THE DRY COUNTY WINE REVIEW: DECANTING CHAMPAGNE.
As a wine nerd, I love this time of the year, when inspired article after inspired article hit all of my favorite publications about the greatest drink in the world: champagne. Obviously, this is because it's the holiday season and we associate champagne with celebration. But my excitement for the time isn't solely because I like the drink, but because wine writers and wine loves alike pour so much love and work into talking about champagne that everyone is incapable of writing a slouchy piece on the subject. I imagine if the wine writers of the world had their druthers, every other article throughout the year would be on champagne or similar sparkling wines. They are the single most versatile food pairings, the single most complex aromatic experiences, the single greatest conversation starters and the single most memorable punctuations to an evening. Oscar Wilde once said "Only the unimaginative can fail to find a reason to drink champagne." Not wanting to be called unimaginative by Oscar Wilde, Hannah and I decided to elope last Wednesday. With us I brought a bottle of 2006 Jerôme Prévost "La Closerie" champagne which we promptly opened after dinner, breaking two rules I have with good champagne: 1) don't drink it without food, and 2) decant it. Drinking wine with food isn't always a necessity and sometimes, with NV (or non-vintage) champagne especially, it can actually be quite enjoyable. However, not having a great champagne with food is to deny the poor beverage of it's full potential. Forgivable offense, so long as you follow rule number two: decant.My friend and oft-mentor Alex and I once agreed that champagne was without a doubt the best drink in the world, and although it requires the bubbles to be so, they get in the way of its genius. If you do not own a decanter, don't sweat it, simply open your bottle of champagne a few hours before consuming. The oxygen will invigorate the wine and compel it to open up and become more balanced, more expressive. Put it on ice to keep it slightly chilled, but you don't want to drink it too cold––or nearly any other wine for that matter, if you want it at its best. Cold temperatures subdue the expression of wine, I like my champagne somewhere between fifty and sixty degrees––a good handful of degrees below room temp, but well above refrigeration.Good wine, notably, should stay good for days, be it champagne or otherwise. In fact, for me, it should only get better. When we opened the bottle on Wednesday it wasn't drinking well, it was too young, too acidic, too tight and needed time and air. But when we opened it again last night––five nights later!––the wine was wonderful. It was fully expressing itself and although it still maintained some of its effervescence, it was greatly calmed. The palate was, ahem, married. The aromatics were caramelized and earthy. And although I don't necessarily recommend waiting an entire five days between opening and drinking, the experience decidedly did not punish me for it. No time of the year do more people drink or write about champagne quite like New Year's. Don't worry about decanting Veuve or Moet––the only thing that makes those wines better is fresh orange juice––but if you decided to venture off into the world of vintage or grower champagnes you will not regret letting it open up before ringing in the new year. But most importantly, if you're drinking champagne, don't regret anything. That should be rule number three.- Jesse/
