There is no other region of France that holds as much allure for me as Champagne. I loved walking through Reims and Epernay when we were in France and remember being spellbound at the champagne shops. In hindsight I shouldn't have been, but I had never been to a store that was wall to wall champagne. And the cafes where everyone was drinking champagne made it seem that much more festive.
However, champagne isn't just for festive celebrations. Far too many people think the only time to open champagne is when a celebration is in order. Now I'll agree that that is a damn good time, but a Tuesday night with shellfish works just as well for me. Champagne may be the most versatile food wine their is...it goes with practically everything. So, I say get the bottles of bubbly down from the rack and open it up. Remember it's just wine with bubbles.
The champagne we had was the Alfred Gratien NV (non-vintage). This is a producer that we like quite a bit and find it to be better than most wines in its price point ($38-45 depending on the retailer). If this had Clicquot written on the label you'd be paying $90 for this quality. Skip the marketing and buy what's inside.
The color of this was a beautiful light golden yellow. The aromas were typical champagne consisting of yeast, apples, slight citrus. Great tiny bubbles to start, but I usually drink champagne from a chardonnay glass so I get more aroma, but this causes the bubbles to dissipate more quickly. I'm happy to make the trade.
The flavors were baked bread, baked green apples, maybe slight grapefruit and there was some oak to add complexity, but it no way overpowered the fruit. Very crisp, very fresh, but creamy. Great bottle of wine.
Do yourself a favor and find a way to drink more sparkling wines.
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