Champagne

by Mark R. Vogel

In the James Bond movie “Goldeneye”, 007 and the villainess are playfully racing down a scenic mountain roadway. Bond's passenger is a young female coworker sent by M to evaluate him.

Having no stomach for his perilous antics she orders him to stop his Ashton Martin immediately. Bond complies and proceeds to seduce her, but not before opening a secret chilled compartment revealing a bottle of the 1988 Bollinger Grand Annee Champagne.

An outstanding choice, and not just for romance.

Another New Years Eve is upon us and countless people the world over will celebrate it with Champagne, or should I say sparkling wine? OK, let's clear this one up right from the get-go.

REAL Champagne comes from the Champagne region of France. Much like real Burgundy arises from the Burgundy region of France. All other effervescent wines, (even ones from France but not from Champagne), are called sparkling wines, (or Spumante in Italy or Sekt in Germany).

As I've professed ad nauseam before, French wines are named for the geographic location they hail from, not the grape. Champagne, Burgundy, Chablis, etc., are all places.

This is important because certain locations, for a variety of biological reasons, are better suited for growing particular grapes, or at the very least, producing a unique style of wine that can not be cloned by vineyards elsewhere.

Thus, Champagne refers to a specific type of sparkling wine that although imitated, cannot be exactly duplicated anywhere else on earth. The same would be true of Argentinean beef, Prince Edward Island mussels, Florida oranges, or Italian San Marzano tomatoes.

So it's not just a “French” thing for those of you poised with accusations of snobbery on the tips of your tongues.

But to take the distinction one step further, Champagne also refers to a precise method of making the wine, known as the “Methode Champenoise”, which with some exceptions, is only practiced in Champagne. More on that in a moment.