Champagne Tasting

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Champagne tasting is normally left to the professionals. This is a shame as all of us could enhance our pleasure in drinking champagne if we indulged in a few tasting sessions. They’re also great fun and should help demonstrate the diversity and difference in a wine that many people assume is very similar. In fact the opposite is true and different people will have very different views on which champagnes they enjoy.

The first thing to do before a champagne testing is to make sure that your chosen champagnes have been ordered well in advance, stored in darkness and then chilled just before serving. It’s a good idea to get quite different champagnes and try and chuck in a couple of pricey ones to have some kind of benchmark (and also to see if people think they’re worth the extra cash).

Glass choice is debatable; normally champagne is served in a flute, which retains the fizz, stops the wine warming too fast and also looks good. Some experts advise using the tulip glass as it allows more of the aromas and flavours to emerge whilst tasting. Once you’ve assembled the champagnes, glasses and tasters then make sure you’ve got plenty of time set aside (as you don’t want to be rushed).

It’s worth making sure you’ve got plenty of water on the go to avoid getting too drunk too quickly. It’s also worth having some crackers on hand to clean the palate between glasses and keep them rinsed. You’ll often end up with a few favourites, which people will settle on, and sample to decide the favourite. Leave additional foods in the fridge as the smell of strong cheeses or meats can ruin the delicate aromas of the champagnes and likewise avoid smoking, strong perfume or incense.

Try and keep a sticker or something on the glasses so you know what you’re drinking and try and do a bit of ‘blind’ tasting and see whether you think the big name brands are worth the extra dosh. When you actually taste the champagne take your time. Raise it to your nose before sipping as the sense of smell is crucial to taste and you want to allow your palate time to adjust. Sip and swallow slowly and savour the after-taste. Don’t drink too much early on and pace yourself; many an initiate has ended up under the table rather than at it.

No matter how enthusiastic you are about champagne tasting it’ll be hard to beat the record set by Richard Juhlin of Sweden who managed to sample 2,912 different champagnes between 1986 and 2000. Still, you can have fun trying.

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