Champagne at the table

Champagne is the ideal match for an entire meal, whether festive or convivial!

In the past, Champagne was considered one of the best drinks for an aperitif "because it opens the taste buds", as well as for dessert, where Demi-sec goes perfectly with different types of desserts.

It was at Maxim's, after the Second World War, that Champagne conquered the whole meal, under the guidance of its owner and gastronome Louis Vaudable: "Champagne," he explained at the time, "is a wine that is appropriate for all dishes." He added that, according to him, "customers are very happy with it because it leaves the head free and the body light".

An argument that is still valid today!

LA NOUVELLE CUISINE

Since the 1980s, with the arrival of "nouvelle cuisine", dishes have been transformed, becoming lighter, less fatty, with less artifice, focusing on the raw material, on the raw product. Champagne is following the same path: it is stripped down and the development of non-dosed wines enhances the terroir and its typicality. The beautiful material, an inexhaustible source of aromas and flavours, allows for the most delicious and surprising combinations.

Champagne is no longer an "aperitif" but a meal!

A NEW GENERATION OF WINEMAKERS

This evolution has been made possible thanks to the work of a new generation of vignerons who, by improving winemaking techniques and modifying working methods, are producing increasingly pure Champagnes within their families, with little dosage, thus fully expressing their terroir. Champagnes with a strong identity, very often single vine, single parcel/terroir or even organic, which revolutionise tasting. These are gastronomic Champagnes that go well with many flavours, which is precisely what allows us to build food and wine pairings.

EVERY DISH HAS ITS OWN CHAMPAGNE

Just like we do with wine! The wide variety of Champagnes, fresh and light, fresh and round, round and tasty, round and full-bodied and even very full-bodied, gives us the widest choice and validates the idea of Champagne accompanying an entire meal. Every dish has its own Champagne: from the rib-eye steak perfect with a full-bodied Champagne from a clay soil to steamed fish that requires a fresh Champagne to the controversial chocolate with which few Champagnes work.

For Arnaud Lallement, the three-Michelin-starred chef at L'Assiette Champenoise near Reims (fifth in the list of the world's top 1,000 restaurants!), not only is the search for food-Champagne pairings a bottomless pit, but there are no prohibitions either, as the field of possibilities is infinite. As proof, his 'Dégustation' menu includes ten or so dishes that all have 'their' Champagne. "Twenty years ago," he says by way of example, "Champagne was not served with asparagus, but today it is possible. Sometimes," he explains, "I taste a Champagne and I have a flash of the recipe that will accompany it. Sometimes it's the opposite, like a freshly roasted langoustine that I serve with a pure Blanc de Blancs."

Finally, Daniel Pires, head sommelier at the emblematic Royal Champagne, is also delighted by this trend towards terroir-based Champagnes with less dosage, which makes it possible to move away from the aperitif-dessert diptych and authorise bolder pairings, such as an extra-brut with crab, a Blanc de Blancs with fish and a small creamy sauce, or a Blanc de Noirs with poultry or a rib of veal. His conclusion: "You have to have the reflex to choose your Champagne exactly as you do with a great wine."

And now that you know everything,

discover our Boutique to choose your own Cuvée to treat yourself or to share with friends.

Cin cin et à votre santé !!!