Matching Champagne with Food

These are personal delineations, mind you, nothing official. But they may certainly help you sort the differences out in your mind; and with that, all possible variations of possible food matches. To wit:

LIGHT & LOVELY SPARKLING WINES

The world’s light, lovely sparkling wines are definitely easiest to drink; marked by silky smooth textures and fragrances promising sweet nothings (although the wine may be completely dry), with yeast infused fruit qualities on the palate intimating similar sensations. The classic example is Moet & Chandon’s fresh, frothy Brut “Imperial” Champagne ($50-$60); and the ultimate example is Moët & Chandon’s “Cuvée Dom Pérignon” ($110-$130), which combines delicacy, finesse and neverending flavor like no other champagne.

In my book, the second most perfect example of the light, lovely style comes out of the beautifully hand etched bottles of Perrier-Jouët’s “Fleur de Champagne” ($110-$130); its airy, creamy textured length almost startling in its sensuousness. In a pinch, you can’t go wrong with Perrier-Jouët’s “Grand” Brut Champagne ($40-$50); but if price is no object, the Taittinger “Comtes de Champagne” Brut Blanc de Blancs “Millesime” ($150-$180) rivals the “Dom” for decadence.

From California, the lusciously creamy, yeast and apple blossom scented Iron Horse Blanc de Blancs ($35-$45) is as lovely as any sparkling wine can be, although you may find a tad more succulence in the Iron Horse “Wedding Cuvée” Blanc de Noirs ($35-$45) or, from California’s Carneros region, the Domaine Carneros “La Rêve” Blanc de Blancs ($40-$50) and the Gloria Ferrer “Royal Cuvée” Brut ($25-$35).

I don’t know about you, but I also have a weakness for sparklers that are just as at home on rooftops with views as they are at weddings in May or with midnight snacks in bed; and for those purposes, Italy’s Prosecco is ideal. A current favorite: the green apple crisp, lithe and limber Adriano Adami Garbèl-Prosecco “13” ($12-$18); the 13 in reference to the wine’s grams of residual sugar, putting its taste right between the light sweetness of traditional Extra Dry and the dryness of Brut sparklers.

Food Matches: Light and lovely sparklers need to be thought of in the same way as lighter bodied, dry or off-dry white wines with crisp, sharply defined acidity. Like squeezes of lemon, with cleansing effervescence, on the palate. White fish and minerally shellfish (shrimp, crab, oysters and lobster) are naturals, especially in the form of sashimi, tartare, seviche, salsas, Hawaiian poke (with chopped sea vegetables), or in salads with mild, winey vinaigrettes. There are two schools of thought when it comes to cheese: light, lemony sparklers can either match the tartness of chèvres and fetas (although it is better to balance the saltiness of the latter with slightly sweet Extra Dry sparklers), or give contrasting zest to the lush butterfat of soft ripened cheeses like brie, double and triple crèmes.

RICHLY MEDIUM SPARKLERS

Many of France’s top champagne houses – such as G.H. Mumm, Pol Roger, Charles Heidsieck, and J. Lassalle – make wines falling squarely in a “richly medium” range: intensity packed with pinpoint balance, neither light, heavy, soft nor austere. In this vein, the Krug Brut “Grande Cuvée” ($160-$200) is the king of them all; every bottle of Krug a miracle of power and elegance.

Another popular champagne house exemplifying the medium weight style is Veuve Clicquot. All the Clicquot bottlings – from the “Yellow Label” Brut ($35-$45) and vintaged “Gold Label” Brut ($55-$75) to the fully saturated “La Grande Dame” ($140-$180) – trap a pungent yeastiness mixed with toasty, smoky, roasting nut-like aromas, and lemony crisp yet meaty textured fruit qualities on the palate.

From California’s Russian River Valley, the J Brut ($25-$35) dishes out slivers of toasted nuts with a sensuously round, creamy feel; but it is Napa Valley’s storied Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs ($35-$45) that shines brightest with amazingly champagne-like aromas suggesting honey on hot biscuits. If you can find any sparkler that combines as much sinewy strength with improbably long, silken textures, please call me collect.

Food Matches: Increased weight, rounder textures and yeasty, smoky qualities allow these sparklers to go beyond fish and shellfish into other white meats like chicken, game birds, rabbit, pork, veal, and even sausages and sweetbreads. Richer fruit qualities embrace both smoked and cured fish and meats, stronger umami components like mushrooms, caramelized onions, confits and nages, as well as richer variations of sushi (from hamachi and maguro to uni and caviars). Indeed, in the wild and carefree 1980’s, favorite matches with Krug Champagne in New York’s Quilted Giraffe were beggar’s purses (tiny crêpes filled with lush beluga caviar and crème fraiche) and wasabi pizzas – good examples of the expansive food matches possible in sparkling wines balancing generously yeasted fruit with classic rapier acidity and effervescense.

BODACIOUSLY FULL SPARKLERS

This style of champagne pretty much puts brute strength above delicacy, although the finest are not without refinements. The legendary Louis Roederer Brut “Cristal” ($180-$230), for instance, is as elegantly composed as any champagne, beneath a roaringly rich, broad, musclebound feel and multifaceted notes of roasting, honeyed nuts and baking breads. You’ll find a similar fullness and nostril tingling yeastiness in the Louis Roederer Brut “Premier” Champagne ($60-$80); as well in the Roederer Estate Anderson Valley Brut ($15-$25) and Roederer Estate “L’Ermitage” ($30-$40) from California.

But undoubtedly the biggest, richest champagnes of all are made by Bollinger. The Bollinger “Special Cuvée” ($65-$85) is unrepentantly thick and unsubtly yeasty, yet layered with lush fruit wrapped in creamy, vanillin, toasted oak spice. The deeply honeyed, buxom, woodsmoky Bollinger “R.D.” ($250-$300) goes where no other sparkling wine in the world dares. Beyond that, aficionados of size and strength can only look to South Australia’s brazenly brawny, purplish, dry yet creamsicle textured Sparkling Shiraz bottlings, such as those of Peter Rumball ($20-$25) and Mollydooker ($45-$55).

Food Matches: The pronounced smoky, vanillin, malty and butterscotchy qualities of these champagnes extend food matches into the realms of smoky white meats roasted with caramelized crusts, oilier fishes like black cod and mackerel, more pungent shellfish like mussels and clams, as well as a freer usage of oils, creams, butters and aggressive court bouillons in the cooking process. With Sparkling Shiraz you can be even more adventurous: use of soy based marinades, hot spices (chilies, garlic and ginger) and sweet berries in the cooking, pungent herbs (tarragon, thyme, and even rosemary) and fungus (shiitake, chanterelles and truffles), gamey poultry (duck and goose), and even leaner cuts of red meats (filets and tenderloins) with caramelized dry rubs and oils respond to this almost surreal style of red/sparkling wine with equal aplomb.

Happy Holidays!