As the holiday season approaches, nothing will get you and yours in the spirit of things faster than a quick tipple of bubbly. But these days, our cups overfloweth with quaffable options and with the multitude of Champagne options and grape varietals, it’s hard to know which cork to pop for which occasion.
To make your selection as easy and stress-free as kicking back with a glass of the good stuff, we’ve cobbled together a little cheat sheet of buzz terms to make you sound like a sommelier – or at the very least, a legitimate Champagne aficionado.
First, a bit of the basics: Champagne is technically a sparkling wine that is produced exclusively within the Champagne region of France. Most of the sparkling wine that people imbibe does not hail from this region and the term is used as a catchall for all manners of bubbling vino, though most producers abstain from classifying their sparkling wine as Champagne. The mysterious circumstance surrounding the fermentation and carbonic gas of Champagne originally caused some critics to call the sparkling creation “The Devil’s Wine.”
When purchasing a bottle (or two, or three) of Champagne you should be aware of the numerous varieties and types. Blanc de noirs Champagnes are produced entirely from black grapes while Blanc de blancs Champagne originates from Chardonnay grapes. There is also Rosé Champagne, known for its rosy complexion, which can be made from either allowing the clear juice of black grapes to seep on their skins for a brief time or, by adding a small amount of still Pinot noir red wine to the sparkling wine. And if you’re feeling especially luxurious you may want to opt for a prestige cuvee variety considered to be the finest Champagne of a producer’s range. Famous examples of prestige cuvee include Louis Roederer’s Cristal, Laurent-Perrier’s Grand Siècle, Moët & Chandon’s Dom Pérignon. The next question to ask is if the Champagne is vintage or non-vintage. “Non-vintage” Champagne is a blended product of grapes from multiple vintages where as “vintage” Champagne is composed of only grapes from vintage years that have been defined as superior.
