Let Them Drink Champagne

Airline ticket prices being what they are these days, our champagne tastings have to go on a brief hiatus until we are finally officially both in the same state (and in our own cute apartment, which you will no doubt hear plenty about in the near future).

But we wanted to take this time to set forth a bit of our philosophy on champagne. Mainly, that champagne, sparkling wine and their ilk are not simply for “special occasions.” Given the choice, we would happily drink champagne every day, even multiple times a day. There is no reason to save champagne for New Year’s Eve or an anniversary, especially given the wide array of inexpensive, decent sparkling wines available on the market today. In fact, champagne can turn even the most boring of moments into a joyous time. Something about carbonated wines just lifts the spirit, and adds a touch of class to everyday life.

So we say: drink champagne, whenever, wherever, as much as you can! You won’t regret it.

Taco Tuesdays

Since one of us if from California, and one of us is a man, we both love tacos. So naturally, we’ve instated Taco Tuesday as a weekly evening to celebrate the delicious heritage Latin America brought to our country. And while there are a million amazing variations on the tasty taco, we went with one of our favorites: homemade refried black beans, rice, jack cheese, faux grilled chicken, and fresh salsa for her. Along with a healthy dose of Cholula hot sauce (we’re enamored with the wooden bottle top).

It hit us that with the frequency with which we enjoy these tacos, we should try to find a champagne that could pair well with such fare. So we wandered the booze aisle of the grocery store – we have that in California – while shopping for taco ingredients, searching for inspiration on the appropriate bubbly beverage for the evening. We decided there might be something off about pairing French champagne with Mexican street food, and that California wine makers might better understand the flavors from south of the border.

Given the above considerations, as well as the egalitarian nature of a food available to all classes via the taco cart, we settled on a fairly inexpensive bottle of Mumm Napa Brut Prestige ($15). This sparkling wine had a sharp, tingly, slightly apple flavor upon first sip. As we continued to drink, what stood out the most was the extreme carbonation of the wine. This is not a sparkling wine for those embarrassed by a loud, unavoidable belch or two. Overall, the wine was very simple, with no real aftertaste. Easy to drink, but with no lasting impression besides bubbles, lots of bubbles. Not an excellent wine, but one that went down easy and didn’t compete with our enjoyment of our tacos. We may not have found the perfect taco wine (try asking for that the next time you’re at a fancy restaurant), but for fifteen bucks, we didn’t regret our purchase.

Score: She gives it a 3, while he gives it a 2.5

Recommended: Yes, for those who want a cheap sparkling wine that won’t offend the senses – as long as you’re ready for some mid-sipping burps.

The Beginning of Something Beautiful

Like a true classy romance, our relationship started with champagne. Our first night alone together, we became chummy on the couch with one another and a couple of bottles of Mumm Napa. And while neither of us were champagne connoisseurs (we had yet even to venture into the world of actual French champagne, as opposed to California’s sparkling wines), we knew there were two things we never wanted to give up after that night – each other, and drinking champagne.

Our love of bubbly wines grew with every date. But our devotion to the drink wasn’t fully realized until one weekend in May, when, in honor of our first Kentucky Derby party together, we shared a bottle of Dom Pérignon. We still sigh thinking about it. Our first taste of real, divinely drinkable French champagne made us know we had found our hobby (and a Kentucky Derby tradition that is sure to endure). It became our mission to seek out every champagne, sparkling wine, and prosecco we could find to experience all the world of carbonated wines has to offer.

The idea for this blog came a few weeks later, when the ultimate excuse to drink massive amounts of champagne arrived – we got engaged! Immediately, our plans turned into an entire weekend of trying new champagnes (yes, the French kind, this was a big deal!). We ran out, became BevMo club members, stocked up, and settled in. As we sat down to enjoy our first bottle of many to come, we realized we were going to need to keep a list of everything we tried in order to avoid repeats (which would defeat the goal of trying every single champagne we could find). And while we were keeping a list, we might as well keep notes on how well we enjoyed the wine. And maybe add some details about taste and mouth feel. Hey, we could even take pictures of each bottle, and throw in a few shots of the lovely couple imbibing said champagne. And if we were going to go through all that trouble, we might as well start a blog and share our love with the world! (Such are the egos of the newly engaged).

So here we are. A blog devoted to sparkling wine, our ridiculously adorable relationship, and some funny pictures we like to take along the way. And after all this cutesy talk about couples, it’s about time we get down to the heart of it – the champagne review.

First, some nuts and bolts. Because we’re interested to know which sparkling wines we like best in a multitude of prices ranges (besides deciding on our absolute must-have), we’re going to include an average

price with each wine. We also arbitrarily decided upon a rating system from 1 to 5 (five being the highest), with half points included. And because neither of us are sommeliers, we’ll keep the descriptions brief and to the point. At the end of each review, we’ll make a recommendation on whether we’d ever buy the wine again, all things considered.

Now, the first review!

One of the first champagnes we tried on our engagement weekend was the Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royale Brut ($38). We had just returned to the house after gorging ourselves on vegan chicken sandwiches at Herbivore. Yes, you can gorge yourself on fake meat, trust us. After that heartily satisfying meal, we wanted a nice champagne to settle the stomach. And this one definitely fit the bill. It has a very tart, tangy start, with a hint of yeasty flavor. While definitely fizzy, it was not overly carbonated, and settled in our full tummies quite nicely. Overall, we thought this pale yellow champagne tasted very clean, with flavors that lingered in our mouths, allowing us to enjoy the complexity of the wine. Even after a large meal, we could have sipped our way through multiple bottles of this.

Score: She gives it a 3.5, while he gives it a 4.

Recommended: Yes – especially given the price, this champagne packs a lot of punch for the dollar.