Champagne remains one of the nation’ s top tipples. We look at some of the best non-vintage bottles available.
Food & Drink
Lovely BubblY
Champagne remains one of the nation’ s top tipples. We look at some of the best non-vintage bottles available.
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Champagne sales are always considered an indicator of the wealth of the nation so we should all be popping corks to celebrate the news that the import of bubbly is again on the up.
The Champagne Bureau says sales bounced back in the UK last year after two years when the industry was hammered by the recession. After the French, who sip most of the annual production themselves, the British are the biggest imbibers of the famous fizz and it is good news to see that proper Champagne is holding its own against fierce competition from Cava and Prosecco.
We quaffed 20 million bottles of Champagne last year and producers are hoping the trend will continue into the remainder of 2011, perhaps buoyed by events such as the Royal Wedding.
Champagne will always be the preferred drink for a celebration – and a toast without the famous drink can seem very flat indeed. It is largely made from three grape varieties – chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier – which are blended in differing quantities depending on style and individual producers preferences.
We all know of the deluxe brands such as Krug, Dom Perignon, and Cristal but unless you are a footballer you will be probably picking non-vintage Champagne.
The well known Champagne houses have individual house styles and everybody has their favourites for whatever reason. Moet & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot and Bollinger are among the better known but aficionados often prefer the elegance and cache of the likes of Billecart-Salmon, Ruinart and Louis Roederer, which is our favourite.
However, there are some great Champagne bargains to be had from supermarket own labels and some lesser known brands.
Our tip for non-vintage Champagne is to buy it when there are good offers available – and there are many – and lay it down for 12 months. This is because a lot of Champagne we get in the UK tends to be rather young, and the good ones will mellow in the bottle, producing a much more rounded flavour. You don’ t have to store the bottles on their side because Champagne corks produce a perfect seal and will not dry out if stored at a constant temperature.
We recently conducted a blind tasting of nine nonvintage Champagnes.
Marks and Spencer’ s Oudinot was crowned queen of the cork and all agreed it had indeed been the best one on the table.