Ever-Effervescent Champagne

New Year's is long gone, rung in with glasses of champagne and
resolutions that probably haven't stuck up to this point. So, instead
of waiting until the end of December to find the type of champagne
perfect for the midnight toast, make it your resolution to try more
champagnes throughout the year.

Champagne is perfectly married to special occasions, including
New Year's, weddings, engagement parties, birthdays and dinner parties.

"It's relatively expensive, which is why champagne is reserved for celebrations," explains Jamie Wolff, owner of Chambers Street Wines
in Manhattan. "However, prices for champagne are near the same as a
good bottle of wine. Champagne is great with food, as the tart aspect
goes well with rich dishes."

Le Method Champenois

While the French monk Dom Perignon certainly contributed to advances
in champagne's production, he is mistakenly credited with inventing the
beverage. No one is quite sure who first discovered the drink (some
uphold that it was created by accident), though its first appearance
was around 1535 in Languedoc, a former province of France.

The name Champagne was legally protected under the Treaty of
Madrid in 1891 to signify only sparkling wine produced in its namesake
region, a mild northern province in France. This right was even
reaffirmed in the Treaty of Versailles following World War I.

Other bubbly wines not from the Champagne region sometimes use
the term "sparkling wine" on their label. Some producers even use the
term methode champenois, meaning "champagne method." But
regardless of whether they use Chardonnay, Meunier or Pinot Noir
grapes, these wines cannot be called champagne unless those grapes were
grown in the Champagne region and processed in the traditional method.