Champagne is the celebration wine
By By Stan Torgerson / wine columnist
Dec. 31, 2003
Short of wedding celebrations, New Year's Eve is the biggest night of the year for champagne lovers.
Is there any better way to welcome in a new year than with a glass (or several glasses) of champagne or sparkling wine? At the very least it is tradition. At its most it is a tribute to the joy of a fresh start as well as an affirmation of the friendship and affection you feel for the people with whom you share the evening.
Wine writer Clive Coats once wrote: "There is something special about champagne and this something which is unique to champagne, not just to sparkling wines in general has, I suspect always been there, ever since champagne as we know it today first began to be produced in the later half of the 17th century. Champagne is the celebration wine. It launches ships, it commemorates anniversaries, it toasts weddings."
And it makes a New Year's Eve more than just another day. It makes it a special occasion.
How could anyone disagree with Coats?
The art of drinking champagne has changed over the years. When I first discovered the joys of the bubbly it was served in wide mouth shallow glasses. Watch an older black and white movie that contains scenes in which champagne is poured. Note the almost bowl-like glass in which the wine is poured and the semi-seductive expression on the face of the heroine as she clinks her glass with her soon-to-be hero.
Then note today's films with similar scenes. The glass is narrower and more extended, similar to a red wine glass except for its size and curvature. The look and the clink remain the same.
The change in glass design is because we discovered that one of the joys of champagne is the tiny little sting from the bubbles. The flat glass exposed more surface air to the wine and allowed the bubbles to escape more quickly, thereby going flat and turning it into just another white wine. Today's glass is designed to restrict the surface and keep the effervescence of champagne in the glass for longer periods, as it should be.
When opening a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine do not do so by twisting the cork. That effort and the motion of it has a tendency to agitate the wine, again causing an earlier loss of the sparkling qualities inside. Hold the cork and twist the bottle rather than the other way around.
Never try to re-stop an opened bottle. Once it has been exposed to the air it should be fully consumed by the guests or poured out at the end of the evening. For that same reason never open a large quantity of champagne at the start of your party just because it is inconvenient to open bottles as the evening goes along. Open only what you need to serve for the initial pouring. Open subsequent bottles only in response to demand in order to keep each bottle fresh and at its peak.
Keep the bottle chilled. Ice all the bottles down at the same time and remove them individually from the tub, or even the refrigerator, just prior to serving. To take them all out at once and line them up on a table or kitchen counter allows the later bottles to warm up which can materially change their flavor. I prefer my champagne served cold, in the 45-degree range. But once you decide the optimum for your own taste be certain each bottle meets that same standard.
Never tell yourself that an under $10 sparkling wine is every bit as good as that in the $20 per bottle price range. It is not. There are some absolutely horrible so-called sparkling wines on the market today and your guests will know the difference at the very first taste. If you are going to spend good money on beautiful, and in some cases extravagant food, do not ruin the party by trying save money on the wine which it accompanies it.
Finally, the average pour in a champagne glass will be about 3 ounces, meaning you'll get about nine pours per bottle. Count your number of guests, figure an average of about three pours per person over the evening and you'll know how much to buy.
A party for 12 would mean about 36 pours or roughly four bottles. I always have at least two bottles as a backup in case I've misjudged the capacity of my guests. Since I don't open the bottle until it is needed, unopened bottles can safely be put away for another day, either in a cooler, the refrigerator or in a dark but cool place in your home.
With this advice I wish you a wonderful evening, a great party and a very Happy New Year.
