Man oh man! I’ve hated Champagne for as long as I can remember, but I can’t get enough of it lately.
I’m still a newbie, so I’m mixing it with a little juice, but I’ve gone from adding 4 ounces to adding about half that. I’ve tried Cooks and now I’m drinking Proseco. I like Proseco much better.
So, talk to me. What do I need to know? I’m completely ignorant about Champagne so feel free to opine at length.
As an aside:
Why do I (seemingly suddenly) like something that I used to hate?
Looking forward to your responses.
The cost/benefit ratio of Champagne is wildly out of kilter, imo. There’s other fizzy wines and you’ve already got to Prosecco spumante, so you’re ahead of the game already.
I had an olive epiphany when I was about 20 or so, like a totally in-an-instant conversion from urgh to love.
Congratulations on finding a new thing that you like, NWYE. Sounds like you’re doing fine. What sort of things do you like about sparkling wine now, that you may not have in the past? Knowing that may help us make other recommendations for you.
If you like Prosecco, you might also like Moscato d’ Asti, and Asti Spumante. Moscato is made from Muscat grapes, and is usually profoundly sweet. It’s also floral, lightly fizzy, tasty, and decidedly unserious, which can be great. Asti’s made from the same grape, in the same region, but it’s treated more like other sparkling wines: much fizzier and less sweet. Still decidedly sweet compared to most Champagne-like sparkling wines though.
Here’s a brief article on different Italian sparkling wines. Per it, drier sparkling wines may say Metodo Classico, and those wines are Italy’s attempt to make wines in the style of Champagne, with a secondary fermentation in bottle.
The British Empire ran on Champagne, from say the middle 1800s to WWI. The soldiers drank beer and spirits, and whatever local drinks were to be had, whilst the officers added champagne as a necessity ( yes; we were alcoholics, why do you ask ? ). They took in India, they took it down the Nile, they took it in Rhodesia, they took it everywhere.
In India West Ridgeway got so obsessed that when ordered to take a dispatch he rode for 3 days and 3 nights to the railway station having telegraphed them to reserve one of their bottles for him. A bottle cost about 25 shillings ( One Pound, Five Shillings = £1.25 today )
According to those sites, 25 bob in 1890 equals today:
I am dubious, but evidently it was not cheap ( 25/ would have been about $5 in 1890 ). and I think I’m going it paying £2.50 for Rock’s orange juice…
Anyway, Lord Avonmore went to rough it in the Klondike with 75 cases of the stuff ( this was when everything had to to carried by hand over the White Pass, so he hopefully planned to go by steamer as so few did ) *.
It all froze before he arrived. and was auctioned off in Edmonton at 25 cents a case.
My thanks to the late Jan Morris for chronicling all this.
Shortly after the stampede began in 1897, the Canadian authorities had introduced rules requiring anyone entering Yukon Territory to bring with them a year’s supply of food; typically this weighed around 1,150 pounds (520 kg). By the time camping equipment, tools and other essentials were included, a typical traveller was transporting as much as a ton in weight.[
Wikipedia
I always get the idea Canadian Authorities like messing with people…
Anyway, I forgot my main point; which was the British officer class was drinking gallons; all the other aristocracies around the world, especially the Russian and the French matched them; the Russian Imperial Court drank Roederer; Americans had masses imported, even flybitten little hotels in miserable Old Western towns seem to have bottle in films for you to share with a quaint dancing-girl; many ordinary people around Europe and the less rough parts of the world put away as much as they could.
So how did one small province supply all this ?
One of my favorite stories in this vein (probably apocryphal, but still) was from Winston Churchill’s son-in-law, who evidently shared the old man’s love of Pol Roger Champagne. Anyway, Lord Soames, IIRC, was somewhere in Africa, brokering peace talks between one or another warring faction, and he was asked how long the peace talks might go.
“The problem will be settled in 30 days,” replied Lord Soames.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I only have 30 bottles left.”
Only the cheap stuff. My wife blames me for her champagne addiction. Before we met, she didn’t touch the stuff because it gave her rotten hangovers. She met me and I introduced her to the expensive stuff. Now she quaffs it like water.
Cava is a cheaper, not so bad alternative.
Evan Drake: On the reason for the success of the province, this New Yorker article discusses the interesting properties of the antediluvian sea, now limestone extending all the water to England (for example, the White Cliffs of Dover). Season on the Chalk | The New Yorker I recall that there is a sparkling wine made in the UK, which may have the same distinctive properties.
Remember: all champagnes are sparkling wine. Not all sparkling wines are champagne.
My biggest beef with real champagne has always been the cost. It’s tough to find true champagne for less than $40 a bottle…and vintage champagne generally starts at twice the cost. So we look for alternatives.
One of my favorite domestic (USA) alternatives is Gruet. It’s affordable, good, and comes from all places, New Mexico.
If you must have “real” champagne, I would advise to avoid the big names as they’re expensive and not really worth it.
I prefer value oriented champagnes, like Pierre Moncuit Blanc de Blancs (white of whites, it’s 100% chardonnay, as opposed to Blanc de Noirs which has Pinot Noir) or Feuillatte’s Brut Reserve. Also realize that sweetness designations exist for champagnes…Brut is totally dry, Sec is very sweet, and demi-sec is sorta sweet.
I always keep a bottle of Cook’s handy for impromptu brunches with Mimosas.
A friend of mine who occasionally dropped by unannounced drank only Piper Heidsieck Cuvee Brut. I tried to keep a bottle around for when she visited, but it was not always possible. One day she popped over without warning, and all I had on hand was my cheap Cook’s. I offered her that instead. She was quite insulted and declined my offer, but my intentions were kindly meant.
Fast forward a couple of years to New Year’s Eve Y2K. I threw a dinner party for a dozen people, including a blind champagne/sparkling wine tasting. My Piper Heidsieck friend was among the guests. I served a good Roederer (can’t recall exactly which but not Cristal), Piper Heidsieck Cuvee Brut, Cook’s, Moet Chandon Brut, Veuve Cliquot Brut and Dom Perignon Brut. Guests were asked to rate their favorites 1 - 6 based solely on taste. No one saw the bottles but me.
You can see where this is going. My friend rated Cook’s as her top choice based solely on taste.
The top choices overall were the Veuve and the Roderer. Dom was not a favorite. Cook’s held its own in the middle of the pack. Not bad for an inexpensive Spanish sparkling wine.
I do have one conceit WRT Champagnes, and that’s Devaux’s “Oeil De Perdrix” Rose. It means “eye of the partridge” and it’s some mighty fine wine. I love it, even if I can’t drink it anymore. I would spit that wine out anywhere!
We drink a fair bit of sparkling wine & Champagne. It’s definitely not a “special occasion only” type of thing chez Athena.
I’ll second FoieGrasIsEvil’s suggestion on Gruet. Definitely one of the bargains for sparkling. Mawby, from Michigan, is also pretty good, though I’m not sure how far it’s distributed.
I’ve found WTSO.com a really, really good source for real Champagne at reasonable prices. We regularly pick up decent bottles in the $20-$30 range from them. Drawback is you have to wait for them to show up on the site.
We used to get Domaine Ste. Michelle for $10-$12 bottle, but it’s since disappeared. I’m not sure if they stopped making it, or if it just isn’t getting to my area or what, but it’s a very good everyday sparkling if you can find it.
Clicking on your link today features a Brut house blend Champagne for only $19.99. If it’s as good as it’s 90+ points ratings suggest, that’s a fantastic value.
Are the sparkling wines you’ve been using too sweet on their own? Not sweet enough? Are you mixing it with juice to make it palatable?
I guess I don’t get how being a newbie explains why you mix it with juice. If you find it too strong, drink it slower. If you find it too sweet try Brut. If you find it not sweet enough try Sec. I don’t think you can appreciate the differences between wines when mixing it with juice.
If you have to mix it, you’re drinking a poor Champagne. I toured Champagne extensively nearly 30 years ago. There’s LOTs of good stuff there. Look for the Blanc de Blancs and the Blanc de Noirs.
I love sparkling wine. I can drink a whole bottle myself, and have on several occasions.
Weird thing is I do not like non-sparkling wine, except in cooking. It’s not like I have to have fizz in all my beverages. I can drink orange juice or Sunkist.
I had a fantastic domestic one last summer and I was like “I’ll remember the brand” and of course I didn’t. I’ve had fancy real French ones and shitty American ones and I love them all. Sweet, dry, all good. But no fizz? No thanks.
Why do you think I serve Cook’s with my mimosas?