Hundreds of years ago, this drink was created as wine for true kings. There was all the best: from grape varieties and complex technological processes, to wine for production and bottles.
Centuries have passed, but almost nothing has changed, and this explains the high cost of real sparkling wine.
In fact, the first champagne came out completely by accident, it was prepared in France, somewhere between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
That miracle happened in the Champagne province, when there was a secondary fermentation of a very good wine, and right in the bottle. The process is complicated, here both chemistry and physics are in one bottle.
But as a result, carbon dioxide was formed in the wine. This strange name appeared a little later and, you guessed it, it is given by the name of the province.
Important! Only wines produced in the Champagne province by bottle method have the right to be called champagne. The rest of the bottles with bubbles, produced somewhere in the world, cannot bear that name and are labeled with sparkling wines.
But we are used to calling this drink that way, so we will show you how to choose a good sparkling wine, or rather champagne, for your festive table.
Rule one - a bottle!
The centuries-old tradition is preserved and high-quality champagne is bottled in dark green bottles with a concave bottom.
In the USSR, the producers of Soviet champagne adhered to the rules of bottling, since then this drink was produced by the old, bottled method.
On them, bottles with a strongly concave bottom were filled with a semi-sweet, less concave semi-dry and dry drink, and bottles with a conical bottom contained brut.
Important! In the Russian market, no one adheres to this principle for a long time, since only very expensive sparkling wines are made in bottles, and this is not ours. Everything else, local, is produced mainly by the continuous, reservoir method in huge shiny barrels.
Therefore, you should not rely on such a classification of bottles and bottom, but the concavity of the bottom is still important, any.
Rule two - traffic jam!
Do you want a good quality champagne?
Choosing bottles with natural, corked cork. No plastic or other artificial material.
The third rule is the label!
There are a lot of counterfeits on our counters and champagne is especially violently and massively counterfeited for the New Year holidays.
And if the bottle in your hands is dark in color, with a concave bottom and has a natural cork, then you should take a good look at the label.
We see that it is clear, well and evenly glued, does not contain anything superfluous and does not hurt the eyes with its brightness and tastelessness - we must take it!
How to drink correctly and which version of champagne is right for you?
There are many secrets on this topic. And not every cavist, sommelier and other wine experts will tell you 100% exactly what to buy for the holiday.
Let's turn to winemakers, they have their own opinion on this.
So, when choosing champagne, you need to remember how many times a year you drink it. Exactly.
If the drink is consumed 1-2 times a year, then the choice should be stopped on semi-sweet sparkling wine. Once a month or a little more often - here you need to switch to dry.
But experts, aristocrats or "democrats" who enjoy champagne on a regular basis, that is, almost every day, only need to choose brut.
How to drink champagne?
Put aside the old Soviet habits! So you shouldn't eat candy or chop. It is strange, but from such a combination not only the taste of the drink deteriorates and becomes just a "fizzy" that everyone swallows in one gulp. There is also a high probability of getting drunk quickly, even with a couple of sips.
Fruit, light meat or fish appetizers / cuts are the best snack!
Hence the rule of how to hold a glass follows. This is done by the leg so that the drink does not heat up and the bubbles persist as long as possible.
Finally, you should drink champagne in small sips, as if feeling the very bubbles in it.
And yet, the champagne must be thoroughly chilled before serving. And this is at least 3 hours in the refrigerator, so that the temperature of the contents of the bottle becomes no more than 9 degrees.
If, after the holiday, there is a little drink left in the bottle, then you should not pour it out. With it, you can cook second courses, add to aspic or dessert.
Choose the right one and have fun with champagne. But remember that excessive consumption of any alcohol is unhealthy.
Good luck to you!
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