Imagine that happy day around 1700 when the monk Dom Pérignon, after much fiddling with the double fermentation of his grape juice, stumbled onto a bubbly delight. Having tasted the very first glass of Champagne, he ran through the abbey shouting, “Brothers, come quickly … I’m drinking stars!” The drink he invented ultimately put the…
Don’t Call It Champagne
I cut my finger on the metal capsule covering the cork while opening a wine bottle the other day, so I washed the wound, put some vaseline on it and, lacking a band-aid, I used a small piece of scotch tape. The previous sentence is a fundamental illustration of why brand names are so vital…
Anatomy of a Classic Cocktail: The Champagne Cocktail
‘Tis the season for popping a bottle of bubbly, but along with proposing toasts, may we propose a cocktail as well? You can find dozens of variations for Champagne mimosas, spritzes, fizzes, and punches (or stronger stuff such as the French 75 or a Kir Royale), but often the wine takes the backseat or at…
Pop the Cork! Toast to the Season With These Celebration-Ready Sparklers
Festive celebrations call for sparkling wine. From inimitable Champagne to budget-friendly alternatives, here are favorite picks from top sommeliers for all your holiday toasting needs. Domaine du Moulin Methode Ancestrale Brut (Courtesy of Domaine du Moulin) Domaine du Moulin Methode Ancestrale Brut, Gaillac, France Pétillant naturel wines (roughly translates to natural sparkling) have the best…
Nothing Says Celebration Like Cocktails and Cupcakes
These French 75 cupcakes, based on the classic Champagne cocktail, are light and sweet with a distinctly boozy punch. Frosted with a Champagne buttercream and soaked in a lemon, gin, and sparkling wine syrup, these cupcakes are sweeter than a typical cocktail, but boast more booze than a typical boozy cupcake. Sensationally celebratory, these cupcakes…
‘Champagne’ By Any Other Name
Just because it has bubbles is no reason to call it Champagne. Yet that’s what some writers suggest is the beverage to consider for the upcoming holidays. Indeed, using the term “champagne” with a lower-case c will incur the wrath of some French citizens who consider that the word itself must be capitalized and never used generically….
First Pick
It’s harvest time in many U.S. wine areas, and the first grapes to be picked annually, almost everywhere vines grow, are those that make sparkling wines. Wine with bubbles, a most celebratory beverage, is almost always made from grapes that are earlier harvested, mainly because the best of these wines call for higher acidity. And…
Industry Minister to Meet With Rogers CEO After ‘Unacceptable’ Network Outage
TORONTO—Canada’s industry minister will convene a meeting with the leader of Rogers Communications in the wake of a massive outage that paralyzed the company’s network and hampered several crucial services, his office announced on Sunday, even as some customers continued to report service disruptions. A statement released from the office of François−Philippe Champagne said he…
1 Dead, 8 in Hospital After Spiked Champagne in Bavarian Bar
BERLIN—One man died and eight others were hospitalized in serious condition after drinking spiked Champagne at a bar in Bavaria, German prosecutors said Monday. The man who died was 52 years old, and the others were between 33 and 52, police told German news agency dpa. “There were things in it that normally are not…
As Supply Chain Issues Persist, Champagne Set to Meet With Industry
OTTAWA—Canada’s industry minister is set to meet with companies desperate for solutions to ease the flow the goods over the border and across the country. Francois-Philippe Champagne agreed to the request that a consortium of manufacturers and exporters made just before the holidays. The coalition of 18 associations notes that many of the causes of…
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