7 Things You Don’t Know About Champagne

Champagne

7 Things You Don’t Know About Champagne

 

 

champagneMany of us love a good tipple on New Year’s Eve. But do you know the background of the elusive drink they call champagne? Here’s some fun facts you can proffer to your friends as you enjoy your bubbly. 

1.   It’s not Champagne unless it comes from Champagne, France! So don’t call sparkling wine from California, Australia or Toledo ‘Champagne.’ Although a few American winemakers made use of a legal statute in international legislation and began calling their sparkling wine ‘Champagne’, which pissed off the French. Nowadays no self-respecting wine-maker outside the Provence of Champagne would call their product, however refined, ‘champagne’.

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[/one_fourth]2. Unless you have just won Le Mans or the Tour de France, don’t allow the cork to pop loudly – remove the foil and the wire an gently twist the bottle (not the cork) allowing it to release with a muted thud.

3. We all know the good monk Dom Pérignon did not really come up with the process for Champagne. So who discovered it? Many wine historians point their corks at a couple of English tinkerers who may have been responsible.

4. Champagne and sparkling wine should be served in a Champagne glass or flute. Not a Margarita glass or anything else. It’s not about being aristocratic – it’s science! The large surface area makes the bubbles dissipate more quickly.

5. Some people think putting ice-cubes in your champagne is trendy but ice will corrupt the delicate aroma of fine champagne.

6. Older may be better when it comes to wine, but not champagne. Champagne will go bad in about 15 years.

7. Don’t be too much of a wine snob as sometimes a really good sparkling wine will be better than Champagne and often cheaper. A true aficionado should never be hung up on names, prices and labels.

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