Which Champagne or Sparkling Wine to Suit your Celebration

Well the good news is that in most occasions we tend to associate Champagne & Sparkling Wines with good moods, fine times and happy experiences, rarely do we pair bubbly with anything less than a smile raising situation.

I see sparkling wines, especially the word Champagne, as not only a wine, but also a state of mind and a description of particular good time occasions – How many times have we heard the phrase ‘Champagne moments‘ when we describe situations that occur in life from success in business to success is sports, that time in our lives which we see as some of the best and hence we associate the word Champagne with them.

I am sure many reading will agree that a glass of bubbly in our hand brings a smile to our faces, makes us feel better and many will not think of any other drink to celebrate with when those special moments happen.

So, what moods for which sparkling wines?

Birthday Celebrations: Now for some of us our birthdays can not come round fast enough and others will question just how fast time flies by these days and have to put up with the ‘we won’t be able to fit all the candles on your birthday cake‘ jokes – I’m right aren’t I… And I will not say which bracket I fall in to! Birthdays for many should be celebrations, both for ourselves and for those who know and love us, another year enjoying life and another year of bringing happiness in to other people’s lives. A well known grand marques Champagne would fit this nicely, a brand that all will recognise and look forward to opening with you and enjoying.

College / School / University Success: Parents are proud of their children getting their grades and students are just relieved the exams and suspense of results are over – The ups and downs of receiving our exam results which must certainly deserves some bubbly. As the progress in both awareness and standards of English Sparkling Wines grow then why not set celebrate your success alongside their success? I suggest one of the up and coming English Sparkling Wine labels with a growing reputation.

Parties: I think from any age, from toddlers looking forward to jelly and ice cream with all the wrapped up presents waiting to play pass the parcel to adults looking forward to sharing with friends those chilled bottles of wine and a selection of spirits and the typical situation of the husband outside struggling to light that BBQ – We all love parties! Once we become adults many of us discover and enjoy drinks with friends so what better party wine to get the fun mood going than bubbly! Now I would suggest something light and refreshing, fruity and fizzy and seeing as many glasses will be enjoyed, something economical yet fine in quality. Prosecco ticks all of  these boxes!

Funerals: You may ask – Celebration, really? The funerals I have attended, though difficult emotionally as someone dear to us has now departed, a part of the mourning, is the celebration of their lives. What better way than a bottle of Champagne and a vintage of the year the person was born. Of course, I agree that, and also hopefully so, the person who’s funeral it was for will have had an healthy amount of years lived too so vintages of many years old could be outside of many of our budgets. Vintages though are always something to be opened at special occasions and the older the vintage then the more complex and filled with history it will offer. A vintage Champagne to celebrate the life of someone sounds a fine mark of respect, raising a glass to someones life and memory.

Dom Pérignon 1998 Vintage

Fine dining celebrations: Many of us will have thoughts of fine food when it comes to celebrations from the grand wedding day dinner to families celebrating Christmas and when we think of all the worldwide cuisines we we can enjoy then must also think about pairing them with fizz! Today Champagne & Sparkling Wines are paired with many fine foods of which some we all know and others will raise an eye brow or two. It pays to pair fine sparkling wines with your food so I do suggest looking at Franciacorta as an option, made in the champenoise method and offering many fine producers and tastes.