What To Do With Sparkling Wine?

Last night I attended a “Patron’s Dinner” type event for a large charity function I have been helping to plan for some time now. I originally was not going to attend, but at the last minute I received an invitation for my girlfriend and I to go. The dinner was hosted in part by one of the key figures from Moet & Chandon, one of the largest and most famous of all Champagne houses, so the entire five-course meal was paired with sparkling wines.

Obviously this is not something most people would normally do. In American Champagne is pretty much viewed as an aperitif or a cocktail, but rarely is it recognized as a wine with good acid, rich fruit flavors, and a fuller-than-most-people-realize finish that makes it wonderful for pairing with many dishes. The meal was quite varied, with oysters on the half shell, salmon, beef, and duck, along with a spiced poundcake for dessert.

Two of the wines poured were from Domaine Chandon (Moet & Chandon’s California property) and the three others were from Moet & Chandon’s famed house in Epernay. Of the wines tasted my two favorites were the Etoile Rose from Domaine Chandon and the Rose Imperial from Moet & Chandon. Does it sound weird that both of my favorites were roses? The extra body and creaminess you get in a rose is very attractive to me, especially when you’re dealing with a rather gentle and elegant style of sparking wine (which Moet is known for). Additionally, since there was food on the plate I liked having the bit of extra weight to help balance out the sauces and meaty textures.

As for the food choices I was a bit surprised at the prominence of fruits in some of the dishes, and with the emphasis of heavy starches like potatoes and morel mushrooms. But what I was quickly reminded of upon sipping the wines after taking a bit was that a wine with as much acidity as sparkling wine needs either a bit of brightness, in this case the fruit, or something with texture to keep it from being a total shock on the palate. In this case the balance was achieved quite well. For what is worth the most successful pairing of the evening was the fruit poundcake for dessert along with the Nectar Imperial, Moet & Chandon’s semi-sweet Champagne. The pairing was outstanding, but unfortunately I am not really a poundcake fan so I surrendered after only a few small bites.

I hope some people in attendance will now be a bit more willing to venture out and incorporate sparkling wine into their meals more frequently. Whether or not that will happen, I admit I’m not sure. However the speaker from Moet & Hennessey did make one point that I think can never be over-emphasized: in this country we tend to only have Champagne for special occasions, which is a shame. Champagne deserves to be enjoyed all the time.