Boozin’ Blog

I’m a beer man. I’ll argue all day that beer is just as elegant and refined as any wine you can pull out of your cellar. But I have to admit that when an occasion like St. Valentines Day or an anniversary rolls around, I find myself eyeing the Champagnes in the wine section of my favorite beer store. And I don’t even really like Champagne; don’t get me wrong, I’ll drink a glass or four if offered but I have other drinks that I like a lot better.

But there’s something about these significant days that seems to make it so we pop the cork on a bottle of bubbly, or at least wine, right? At the same time, a bottle of Champagne and a box of chocolates is so expected that it’s almost cliché. While I feel compelled to by a bottle of Champagne, I also feel a little silly taking it to the cashier.

Clearly, I have some unresolved issues surrounding sparkling wine.

And, by the way, that is usually what I really buy. As you probably know, it isn’t really Champagne unless it comes from the Champagne region of France. Otherwise, it’s sparkling wine. So why do I tend to buy sparkling wine over Champagne? Well, it has nothing to do with it being from France. I’ll buy wine, cheese and anything else tempting from France. It goes back to the idea that Champagne is cliché. I’m looking for something different and usually that will come from the non-French speaking vintners who aren’t quite so steeped in tradition.

One option is local wine. Living in Missouri, I have lots of options for local wine. There are dozens of small, family run wineries within just a few hours drive from my house and the booze store is always stocked with a wide selection of them. One popular local sparkling wine is called Ten Bucks. The label features a pen and ink cartoon drawing of ten male deer. It really takes the wind out of the hoity image of Champagne. Oh, and it sells for $10.

Another option that my wife particularly favors is Italian Muscato d’Asti. This full flavored sparkling wine is a very nice alternative to Champagne. Where the traditional bubbly seems only to offer the choice of excessively sweet or excessive dry and always watery, Muscato d’Asti is always flavorful and satisfying. And it’s definitely priced more reasonably than the French stuff with all of its commercial cache.

Or maybe this year I will finally resist the urge and just go with good beer. So long as I don’t forget the chocolate, I think my wife will be fine with that.

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Few drinks are as specifically associated with a holiday or event as Champagne is with New Years Eve. Sales for Champagne and sparkling wine go through the roof in the days before New Years and for many people this is about the only time that they consider it. So with the big day just around the corner I thought a few words about everyone’s favorite bubbly might be in order.

First let’s deal with the name of this wine. Champagne is a type of sparkling wine. That is all Champagne is sparkling wine but all sparkling wine is not Champagne. Tradition and European Union law dictate that only sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France may be called Champagne. This distinction is mostly respected throughout the world although I did once see a wine made in Missouri with Champagne on its label. That particular wine-maker has since changed the label and removed the ‘c’ word.

Now, what’s with all this nonsense about brut? In the world of sparkling wine this simply means dry. Why bubbly booze has to use a different word from everyone else is beyond me. So if the label says brut or extra brut that just means that this is a dry wine. Now, just to muddy things up the word dry does appear on some labels but it actually means less dry than brut. On sparkling wine labels dry is middle of the road between sweet and dry. Sweet Champagne makers use the term demi-sec on their labels.

Drier wines, brut here, tend to do well with meals and sweeter wines or demi-sec in the sparkling wine world are best with fruit and desserts. So, for standing around at a party or to pop the cork on for a New Years Eve toast, dry or extra dry sparkling wine is the best choice.

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