Champagne
New Year’s Eve 2012 (or is it New Year’s Eve 2013?). We have a tradition of getting together with good friends for a quiet evening of good food, good drink, and perhaps some games, of the board or electronic variety. It’s something we’ve been doing for nearly 20 years, and I look forward to it tremendously.
This year we’re hosting. The typical menu involves some fancy appetizers then a nice main course. The problem is that we stuff ourselves on the appetizers and are never hungry for the main course. I’m a little thick-headed, maybe even stubborn, but now, 20 years in, perhaps I’ve learned a lesson. We’re going to skip the main course, and just have appetizers. Danielle and I sat down this morning and decided what we wanted to make, and she put the shopping list together. We then discussed what the adult beverage of the evening would be. The obvious answer: Champagne. It’s New Year’s Eve 2012 (2013?), for goodness sake!
Danielle, who’s doing the shopping, and isn’t much of a drinker, asks which specific Champagne she should buy.
Umm.
Here’s where the problem starts. I like The Best. I must have The Best. Why? Because it’s The Best. So, whipping out my handy-dandy MacBook, I use my google-fu and search for “Champagne”. Yes, I’m quite clever.
Jesus-F*cking-Christ.
283,000,000 results. Ok, fine. “Best Champagne”. 218,000,000. Clearly, this isn’t going to work. I need to narrow my choices somehow. The internetz clearly knows The Best champagne, why won’t it just tell me?
I find a site which lists some terms and factors. Here are some of them:
- Brut
- Cuvee
- Champagne vs Sparkling Wine
- Sweetness
- Price
- Dosage
Let me be clear, I don’t know what any of these terms really mean. I’m no connoisseur of fine champagne, I just want The Best. This list of terms makes my brain explode. I genuinely agonize over how to pick The Best. How do you balance Brut-ness with Dosage-ness? Is that even possible? Or are they opposites? I really don’t know. I could spent the whole day researching this. Another site breaks it down a little better and gives three top choices for “Dry, Rich”, “Dry, Light”, “Dry, Fruity”, and “Dry, Earthy”. But how do I know that our local shop will have those bottles? What if we get there and they don’t have them? How will I choose?
By this point, Danielle has that exasperated look about her that indicates a growing need to do violence, probably to me. She wants to get out to the stores before they get jammed up with the New Year’s Eve 2012 (2013?) crowds.
I sigh. “Honey, just find a bottle that says ‘Champagne’ and costs less than $30.”
I hope it’ll be The Best. I’m just not going to think about it anymore.
Update - post New Year’s Eve
It tasted pretty good!