Elite Traveler March-April 2016

INFLUENCE CHAMPAGNE COLUMN

elite traveler MAR/APR 2016 54

Essi Avellan on champagne myths As the drink of celebration and toasting to success, manymyths have grown up around the drinking of champagne. Essi Avellan tells the truth about the best ways to enhance your enjoyment of a bottle of fizz

strawberries is not that good a match. I would keep the fizz in the fridge for desserts, as even the sweetest of champagnes is rarely sweet enough to pair with treats. But do bring it out for the cheese: mature comté and Krug Grande Cuvée, Brillat-Savarin and Louis Roederer Vintage Rosé, and Champagne’s very own Chaource and its next door neighbor Drappier Grande Sendrée. Then there is the aging, or rather the non-aging of champagne. The champagne houses have encouraged us to open rather than cellar our bottles. But quality champagnes, even the non-vintage ones, are worth maturing further. If the cork holds, champagne is a wine that will mature longest due to its low pH. One may drop a case in the Baltic Sea and have future generations recover quite drinkable bottles 180 years later, as proven by the champagne treasure shipwreck off the coast of Åland, Finland, from the 1840s. Keeping your champagne in a cool place is a good start, but few people understand the detrimental effects of light to champagne. Dark bottles resist UV rays rather well, but wines in clear glass bottles are terrifyingly vulnerable. They stand naked to the rays that, in the case of normal fluorescent light, can cause damage within hours. But in direct sunlight the goût de lumière (taste of light) will spice your precious champagne within minutes with pungent cabbagey, wet wool, or – worst case – sewage-like aromas. I am sorry to spoil some of the pleasure of sipping champagne on a boat deck in the Mediterranean, but shade is better for both you and your wine. You might want to swap the storing position of your wines as Amorim, the world’s largest cork manufacturer, recommends storing champagne bottles in an upright position. The carbon dioxide keeps the cork moist, and a vertical position avoids extended contact with the cork. There is nothing wrong with horizontal storing, but vertical might be slightly superior. And finally, always drink champagne, never spray it like a Formula 1 winner.

Champagne is the simplest thing, isn’t it? It is the bubbly wine we have all figured out, a drink that has a clear time and place. It kick-starts any party, is non-negotiable at weddings and poses on the Formula 1 podium. Still, I’d call it the most misunderstood of all wines. So let me bust some myths and misconceptions for you of how to get the most out of your champagne. Hollywood stars flirt with the glamorous champagne saucers in hand, whereas the rest of us go for the tall flutes as a no-brainer for a drinking vessel. What if I told you both were wrong? One simply gets so much more out of champagne from a large tulip-shaped glass. In fact, a good white wine glass is not a bad option. At best, the glass works as a magnifying glass, amplifying the aromas, bringing forward layers that may be missed. To maximize the value for money of champagne, start with the glassware. Many people seem to be concerned about keeping the leftovers of their champagne. Leftover champagne is an odd concept for me, as I agree with Ruinart’s cellar master Frédéric

Panaïotis to whom not finishing a bottle means there is something wrong with either the wine or the company. You can judge the company you keep, but cork taint and other faults are not impossible in champagne, contrary to what many may think. The delicate nature of the wine and the intensifying effect of the carbon dioxide make cork taint and other faults easily noticeable in champagne, even in the tiniest quantities. So when being served in a restaurant always taste and approve your champagne, just as you would any other wine. The same goes for champagne by the glass, as you are entitled to a fresh, vivacious glassful. Enjoy champagne as an aperitif, but also give this elegant and vibrant wine a chance throughout the meal. What you may discover is that champagne is the most versatile, easiest wine to match with food. Its favorite food accompaniments include delicacies such as truffle, scallops, lobster, foie gras, smoked salmon, fish roes such as caviar and much else besides. On the other hand, to bust another myth, champagne and

“I am sorry to spoil some of the pleasure of sipping champagne on a boat deck in the Mediterranean, but shade is better for both you and your wine”

Essi Avellan is a renowned champagne specialist and Master of Wine

Photo: Gallery Stock