“All Champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne”
When determining whether a wine is truly Champagne or sparkling, one only needs to identify the region where it was produced. While true Champagnes can only be made in the Champagne region of France and with seven distinct grapes (and a slew of other regulations), sparkling wines aren’t held to the same restrictions. Sparkling wine may be made with the exact same grapes as Champagne or an entirely different blend. From Rosé to Brut (or extra dry varieties) to super sweet sparkling dessert wines, the flavors and qualities run the gamut.
Champagne, the wine, is named after the region where it is grown, fermented and bottled: Champagne, France. Nestled in the country’s northeastern corner, near Paris, the only labels that are legally allowed to bare the name “Champagne” are bottled within 100 miles of this region (according to European Law).
Originally cultivated by the Romans as early as 400 A.D., today’s vineyards that adorn Champagne’s beautiful hills and plains span 76,000 acres and 319 villages.
Ruth purchased eight bottles of bubbly. We first tasted with labels in full view and once familiar with the characteristics of each bubble we had a blind tasting of the same wines.
This author has to admit miserable failure at identifying the bottles after tasting!
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| Our lovely hostess, Ruth, with the mostess! |
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| LtoR - Susie, Cathy, Carole and our honorary member, Delores! |
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| LtoR - Judy, Vicky, Debbie, Christy, Judy and Kelly |
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| Ruth kept us in line with her HR voice! So stern! |
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| Carole, This is NO time to be checking your FitBit! You are earning, not burning calories! |
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| LtoR - Kelly, Vicky and Daryl |
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| LtoR - Connie, Christy and Judy |
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| Our wee lass Kelly! |
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| Queen of the Contest Cathy! She got all four blind tastes correct! Love your taste buds! There was lots of competition from Connie but Cathy pulled through with bonus questions. |
A toast for us all!
Here's to beauty, wit, and wine, and to a full stomach, a full purse, and a light heart.
And then there's Christopher Walken as "The Continental" in Saturday Night Live!
You've changed your mind about the champagnyah...
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