choose for your celebration, here are some keys for serving and enjoying it.  Champagne and other sparkling wines should be chilled, but not too cold – approximate 48-50 degrees.  You should refrain from shaking or handling your bottle too much before opening it; despite what they do in the movies and after a NASCAR victor, the goal is not to open the bottle with a geyser of wine several feet high.  Not only does that waste some very fine wine, but it also dissipates some of the estimated 58 million bubbles in each bottle, which make sparkling wine so enjoyable.  Open your wine carefully over the sink, pour it slowly down the inside of the glass (tall flutes are best because they make the bubbles last longer) and do not swirl the glass when you drink.  The French call this “Champagne battering” because it rapidly destroys all the bubbles.  The best glasses are tall flutes that should be held by the stem.  Holding the top of the glass will warm the wine too quickly, which dissipates the bubbles and hurts the flavor. 

Of course, the most important thing about serving any sparkling wine is to enjoy it with friends.  If the company is good, the $10 sparkler from Washington will be indistinguishable from the $100 bottle from Champagne.