Champagne
Rick's Picks - August 2009
by Rick VanSickle

Champagne is a wine that everyone loves but very few enjoy outside of New Year's Eve, very special occasions and, perhaps, if you're lucky enough to score a hole in one. But, as many wine lovers know, Champagne, real Champagne from the region in France where it is made and grown from three principal grape varieties, is a versatile beverage made in a multitude of styles that can be enjoyed year-round with or without your meal.

No other style of wine is so dependent on the region where it is grown. The very name Champagne can only be used on labels by the wineries of that geographical area in France, just 145 kilometres northeast of Paris.

Making a sparkling wine is no easy feat. To produce the tiny bubbles in Champagne the base wine — either Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier or any combination of those grapes — is bottled with a small amount of yeast and sugar, which induces a second fermentation in the wine. That fermentation prompts gas in the bottle, which in turn produces carbonation.

Then the fun begins. The sediment left in the bottle is shaken to the neck of the bottle, frozen and removed in a lump. It is replaced with some more wine to top it up and sugar can be added depending on if you want to make a sweeter Champagne or not. Most are made in a dry (Brut) style.

The grapes used in making Champagne define the style of wine you are getting. The majority of Champagne houses use some combination of the three grapes but some make a Blanc de Blanc (Chardonnay only) or a Blanc de Noir (Pinot Noir only). There is also Vintage Champagne, a wine made in a particular year, or non-Vintage Champagne, blended from a combination of years.

Some of the classic food matches with Champagne include oysters and delicate white fish with Blanc de Blanc, game birds, veal, pork with Blanc de Noir, lighter cheeses with non-Vintage Champagne, lightly smoked foods, stronger cheeses with Vintage Champagne and fish with rich sauces with younger Vintage Champagnes. Semi-sweet Champagnes are best as an aperitif or even with foie gras and some not-too-sweet desserts.

There are many great names in the world Champagne — Dom Perignon, Krug, Moet, Mumm — but the name Heidsieck, Piper-Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck, not to be confused with Heidsieck Monopole, have always been popular brands with two distinct styles of sparkling wine.

The Piper-Heidsieck style is young, fresh and vibrant while Charles Heidsieck is more mature, refined and sophisticated with the complexity that comes with age. Both styles are made by Regis Camus, the "Chef de Cave" for the wineries. Here are some fine examples of his work now available at the LCBO.