Champagne: the rules of the art
A sigh rather than a bang, the right temperature, flute or coupe, and the story of a monk who did not quite invent the bubbles: serving and drinking champagne like a connoisseur.
We open it to celebrate, and that is often when it all goes wrong: a cork that hits the ceiling, a bottle that overflows, glasses filled to the brim, lukewarm champagne served in ice-cream coupes. The most festive wine in the world is also one of the most mistreated. A few gestures are enough to do it justice.
Temperature
Champagne is served chilled but not ice-cold: around eight to ten degrees. Too cold, it loses its aromas. Too warm, it becomes heavy and its bubbles escape too quickly. Ideally, place it in a bucket half filled with water and half with ice, about twenty minutes before serving. The freezer is out of the question.
Opening without a bang
Sommeliers never tire of saying it: a well-opened champagne does not go “pop”, it sighs. Remove the foil and the wire cage while keeping your thumb on the cork, tilt the bottle to forty-five degrees, then slowly turn the bottle, not the cork, while holding the cork firmly. It comes out with a soft hiss. The bang, however joyful, wastes wine and bubbles, and it can injure.
Sabrage, beheading the bottle with a stroke of a sabre, is said to be a tradition of the hussars in Napoleon’s army. The gesture is spectacular, but it is best left to professionals and grand outdoor occasions: a shard of glass can fly all too easily.
Serving
Pour in two stages: a first splash, which forms the mousse, then top up once it has settled. Fill the glass to about two thirds, never to the brim, to leave room for the aromas to express themselves. Hold the bottle by its base, thumb in the punt, if you want the professionals’ gesture.
Flute, coupe or wine glass?
The flute, tall and narrow, shows off the bubbles and preserves them for a long time. The coupe, wide and shallow, has the charm of the Roaring Twenties, but it disperses both bubbles and aromas. More and more sommeliers and champagne houses now recommend a tulip-shaped white wine glass, wider in the middle and narrower at the top, which lets the wine open up while keeping its bubbles. This is particularly true for great vintage champagnes.
It is said that the shape of the coupe was moulded on Marie Antoinette’s breast. It is a legend, since the coupe existed long before her, but it still amuses dinner guests.
Reading a label
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Brut nature, extra brut | Very little or no added sugar |
| Brut | The most common, dry |
| Demi-sec | Sweeter, for dessert |
| Blanc de blancs | White grapes only, often chardonnay |
| Blanc de noirs | Black grapes only, vinified as white wine |
| Vintage (millésimé) | Grapes from a single year, judged exceptional |
The monk and the bubbles
The invention of champagne is often attributed to Dom Pérignon, a monk at the abbey of Hautvillers in the seventeenth century. This is inaccurate: the bubbles formed naturally, and winemakers were rather trying to get rid of them. Dom Pérignon above all perfected the blending of grapes and the quality of the wines. The line attributed to him, “Come quickly, I am drinking the stars”, is also, most probably, a much later invention.
Champagne does not need noise. It needs attention.
