Champagne: New Year’s Tastiest Tradition
What better way to celebrate the holidays than with a nice bottle of bubbly.
Champagne is named for the region where its grapes are grown – Champagne in France – invented accidentally by a monk called Dom Perignon (yes, that was his name!). This bubbly wine is literally that…a sparkling white wine. True champagne must come from the region in France; everything else is merely sparkling wine and not the beverage that’s often favoured to ring in the New Year.
Located approximately one hundred miles from Paris, Champagne consists of five different wine districts and vintages, falling into five different categories: Extra Brut, Brut, Extra dry, Sec and Demi-sec, which denote sweetness. Celebrating with champagne is a time-honored tradition that dates back many years. In ancient Rome, it was customary to celebrate events with the best in food and drink, and, what’s more luxurious than champagne? The same tradition goes back to Russia and Spain, which also includes eating twelve grapes to ring in the New Year!
Why not enjoy a few celebratory bubbles to pop into 2010 with a bang? Jacquesson Cuvee No.732 N.V. is a sparkling, sweet vintage made with 52% chardonnay, 24% pinot noir and 24% pinot meunier and retailing for around HK$498.
Beaumont des Crayeres Grand Prestige Brut is made with a blend of the same grapes; a dry champagne with a rich, medium-body flavor. Perfect for fish and poultry, bottles of this vintage sell for HK$295.00. The Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV is a sweet, white champagne that tastes of pears, green apples and flowers; a perfect match for white meats. It can be yours for HK$498.00.
You can go vintage as well with a HK$2,398 bottle of Krug Vintage 1996 or go Dom Perignon Oenotheque 1995 for HK$2,050.
Learn more about these bottles or order online at Watson’s Wine Cellar.
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