Now there are virtually thousands of styles of Sparkling Wine in the world. From the fine American houses of Schramsberg to famed legends of Prosecco to the new kids on the block, making sparkling Shiraz, there is nothing quite like a chilled glass of Champagne in a flute.
Dom Perignon is quoted to usher everyone to where he was saying "I see stars!" I'm sure he said the same thing in the morning after consuming enough of his product... but much more quietly.
Champagne is a tribute unto itself. No, it wasn't the first area in the world to produce Sparkling Wine. Their cousins to the south of their own country in Limoux established sparkling wine in 1531, more than 100 years before the Monks in Northern France "invented" Champagne. But what the Monks in the Abbey of Saint Hilaire missed out on, the Monks of Northern France took advantage of and exploded their product (as often as their corks) into the mainstream market.
Today there are hundreds of Champagne houses in the Champagne region of France. And while we can't get a hold of them all here in little old South Carolina, I would like to help you get a bearing on some of the amazing wines that are in fact available.
Ok, we all know about the Champagne giants like Veuve Clicquot, Perrier Jouet and Moet Chandon. What I want to talk to you about are maybe "lesser known" houses. Not to bad mouth the houses that I just mentioned, but there is so much more out there!
For example, there is a large Champagne house called Duval-Leroy that produces high volumes of wine. It is full bodied with aromas of honeysuckle, toast, roasted pear and follows with tastes of baked apple and just delicious acidity.
Pierre Moncuit is another great Champagne, but from a much smaller Champagne house (I will get into differences in Champagne Houses another time). To sum this wine up as well as I can, it is a locomotive that has let out the throttle on flavor and won't stop any time soon!
I will sum this up quickly with a shout out to Diebolt-Vallois. I recently had a big day and at the end of that day, there was nothing more satisfying than diving into that delicious bottle of Diebolt-Vallois. As elegant as Donna Reed and as seductive as Anne Hathaway, this wine is everything you could want in a special occasion. Why? because it didn't matter that I was celebrating a big event. Opening the bottle was special enough!
Go out and try these wines for New Year's Day, or any day! You will be happy that you did!
--Cheers!
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