- December 26, 2024
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“Bubbly, effervescent, sparkling …”
When you describe a great Champagne, it sounds like you’re talking about a fascinating person — the kind who gets a party started. That’s actually a perfect description of Champagne’s surface personality. Ah, but below its bubbly surface, there are many hidden depths.
We decided to dive beneath the bubbles and get a deeper taste of Champagne’s multifaceted character. To do so, we spoke to three Champagne and sparkling wine gurus in Lakewood Ranch: Jean Christophe Nebra, the chef-owner of Paris Bistrot; Greg Campbell, Grove’s executive chef and director of operations; and Emily Wines, the master sommelier at Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants.
Here’s what they uncorked for us.
Nebra’s Champagne experience is hard to beat. He enjoyed his first taste of the intoxicating bubbly at the age of 5. What has his long experience taught him? Can he share the inner secret of what champagne really is?
Nebra shrugs. “I doubt it,” he says. “The answer is very complicated. But I can tell you what Champagne isn’t.”
“Champagne is a great aperitif, but it doesn’t have to be just that,” he says. “It’s not just for parties and special occasions. You can drink Champagne just as you would wine throughout any meal.”
According to Nebra, the logic of pairing Champagne with food follows the same logic as pairing any wine with food.
“The grape creates the character of the vintage,” he says. “You match the grape to the food — it’s just that simple.”
He explains that Champagne is a blend of various combinations of three grapes. A “Blanc de Noirs” is made from two grapes, pinot noir and pinot meunier, which are ordinarily used to create red wines. A Blanc de Blancs is made solely from chardonnay and tends to be lighter than other Champagnes, with a lower alcohol level. Rosé Champagne — created by adding more pinot noir to the blend or “bleeding” color from the skins of red grapes during the pressing process — has become a hot trend. Finally, Champagne is produced in a variety of sweetness levels, ranging from brut nature and extra brut (bone dry with less sugar) to the nectar-like doux (sweet, with more sugar).
“In the same way an artist mixes paints, so the vintner mixes grapes,” Nebra explains. “That makes all the difference. When you choose how to pair it with food, you consider the grape and the level of sweetness.” His general philosophy? “Champagne can be drunk any time and with any food — from breakfast to dessert and beyond.”
Nebra’s favorite Champagne? He has several, with a leaning toward anything produced by the house of Laurent-Perrier.
Want to learn — and taste — more? You’re in luck because Paris Bistrot now offers a separate Champagne Bar menu, where you can taste — and learn about — more than seven great Champagnes on any given night.
If You Go: Paris Bistrot, 8131 Lakewood Main St., Lakewood Ranch; 941-388-0564; ParisBistrotLWR.com
Greg Campbell, the executive chef and director of operations at Grove, has earned a reputation as a chef’s chef across the region. And he’s also a dedicated explorer of the Champagne and sparkling wine universe. Campbell loves to boldly go where few bubbly aficionados have gone before. He enjoys helping others launch their own bubbly voyages, as well.
Grove features five Champagnes on its menu: JP Chenet, Veuve Clicquot, Dom Perignon, Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial and Nicolas Feuillatte Reserve. It also offers up a selection of sparkling wines and sparkling wine craft cocktails. But Veuve is, without a doubt, Grove’s most in-demand brand. Grove goes through about 100 cases a year — more, according to Campbell, than almost any other restaurant in Florida. One reason? Grove’s popular bottomless Veuve mimosas served on weekends. Hiccup.
Campbell understands that the multitude of choices can be overwhelming to Champagne newbies. A deer-in-the-headlights response is not uncommon. Many give up before they’ve started. That’s why Grove offers its intoxicating “Wines Around the World” series. A recent sparkling wine and Champagne odyssey voyaged from Italy (Marsuret Prosecco) to Tasmania, Australia (Jansz Sparkling Rosé), to Spain (Juvé & Camps’ Rosé Brut) to the land that started it all, France (Drappier Champagne). Each glass was paired with the ideal taste.
“That’s only four vintages, but it gives you a taste to learn more and more,” he says.
What’s Campbell’s favorite Champagne? If he had to settle down with only one vintage for a long evening, what would it be?
He doesn’t have to think about his answer.
“Oh, Dom Perignon is my all-time favorite,” he says. “You definitely don’t want to drink a bottle of Dom every day — or even once a month. It’s a world-class, special Champagne for over-the-top, special times. Nothing beats a bottle of Dom for celebrating any major event, big success or milestone in life.
“We raised a glass of Dom when my daughter got into nursing school — and when I proposed to my fiancee.”
If You Go: Grove, 10670 Boardwalk Loop, Lakewood Ranch; 941-893-4321; GroveLWR.com
The aptly named Emily Wines is the master sommelier at Cooper’s Hawk. Her title sounds intimidating; her approach is anything but. Wines translates the complex (and often snobby) in-group vocabulary of oenophiles into simple, direct language. Her love of great vintages is infectious, and she’s positively effervescent on the subject of bubbly. Yes, that includes sparkling wine.
Wines is a wine expert, but she’s no wine snob. She notes that Cooper’s Hawk doesn’t offer Champagne on its menu; instead, it features some of the best sparkling wines from around the nation and world. “People continue to enjoy Champagne, but the good values that prosecco and cava offer drive their popularity,” Wines says. “Cremant, a category of sparkling wine from France that is made like Champagne but comes from other regions, is also growing in popularity.” Wines notes that the best way to taste the various sparkling wines is to try the sparkling wine flight, which features Cooper’s Hawk lux sparkling, prosecco, sparkling moscato and almond sparkling.
Wines is a Champagne lover. What’s her favorite?
“It depends on my mood,” she says. “For big celebrations, I love Krug and Ruinart. For pure pleasure, I really enjoy the Special Club category of Champagnes from the smaller grower-producer houses. Blanc de Blancs are bright, fresh and crisp, while the more pinot noir heavy blends have a beautiful cider-like finish that is so wonderful. You can see that I’m terrible at picking just one!”
What’s the most enjoyable way to imbibe a glass of bubbly? This celebrated sommelier was happy to share a few tips:
Everything! But fried foods are my favorite. A bucket of chicken and a bottle of bubbles is the best.
I actually prefer a wine glass over a flute. Flutes are nice for seeing the line of bubbles, but a glass allows you to smell the wonderful aroma more as you enjoy it.
Never remove the wire cage. Simply untwist it and use it to help grip the cork. While corks don’t often go flying, there are horrible stories every year of injuries from those volatile toppers. Open slowly as a pop will likely be accompanied by a spill of wine.
Drink it fast! If you use a good stopper, you can hold the bubbles for a couple of days, but you are best off finishing the bottle sooner than later.
Every memory that is accompanied by Champagne is a delight.
If You Go: Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant, 3130 Fruitville Commons Blvd., Sarasota; 941-263-8100; CHWinery.com/locations/florida/sarasota-fl
When it’s time to purchase your bubbly, Scott Shortt, the owner of Fine Wine & Tastings on Main, invites you to visit and taste his curated selection of Champagnes and sparkling wines. His favorites? When it comes to Champagne, it’s Bollinger Special Cuvée Brut (featured in almost every Bond movie since “Live And Let Die”), Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé Brut and Collet’s Esprit Couture Brut. For sparkling wine, he suggests the Gancia Brut Prosecco from Italy, the Chic Brut Cava from Spain and the Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs Brut from Napa Valley.
If You Go: Fine Wine & Tastings on Main, 8111 Lakewood Main St., 105, Lakewood Ranch; 941-355-4718; FineWineAndTastings.com
