Champagne is delicious sparkling wine made by the "Méthode Champenoise" and always from Champagne, France. There are other good sparkling wines, but Champagne is always from France. It's a great everyday wine and goes stunningly well with a wide variety of food as well as by itself. And yes, expensive vintage Champagnes are great for special celebrations as well, like the 3rd Tuesday of the month or your Aunt Irma's nose job.
Champagne
Brands and HousesMost Champagne Brands like Cristal and Dom Perignon are made by large producers that are commonly called Champagne Houses, for example Roederer and Moet and Chandon. Many produce oceans of wine, often with remarkable quality and consistency.
Grower ChampagnesSome farmers not only grow grapes in Champagne but also make and bottle their own Champagne, and this so called "Farmer Fizz" has heaps of personality, and displays terroir most other Champagne do not and can not. It's also fun to drink!
Sparkling WinesI prefer Champagne, but there is pretty good sparkling wine made in many areas of the world: California, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Italy, and even Massachusetts. I'm certainly no snob, for example I love most cheap Spanish sparkling wine (called "Cava") and even the stuff from Massachusetts.
There are many reasons to travel to Champagne and seeing wine producers and visiting their 2000+ year old cellars built in impressive Gallo-Roman chalk mines are but one reason. The charming city of Reims with its Gothic Masterpiece Cathedrale Notre Dame, the old city of Troyes, and the Champagne Routes through the country are just a few reasons.
Champagne Glasses and Accessories
You do not need much to enjoy Champagne, but we
prefer proper glasses, although we admit to
occasionally swigging it out of the bottle, "Billionaire on a Yacht Style"
and maybe once or twice drinking it through crazy straws with the odd cute
babysitter. A Champagne
Bucket and Champagne Stopper are also useful.
Recent Articles and News
Naveran Cavas - they make a range of Cavas, as well as some non sparkling wines.
Cava Wine - Delicious and relatively inexpensive Spanish Sparkling wines.
Scarffenberger Brut - Nice and elegant sparklers that are tasty and great values.
Roederer - Californian sparking wines from the famed Champagne Louis Roederer.
AR Lenoble - A small Negociant who works with great Chardonnays from the Cotes de Blancs.
Marie-Noelle Ledru Champagne - An ultra tiny Grower producer (effectively 3 hectares of vines) in Ambonnay the critics go goo goo over.
Champagne Moutardier - A Pinot Meunier Specialist in the village of Le Breuil, west of Epernay, making "Modern Meunier."
Schramsberg - Making elegant California sparkling wines since 1965.
Billecart-Salmon - Wines of "finesse, balance, and elegance" - they are best known for for their Non Vintage Rose.
Piper Heidsieck - Lively, fresh, and fruity Champagnes from of of the three Heidsieck houses.
Reims, France - An absolutely charming city.
Reims, France Tourism - The basics of getting there, getting around, what to see, etc.
The Champagne Region - An area of historic and modern day importance too.
Bruno Paillard - The newest
Champagne house with very elegant and balanced wines.
Champagne Charles Lafitte - An inexpensive "Supermarket Champagne Brand" from Vranken-Pommery. I found the Rose to be a good deal.
Charles Heidsieck - A medium bodied and complex Champagne from "Champagne Charlie" who popularized Champagne in the US long ago. Their NV is a bargain!
Kir Royal - A Champagne cocktail made with Champagne and creme de cassis - and with plenty of variants as well.
Crémant de Bourgogne - Sparkling wine from Burgundy is increasing in popularity less expensive than Champagne.
J Lassalle - Elegant yet big and opulent Grower Producer Champagnes with lots of concentration.
Vilmart Grand Cellier, Couer de Cuvee & Cuvee Creation Tasting - Jan 2012 - Can I just say Wow! A array of 90+ point Champagnes
Henri Goutorbe - Big, Bold, Fruity, delicious Pinot Noir dominated Champagnes.
Guy Larmandier - Chardonnay based wines from the Cote des Blancs of "notable elegance and personality."
Rene Geoffroy - Serious red grape dominated fruity and fun Champagnes.
Camille Savès - Kick Butt Bouzy Champagne I love: creamy, plenty of minerals, complex, and just fun to drink!
Champagne Barnaut - Fun and big Pinot Noir dominated wines.
Andre Beaufort Champagne - Wonderful, intense, no barred held biodynamic Champagne.
Pehu-Simonet Champagne - An up and coming producer from Verzenay in the Montagne de Reims.
Champagne Jean Milan - Great Blanc de blancs from Oger in the Côte de Blancs, between the villages of Cramant and Le Mesnil.
Westport Rivers Brut - A surprisingly good sparkling wine from Southern Massachusetts! I've enjoyed them several times.
Champagne Roger Coulon - With 9 Hectares in Montagne de Reims, this family run vineyard has been growing grapes and making wines for 8 generations.
Thierry Triolet - A small Grower Producer since the 60s with good, solid (and tasty) value priced wines.
Jacques Lassaigne Champagne - Awesome fruit forward, elegant, and classy wines from the South of Champagne.
Champagne Agrapart - Bottling their own Champagnes in the Côte de Blancs since the late 1800s.
Champagne Larmandier-Bernier - A biodynamic producer in the Côte des Blancs.
Ulysse Collin Champagne - A rising star in Champagne, he makes his wines as naturally as practical seems to moving towards full biodynamic. His wines simply rock!
Argyle Brut - Well worth it sparklers from the Willamette Valley, Oregon, noted for Pinot Noir.
Champagne Drappier - A favorite of Charles de Gaulle, big and powerful, palate pleasing wines.
Champagne Vilmart - Near cult like status.
Egly-Ouriet Champagne
- Rich, full bodied, & one of the original Grower Champagnes -
Good Cheap Wine - There is plenty of inexpensive wine that rocks.