Plonk or Champagne?

[lsanderson]

Is It Champagne or a Substitute? Refined Palates Can Be Fooled
By HARRY HURT III

I COMMENCED the first blind taste test I’d ever dared to conduct by popping the cork on bottle No. 1. The bubbling liquid spewed out of the neck and drizzled down the sides. Steadying my foam-splattered hand, I surveyed the 27 empty flutes arranged in neat rows on the kitchen table. I filled three of the flutes, and placed them on a slightly tarnished silver tray. Then I hid bottle No. 1 in a cardboard box on the floor, and carried the tray of frothing flutes into the living room.

My taste testers sprang up from the couch. For reasons soon to become transparent, I had agreed to let them go by the pseudonyms Gisela and Gaston. Gisela was Viennese, a former fashion model turned interior designer. Gaston was Parisian, an antiques dealer, and Gisela’s best friend.

“Salud!” they cried out in unison, raising their flutes. More

Comments

[debgeisler.livejournal.com]

For our New Year's Eve party, the big question is: how plonky do we get? We don't know who will bring what, so we usually buy 4-6 bottles of bubbles to supplement what else comes in.

Most of our friends don't drink champagne/sparkling wine more than once a year or so, and they are quite content with a fairly inexpensive tipple. We opted this year for two sparkling wines from California for the general toast: Piper Sonoma and Roederer Estate. The Piper is a blanc de noir; the Roederer is a brut. Mike and I think they're some of the best bottles in the $15-30 range.

We'll happily drink either, by the way.

For ourselves this year, we have a bottle of Bollinger that we bought for use as part of a photo shoot (James Bond related). We have a pair of toasting goblets, each of which will hold 1/2 bottle of champagne. :-)

WoW!

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

I want me some o' them goblets!

My local liquor store had a bunch of very inexpensive French bubbly -- $9-$10 dollar range that tasted fine. It's even cheaper than the prosecco. Of course, besides reading all them books, we tend to hole up and drink around here in trendy Almost Uptown.