Contrary to popular belief,
a bottle of bubbly (Champagne) should never pop with a big bang, but with
a soft sigh. Popping open a bottle is garish, and extremely un-classy!
Champagne should be served in flute or tulip style glasses, with long stems.
This is so your hands don't warm the drink. Such glasses enhance the aroma
and the flow of the bubbles.
The temperature of the Champagne
should ideally be between 6 to 8 degrees C. this is best achieved by refrigerating
your bottle for about three and a half hours before serving. Or, you could
also place it in an ice bucket filled with ice, for about half an hour.
Vintage Champagnes are those
which are aged for a minimum of three years upto ten years, and are the
most expensive. Non-vintage Champagnes are aged for at least 18 months
in France.
Champagnes are synonymous
with toasts, and a beautiful lady was acknowledged by everyone toasting
to her and clanging their glasses. This is why she was known as the toast
of the town, in the 1800s.
Did you know:
1. That Champagne is a type
of sparkling wine which is only grown in the French region of Champagne?
America has its own version of Champagne as well, because of a loophole
in the patent. However, American brands must mention the region they were
produced in, on the bottle label.
2. That there are 49 million
bubbles in a regular bottle of Champagne? Large bubbles are considered
extremely unsightly and are not the mark of good quality Champagne. The
tinier the bubble the better.
3. That Marilyn Monroe once
filled up her tub with 350 bottles of Champagne, and took a long, luxurious
bath in it? It was said that she drank and breathed Champagne as if it
were oxygen.
4. That a Nebuchadnezzar
represents the largest quantity of a Champagne serving? One Nebuchadnezzar
is equal to 20 bottles! A Magnum is equal to only two bottles while a Split
equals one-forth of a bottle.
5. That the pressure in a
bottle of Champagne is equivalent to the tyre pressure of a double decker
bus in Bombay? Chilling the bottle helps reduce the pressure tremendously.
What should you
have with Champagne?
-
Caviar
-
Strawberries
-
Chocolate, of the finest quality
of course.
-
Pate
-
Gravlax
Some of the
best brands of Champagne include:
-
Veuve Clicquot
-
Moet & Chandon
-
Bollinger
-
Pommery
-
Ruinart
-
Perrier Jouet
-
Lanson
-
Louis Roeerer
-
Billecart Salmon
-
Taittinger
Legendary
quotes on Champagne:
-
Famous Champagne quotes: "Remember
gentlemen, it's not just France we are fighting for, it's Champagne!" Winston
Churchill, in the midst of World War I.
-
"I drink Champagne when I'm
happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have
company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and
drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it - unless I'm thirsty." Madam
Lilly Bollinger, of the Bollinger brand of Champagnes.
-
"I drink Champagne when I win,
to celebrate . . . and I drink Champagne when I lose, to console myself."
- Napoleon Bonaparte
-
Lord Keynes famous last words:
"I wish I had drunk more Champagne."
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