Champagne is a wonderful beverage but it can be confusing. First of all there is the silly notion that some people have that it is only for celebrations. This is far from the truth and Champagne is actually an amazingly versatile wine that goes well with a great many foods ranging from hard cheeses to egg dishes to seafood and more. It’s wonderful in the winter as well as the summer and all seasons in between. The only thing preventing many of us from drinking more is the price.

There are plenty of great sparkling wines in the world, but Champagne comes only from Champagne France and is expensive but it doesn’t have to be extravagant. There are lesser expensive alternatives including wonderful Spanish sparkling wines from Spain called Cava, but they do not have the same taste. Just like only Maine lobster tastes like Maine lobster, sparkling wines from other regions taste differently.

Wine is fairly fragile and needs to be stored at a cool temperature for any period of time. Champagne at room temperature will age relatively quickly and lose its freshness, and if it is heated up, for example during delivery via truck or ship, the taste suffers significantly. You want to buy Champagne from either a shop with high turnover so it’s fresh, or one that has proper wine storage. It will age gracefully if stored appropriately, but unless you are an expert, go for fresh!
The most common are Non Vintage or NV varieties, and they are made of a blend wines made from grapes from multiple growing seasons. They are also the least expensive and superb wines for everyday use as well as celebrations. The aim with an NV is to produce wines that taste the same every year, despite differences in growing seasons.
Vintage varieties are only made during great growing years when the grapes mature and ripen extremely well. A vintage Champagne will express the characteristics of the vintage as well as the producer. Some great recent vintages include 1988, 1990, 1996, and 2000.

The best grapes from vintage years are sometimes used to produce a Prestige Cuvee, an ultra high end wine. These include such famous ones as Dom Perignon, Cristal, and La Grande Dame. They are truly wonderful and in addition improve as they age assuming proper storage. In fact many vintage and prestige cuvees need a few years to truly show how great they are. For example Vintage Krug can be painfully intense until it has aged for a few years.

Rose Champagne is a light red color Champagne and tends to be more expensive than regular Champagne. It’s great for Valentines day and other romantic occasions and ages very well, although I prefer mine younger. Blanc de blanc Champagnes are made of pure Chardonnay grapes and are crisp and delicious.

It is amazing to many people how much difference there is in the tastes of Champagnes. Everyone has their own preferences and it’s best to try several types to see what you prefer. For example, you might have different bottle each week with friends to experience several producers. Its best to start with Non Vintage Champagnes to get an idea of the producers style, and then for ones you enjoy the best consider trying their vintage and perhaps prestige cuvees as well.

Author Bio: You can see much more at Champagne and also Buy Champagne and Buy Champagne Online.

Category: Food and Drinks
Keywords: champagne, non vintage, blanc de blancs, rose