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New Year's Eve is synonymous with champagne.
More than half of all champagne sales occur just a few days prior to New Year's Eve.
How Champagne is made in the traditional French style called Methode Champenoise
The primary grapes in Champagne have been Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These grapes are picked at a little higher acid level for Champagne than what is used for table wines. This is because they will go through a secondary fermentation.
The grapes are pressed for the juices and yeast is added to begin the fermentation process. Once the juice is fermented (now a wine) the wine goes into bottles and additional yeast is added then corked.
The wine goes through a second fermentation where Co2 is created as a by-product and that gets captured in the bottle as bubbles. This takes anywhere from 18 to 24 Months.
The bottles are then "riddled" or turned often to move the yeast cells down into the neck of the bottle. Once the yeast has finally all died and are at the neck, the bottles are ready for disgorging and dosed.
Disgorging is freezing the neck so the yeast hardens, then the cork is pulled and the dead yeast flies out under pressure along with a little of the Champagne. The Champagne is then topped off or "dosage" as it is called with a mixture of sugar blended with mature wine.
Note that inexpensive sparkling wines put the wine through a second fermentation in large tanks or artificially inject Co2.
Types of Champagne
Champagne is rated by varietals designation or style of the champagne. The traditional styles are Brut, Extra Dry, Sec and Demi Sec. These are rated on level of sweetness.
Brut is the driest or lack of sugar followed by Extra Dry which is a little sweeter then Sec and Demi Sec that are even sweeter. Note that there are also Asti's which are traditionally sweet and come from the Asti Region of Italy. Brut is the largest selling type in the US.
Grape types are also designated such as Chardonnay or Shiraz. Other types speak to the color and grape such as Blanc de Noir (white with red), Blanc de Blanc (white on white) Brut Rose (dry with a touch of red).
Try different styles and see which ones you like.
The most popular styles are Brut followed by Extra Dry.
How to open a bottle of Champagne
Since many are intimidated with opening a bottle of champagne due to the pressure (99 pounds per square inch- three times that of a car tire), here are some tips to open a bottle of champagne just like the pro's, so you can save it for sipping and not spraying!
Five Easy Steps to Open a Bottle of Champagne:
1. Chill the bottle for at least four hours in the refrigerator.
2. Remove the foil cap covering the top of the bottle, exposing a wire hood.
3. Undo wire hood with six half-turns of the knob.
4. Hold bottle at a 45º angle, with a towel in hand. Grasp the cork tightly and slowly twist the bottle with your other hand. (The big secret here is you twist the bottle, not the cork!)
5. Ease cork off bottle letting off a small sigh while keeping the bottle at 45º angle for a moment (this lets the air in and helps keep the foam from overflowing the bottle).
Glassware for your Champagne:
There have been many discussions surrounding the type of glassware to use for champagne. Originally, the coupe or saucer-style glass was used. After many years it was then believed the wide opening would lead to too many bubbles escaping, making the champagne flat. Enter the flute, a long narrow glass which holds very little champagne.
What glass to use? A white wine glass is perfect to multi-task for this job. It has a wider opening which is easy to pour into and drink from. It also allows plenty of space for added juices to make a flavorful champagne cocktail. The white wine glass is much more stable than the flute and easier to clean.
It does not make sense to start a whole new collection of glasses just for champagne when our white wine glass can answer the call of the bubbles!
Food Pairings with Champagne
Almost any food pairs great with Champagne. Salty items such as oysters and caviar do extremely well as a compliment to the Champagne.
As a matter of fact, champagne pairs well with just about every food combination so consider champagne as your dinner accompaniment along with or instead of wine.
Storing leftover Champagne
If you have any leftover Champagne, simply put into refrigerator. You can cap it with a "spark cap" but I've found that the bubbles will last at least for another day. People also swear that an inverted metal spoon works as well.
For the next day, any leftover Champagne will make a nice Mimosa for brunch! | 
