French Pop Culture
250 million bubbles – that’s what they say is in a single bottle of Champagne. Shame to only set them free at New Year’s, don’t you agree? The French know food and bubbly, and the two go swimmingly together. Bring the fireworks to supper,whether sipping Old School (Perrier Jouët NV Grand Brut), Rocking Rosé (Nicolas Feuillatte Rosé Brut NV) or Wandering Outside the Appellation (Baumard Carte Turquoise Crémant De Loire).
All go great with: Seafood (especially shellfish), dishes with cream or butter sauces, herbaceous poultry, Asian take-out.
I love Champagne, you love Champagne – we’re all enthralled with the real deal. Plus, now Russia, India, and, yes, China are clamoring for it. Even with the powers that be looking to expand the official boundaries of the Champagne grape-growing region to include forty new villages, that stuff won’t be on shelves ’til 2020, and it will still command a pretty penny.
Several moons ago, I was preparing to celebrate a friend’s birthday, with a fairly thin budget mostly allocated to some decent cheese and a Carvel Cookie Puss ice cream cake. What’s an aim-high, cash-strapped girl to do?
Allow me to introduce you to Crémant. (Créme-what?) Look – they make sparkling wine all over France: they just can’t call it Champagne, so they call it Crémant. The one I’ve chosen is a crisp, easy drinker from the Loire valley – it doesn’t command the premium its rich cousins do, but it speaks French, and the tiny bubbles work their Gallic magic.
Baumard Carte Turquoise Crémant De Loire at winelibrary.com $14.98
There is that moment when traveling abroad as a young scholar that you decide to throw your budgeted, currency-converting cares to the wind and simply indulge, wherever you may be. Flashback to Junior Year in France, splurging for Champagne with my comrades on the Champs-Élysées: the City of Light swam in my flute, seemingly filled with music. I made a vow to learn all I could of this magic, and have followed that muse all the way here to WineFlirt!
The craft of Champagne is positively mystical: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes are artfully coaxed with sugar and yeast through two fermentations. The bottles are aged in catacomb-like cellars (presided over by Chefs de Cave – Cellar Masters!) and riddled – turned just so to create magic.
I’ve chosen a bottle far too lovely to break on any bow for WineFlirt’s launch: Perrier Jouët NV Grand Brut. From a house created when two families married, its famous label’s flowers yield to an elegant palette of subtle fruit and fresh fizz. Enjoy the moment!
Perrier Jouët NV Grand Brut at Wine.com $39.99
Monks are not known for disposable culture, and these honorable servants first harnessed the magic that is Champagne. Dom Pérignon was a 17th Century monk, the head winemaker at an abbey in Épernay – how was he to know that centuries after his diligent work, he would become a sort of poster boy for worldy pursuits?
I once courted a lovely Parisienne with the perfect day trip to Champagne in the spring. We had chemistry; there was magic when we touched hands. Alas, she was a fickle creature of the city: once in the sun-dappled countryside, she promptly told me she saw me as a friend, nothing more. My friends, not even the driest Extra Brut could dry my tears in Épernay. (The revenge of the celibate Brother Pérignon?) Quel domage!
I toast our future together with Nicolas Feuillatte Rosé Brut NV. A Rosé Champagne, its striking floral color matches its perfume, with a memorably balanced palate of wild fruit and a sensuous finish. Isn’t love grand?
Nicolas Feuillatte Rosé Brut NV at PJwine.com $32.97
Love the comment about PJ…
Very cool, very fun!
AMAZING!
Hooray – no more disappointing bottles of plonk to endure with this inspirational advice!
Wow! This is perfect now my cellar is running low!