Top 10 Tips to Help you Understand & Buy Champagne

Perfect Foods with Champagne other than caviar
Scallops with Extra-Sec
Blanquette de Veau with Blanc de Blancs
Fish & Chips with everyday good quality Brut
Seafood platter with Zero Dosage
Lobster and langoustine with a Blanc de Noirs
Pink lamb with mature Vintage Rosé
Apple crumble with Demi-Sec
Duck and beef with Mature Vintage
Summer pudding with Rosé
Oh, alright then, caviar with Prestige Cuvée

Ten Champagne styles
Brut NV (or multi-vintage)
Vintage
Blanc de Blancs
Rosé
Blanc de Noirs
Zero Dosage
Vintage Rosé
Sec
Demi-Sec
Prestige Cuvée

Ten buzz words to help you describe Champagne
Mousse or bead
Brioche
Yeasty
Lime blossom
Autolysis
Chalky
Pain d’épice
Honeyed
Candied fruit
Walnut/hazelnut

Ten general tips
Supermarket own labels can be reliably good
Look out for lesser known Grandes Marques such as Ruinart and Gosset
Vintage Champagne can be stored and kept and can mature nicely.
Non-Vintage Champagne is for drinking not keeping.
Don’t wait for that special occasion to drink Champagne. Make the fact that you are drinking Champagne the special occasion.
Champagne is good for you
Be adventurous – try that grower Champagne your independent merchant recommends (or look out for some of the ones we’ve listed below)
The spoon in the bottle is a myth. Best way to ensure your Champagne doesn’t lose its fizz is to drink it.
Full bottle of sparkling wine or half bottle of Champagne? Quality over quantity is never disappointing.
Don’t put Champagne in the freezer to chill, it might explode.

Ten exciting grower Champagnes
Vilmart & Cie (Rilly-la-Montagne)
Chartogne-Taillet (Merfy)
Tarlant (Oeuilly)
Henri Goutorbe (Aÿ)
Laherte Frères (Chavot)
Pierre Gimonnet (Cuis)
Doyard (Vertus)
Pierre Moncuit (Le Mesnil-sur-Oger)
Agrapart (Avize)
Egly-Ouriet (Ambonnay)

Ten Ways Champagne Houses have of naming their Brut NV wines
Brut Réserve (Billecart-Salmon)
Réserve Brut (Gosset)
Grande Réserve (Devaux)
Brut Sélection (Gremillet)
Sélection Brut (Janisson-Baradon)
Brut Tradition (Brice)
Brut Classique (Deutz)
Cuvée Brut (Bollinger)
Grande Cuvée (Moutard)
Grande Brut (Perrier-Jouët)

Ten more ways of saying the same thing
Carte Jaune (Veuve Clicquot)
White Foil (Pol Roger)
Cordon Rouge (Mumm)
Mosaïque (Jacquart)
Grande Cuvée (Krug)
Black Label (Lanson)
Brut Premier (Louis Roederer)
Brut Impérial (Moët & Chandon)
Royale Réserve (Philipponnat)
Brut Royal (Pommery)

Written by Laura Clay