OK Folks, I love wine. Lots of kinds of wine. I am especially partial to Burgundy, Chablis and Piedmont wines, but I also love Bordeaux, Tuscan, German and Alsatian wines. Champagne, however, doesn’t float my boat as much. I have never had that WOW moment with bubbles. Is it just me, or do others feel that way as well?
Sometimes I hope the light will go off. Other times, I am happy not to have another area to buy lots of wine from. I do have some champagne in the cellar, but very little on a relative basis, due to the above reasoning.
No reason you should. I would much rather drink water than most German and Alsatian wines, and would rather be parched than drink sweet wines of any sort, and yet my life is complete. Like what you like.
I used to feel the same way and still don’t like a lot of Champagne, even ones others like. However, I have found several that I now like a good bit. The turning point for me was a tasting of old Dom Ruinart wines, my favorite being a 1979 Rose. Since then I have found other producers I like a lot, the first of which was Cedric Bouchard. More recently i have enjoyed Bereche, Lassaigne and Legras. Of course, Salon and Krug are great, but if I am going to pay that much for wine, it will be Burgundy.
For me the turning point was a 1979 Comte de Champagne. Before that I didn’t understand the fuss. But
a) there’s no requirement for anyone to GET any particular wine. There are several regions/styles/producers I’ve learned to avoid which other people like
b) it would help if you gave us an idea of what you’ve tried and not been impressed by. There are big differences between, for example, NV Piper Heidsick, vintage Krug (which btw I personally don’t care for), Taittinger CdeC and Selosse.
If you’d like to try something that is a wow wine for my palate and can still be found I’d hunt down the 1999 Taittinger CdeC. But that’s just me. And it’s not exactly cheap if it turns out you don’t like it.
White burgundy with bubbles, lots of minerality, acid, various fruits and nuts, and goes with everything. My favorite wine. It even has relatively low alcohol, does reasonably well in the frig overnight (with or even without cork if you forget). More for me and keep prices reasonable. Mike
I rarely drink Champagne myself - not enough parties I guess! But my experiences suggest that it needs breathing time to really develop, just like any other good white. Just get it really cold before opening, and keep it cold while breathing, as it will not lose much CO2 that way. And then there is the wine’s age. I remember reading somewhere that a good Champagne should be at least 10 years old. Like a good white Burg!
You don’t NEED to ‘get it’ - enjoy what you like, as others have said.
That is, of course, unless you profess adamantly to hate Champagne until your friends tell you to like it, then you start liking it…not that such a thing has ever happened to any other Berserker on here or anything…
I’ve loved it from the get go, and I can enjoy a relatively low end bottle much more than a low end bottle of White Burgundy. When you get a truly incredible Champagne, however, I just love digging my nose in the stem and inhaling the aromas. I do not only drink it when it’s a party, and I hate that Champagne is seen as a ‘starter’, because it is not. It’s untouchable when it comes to food pairing variety, and should be enjoyed throughout a meal, or on its own, or after a meal, or all of the above - it’s not a starter.
I probably spend about 1% of my wine budget on Champagne, while I have a good friend whose cellar is probably 60-70% Champagne. My two epiphany Champagnes that made me stand up and take notice were a 96’ Dom Perignon and an 89’ La Grande Dame. I have had several grower Champagnes as well that were very interesting and worth the price, but ultimately I feel the bubbles hide those aspects of wine I love to think about when I’m drinking. Older Champagne, however, tends to lose much of the bubble in my experience and in those cases the character really shows through nicely.
I would add that I think you have to be careful about serving Champagne too cold, as this will shut down its flavors, just like with any wine. Opening and breathing time when very cold, to preserve CO2, is OK, but then let it come up in temperature somewhat.
Very true, also. Save the cold serving temperatures for the lesser bottles, but if you’ve got a really nice bottle, let it breathe, and be near cellar temperature or slightly warmer, as it is far more expressive.
Olivier Krug lectured the Berserkers who showed up for the big Telluride bash to never serve Champagne too cold (refrigerator temperature) and never in a flute. I looked directly at Jen while he was saying this, as I’ve preached it from the start, and while she smiled in acknowledgement…she still drinks it refrigerator cold and in a flute. What’s a guy got to do??
+99 and I kick myself for not understanding it’s versatility until just a few years ago. However, I am a quick learner and I have been steadily building a nice little stash.
I’m not so convinced it’s finding that one particular bottle. Perhaps it’s the way we consume Champagne. I had always consumed Champagne as an aperitif. Daniel Humm at 11 Mad did a series of dinners matching the cuisine to a specific wine or region. The Champagne dinner convinced me what a great food wine champagne can be. My appreciation for Champagne was altered considerably. Try it with Sushi, moules frites, oysters of course, my favorite matching is with lobster.
I totally agree on the aeration, though in my experience Champagne needs to be closer to cellar temperature (or even low 60s) to be expressive. I also could care less about the CO2 and decant a Champagne on the occasion that it’s tight or not showing like it should. It is after all, just another wine made of chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier (for the most part). Commentary on the ‘mousse’ to me is the equivalent of talking about the ‘legs’ a wine leaves in the glass.
I also find Champagne goes with every food barring a very fatty cut of red meat. Try an NV Bollinger Special Cuvee with a tenderloin or grass-fed NY strip and see what you think.
Although my only complaint about Champagne in general is that the bubbles do apparently lead to faster absorbtion of alcohol so the percentage isn’t exactly representative of effect. I greatly prefer having it with food.
But my experiences suggest that it needs breathing time to really develop, just like any other good white. Just get it really cold before opening, and keep it cold while breathing, as it will not lose much CO2 that way. And then there is the wine’s age. I remember reading somewhere that a good Champagne should be at least 10 years old. Like a good white Burg!![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}