Champagne on the Membrane

I laugh everytime I open a bottle of Champagne and someone asks me, "What's the Celebration?" I don't laugh at them, so much as what we as American's have turned bubbly into.
Champagne is not just for parties anymore. If you don't believe me, after I cut to the chase, move on to one of my more subtle articles. Champagne isn't just for dinner parties, it's not just for proposals or christenings.
Champagne has it's roots in, well, Champagne(imagine that); a little area just outside Burgundy in France. Composed of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and sometimes Pinot Meunier, this wonderfully clean style of wine has fan fair from Popes to Rap Artists and everyone in between. Yes, as Paul Giamatti explained in Sideways, it's just the juice that goes into it. Almost all grapes are the same color on the inside, how very 'Sesame Street' to say that it's ALMOST like with people(Pontac being the grape, bad tippers the latter). So, unless it's a rose, which involves contact with the Noir and Meunier's red skins; Champagne is white in color.
I interupt myself now to tell you that Cava and Prosecco are totally different as well. Prosecco often contains Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but from it's native Italian fruit. Cava is a blend of three grapes I'm sure you aren't familiar with: Malvasia, Xarel-lo and Paralleda. In Loire, it's not uncommon to have a sparkling treat made from Chenin Blanc known as a 'Sparkling Vouvray'. While other examples occur, I'm straying from my point.
Sparkling wine, whether it's a cultural misnomer, or a serious inundation with popular mediums(i.e. Films, Music, Jay-Z?) has been labeled as almost purely celebratory. Forget that it battles Albarino and Verdehlo as the true king to the Sushi pairing phenomena, it's a wine that cleans cheese out of your mouth without overpowering the funk of a good gruyere or manchego. The complexity of a good sparkling screams balanced acidity, a combination of creamy fruit and floral aromas. An offset dryness that boasts some of the most elegant drinking conditions in any modern day glass. Forget just the taste, it's fun, and let's face it were a Coca Cola society that loves bubbles.
Critics like Stephen Tanzer are shedding light on this now flourishing trend, bolstering not just my own opinion, but the cries of millions of thirsty American's just now breaking free of their still wine chains. Tanzer, who's ubiquitously chic palette echoes the late Len Evans(my hero, and probably the only person to know EVERYTHING about wine) has breathed new life if not into Champagne than at least into the little known Cava world.
Duval Leroy(Duval Le-rah, not like Uncle Lee-Roy) is my pick for best Champagne you may have never heard of but can find. Their Blanc Du Blanc from the '98 vintage is a stunner, marrying lilac and honeysuckle, with a delightfully mouth watering acidity. If prosecco is a favorite of yours, here at Dolcetto Wine Room we serve Borgo Magredo, a delightfully affordable example of how the Italians are making Champagne sweat. Segura Viudas is a clean, beach friendly Cava that is so frugally sensible, you almost doubt every sip.
Either way, you have to start getting out there, preach to the masses and figure out what Sparkling means to you. If you have to celebrate to drink it, then celebrate every day of life. If that's how the Europeans do it, then that might explain why the Italians/Spanish always seem to be smiling. Either way, toasts to you and yours as you pop, sip and savour your newest bottle of bubbly
Cameron