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DRINKS

Champagne

.Beginning

with

Champagne,

I

may

say

that

the

quality

of

this

wine

very

often

suffers

greatly

by

being

placed

into

the

hands

of

inexperienced

people.

Upon

receipt

of a

shipment

of

champagne

or

any

other

sparkling

wine,

the

same

should

be

promptly

unpacked

and

every

bottle

inspected

as

to

the

soundness

of the

cork.

All

such

that

show

signs

of

leakage

should

be used

first,

while

the

others

should

be

stored

lying

down

and

be

given

a

rest

for

several

days.

When

conditioning

Champagne

for

service,

the

chilling

of

the

same

should

be

slowly

and

care-

fully

done

by

placing

the

warm

bottle

in

a

re-

frigerator

for

several

hours

and

not

packed

in

ice

until

shortly

before

serving.

Taking

wines

from

the

case

or

shelf

and

pack-

ing

them

in

ice

is

a

very

serious

mistake,

as

chilling

too

quickly

robs

them

of

their

life

and

vinosity.

Should

the

time

for

conditioning

be

short,

place

the

wine

in

a

bucket

of

cold

water

as

it

runs

from

the

faucet,

adding

a

few

lumps

of

ice

every

ten

to

fifteen

minutes

and

in

this

way

preserve

the

good

quality

of

your

wine.

Old

vintage

wines

should

be

served

at

a

tem-

perature

of

about

45

degrees,

while

the

young

vintages

showing

more

life

are

served

best

at

about

38

degrees.

Non-vintage

Champagnes

may

be

served

at

a

temperature

of

32

degrees.

Upon

taking

the

bottle

from

the

cooler

it

should

be

well

wrapped

with

a

napkin

so

the

warm

hand

of

the

waiter

will

not

come

in

con-

tact

with

the

bottle

and

agitate

the

wine.

Cap,

wire

and

string

should

be

carefully

re-

moved,

head

of

bottle

cleaned

and

the

cork

slowly

drawn

so

all

gas

may

be

retained

in

the

wine.

Care

should

be

taken

to

have

the

glasses

clean

and

dry

and

to

always

serve

the

host

first.

This

is

an

old

time

custom

which

is

done

to

give

the