100% champagne Christmas menu: which one to choose?
Propose Champagne from A to Z ? During the whole meal? Yes ma'am, it's done! Especially since we do not talk about reproducing at all your receptions but Christmas and New Year are particularly suitable. And to guide you, Philippe Faure-Brac, best sommelier of the world (1992), author of Tout sur le vin at Editions du Chêne and owner of Bistrot du Sommelier (Paris 8th), a restaurant specializing in wine pairing, you explains how to choose champagnes which will most divinely accompany your festive meal.
Champagne as an aperitif
The Champagne is traditionally served at this time. "The ideal is to start the festivities with a white of whites, a Champagne made only with chardonnay, because it has this extremely refreshing, aerial, mineral, fresh side that gladly makes the palate and is very suitable for appetizing. It will be chosen from a recent vintage (from 2004/2006) or a vintage, which represents the major part of champagnes ».
Champagne as input
It gets a little complicated with the foie gras because "the Champagne is not at all a wine suitable for this Entrance. Or, a Champagne a bit old but if we started the meal with a white of young whites as an aperitif, it is really not the ideal. We will therefore propose marine products with which the Champagne is fine. And there, "either we stay on the white non-vintage of the appetizer to accompany the oysters, or we go upmarket with a white vintage white (those of 2004 are beautiful). On the other hand, if you take crustaceans such as lobster, lobster or lobster, you will need density. We will therefore focus more on an older whites white: 2002, richer in terms of texture, either 1999 or 1996 that are still on the market ".
Champagne with the main course
To accompany roast poultry (turkey, chicken), we will move towards champagnes "Vinous for their ample and powerful side, so rather towards assemblages based on black grapes, preferably vintage, which will guarantee a good rendering, a beautiful material and an evolution on the roast of the poultry (white of black 1996 or 1997 ) ".
Champagne with dessert
For a long time Champagne was a wine of dessert because it was very dosed (we put a lot of liquor to sweeten it) so its reputation for centuries was made on champagnes soft. But the trend today is champagnes which represent almost all champagnes : "The dosage tends to decrease very widely and there are more and more crude natures of Champagne, that is to say, almost unmeasured. We will think of the softness a little caressing very characteristic of a half-dry, ideal on logs with fruits of the orchard, with the red fruits ... On the other hand, the Champagne is not really suitable for chocolate, especially if you like it black, bitter, with a high percentage of cocoa. End on a smart and light touch, what more?
And to inspire you more, here is the menu imagined by Sonia Ezgulian, cook and matchmaker of flavors, to sublimate the tasting of a Champagne from Castelnau:
Entrance : pie with fools leave it there and foie gras, figs confit in marinade of Champagne accompanied by a Gross Vintage 2000.
Dish : Roasted scallops, artichoke petals, mushrooms and corietti with cream of cockles served with a rosé brut.
Dessert : mellow coconut, mango balls, passion fruit and caramel Champagne accompanied by a Champagne gross reserve.
