How to choose the right champagne for your wedding
How to be sure that you will not be disappointed, that it will not be acidic, that you will pay for it at the right price, that the cuvée you choose will correspond to the cocktail ... So many questions to which it is difficult to find an answer without the help of an expert, a champagne specialist like Patrick Borras, the Sommelier of the three-starred Chef Pierre Gagnaire.
What price for a wedding champagne ?
Before tackling the choice of champagne, it is advisable to define a budget and the type of vintage desired. Would you like a branded champagne, a vintage from a great house, or a winegrower's champagne, worked in the secrecy of his cellars? From there will flow your budget.
For a champagne from a large house, it takes between 25 and 35 euros per bottle, while for a winegrower's cuvée, it will be more around 15 to 20 euros.
The big house brings with its label a prestige, a certain notion of luxury, and the guarantee of a constant, regular champagne, without bad surprises, but sometimes lacking a little relief. If we exclude the notion of notoriety, the quality / price ratio of a champagne from a great house is not necessarily excellent. The winegrower's champagne offers a quality / price / pleasure ratio that is often higher if you know how to choose the right producer. Contrasting vintages can be found much more often, able to adapt as closely as possible to a particular menu, to a single aperitif and even to a season.
A guide to choose your champagne : To make your choice among the twenty or so great houses and the multitude of winegrowers, and unless you are an enlightened amateur, you should get help, guide and advice. We immediately think of reference guides such as the Guide Hachette des Vins, the Guide de la Revue du Vin de France or the Guide directed by tasters Bettane & Dessauve.
All are quality sources, if we can discuss here and there an opinion on one champagne or another, overall their judgments are fair and their criticisms are founded. But the great difficulty that arises in consulting these Bibles lies in the density, in the multitude of houses listed and vintages tasted. Why choose one brand over another when often their prices and ratings are similar? The notes are just talking about.
Champagnes, even from winegrowers, located on the top of the basket are often at high prices which precludes choosing them to celebrate a wedding. It will often be necessary to draw from wines having obtained a score of around 13/20 for a vintage from a great house and 15/20 for a winegrower's champagne for his wedding, which is otherwise excellent.
Treat yourself to a sommelier for your wedding ?
So if the prospect of spending evenings going through the guides to select the champagne for your wedding hardly enchants you, which is understandable, the best is still to take advice from a champagne specialist like Patrick Borras. The sommelier of the famous Chef Pierre Gagnaire is indeed a specialist in Champagne, a region that he travels regularly to find rare vintages that will sublimate the dishes served at Pierre Gagnaire's 3-star restaurant. Associated with the Plus de Bulles.com site, he distills advice and tasting notes, and you can even contact him and submit your ideas to him so that he can advise you free of charge on the ideal champagne for your wedding.
The sommelier will guide you towards the Blanc de Blancs champagne which will perfectly accompany the cocktail or the reception wine of a summer wedding, while he will choose for you a blanc de noirs, more rounded and powerful for a wedding. fall or winter. Faced with the multitude of terroirs and styles, faced with the many nuances of the wine, he will know how to choose what best meets your expectations, which will perfectly match the contours of your wedding.
Some last minute tips: The day before the big day, remember to put all the bottles in the fridge, so that it can be served at a temperature between 8 and 9 ° C. Have the waiter fill the flutes only two-thirds full, which is much more elegant and prevents premature reheating of the wine.
Finally, know that you can multiply the qualities of champagne, with a brut for the reception wine of your wedding, a flute of vintage champagne during the meal, and a little rosé champagne to accompany the essential mounted piece which will come to close. dinner.
