My Love for Bubblies (Part I)

All I wanna do is lay right here with you

With your champagne love,
with your champagne love
With your champagne love,

champagne love...

Just like Tom Fogerty's Champagne Love song, I love my bubblies. Sometimes there's this urge to have some champagne tickling down my throat, savouring each sip and watching the wonderful tiny bubbles fill the glass. I believe one should never have enough of champagne in one's life because the bubblies are so good, just keep them flowing, baby!

People often get confused between sparkling wines and Champagnes and this does not include cava (Spanish), sekt (German), and Prosecco (Italian). A "sparkling wine" can only be called "champagne" if it is produced exclusively within the Champagne region of France using the "champagne method" and hence the hefty price.

I know that sometimes buying a bottle of champagne is not as easy as buying a bottle of cola due to the labels but to begin with, here are some things you might want to know when choosing a bottle.

Champagnes made with Chardonnay grapes are called Blanc de Blancs. Champagne made with Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier grapes are called Blanc de Noirs. The amount of sugar (dosage) added after the second fermentation and aging varies and will dictate the sweetness level of the Champagne.

• Brut Natural or Brut Zéro (less than 3 grams of sugar per litre)
• Extra Brut (less than 6 grams of sugar per litre)
• Brut (less than 12 grams of sugar per litre)

Today, I would love to share some of my favourite bubblies!

This Cristal is 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay with 10 grams of dosage. 20% of the wine was fermented in oak. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2032.

One of the must-try I would really vote for is Cristal produced by Louis Roederer. It is a clear, flat-bottomed "crystal" bottle with a gold label and a beautiful gold box that is hard to miss. Being one of the exclusive champagnes that enjoys a hyper-cult status due to its high price and even higher demand, Paris Hilton is partly responsible for making it notoriously expensive. And because Paris Hilton drinks it, I also want to have a sip and see what's so great about it!

The chance came when I finally get to pop a bottle of Cristal 2002. The hue is of a very light amber but this bottle is generous and lush, with interwoven subtle notes of pears, flowers, spices, mint, minerals and oak. It reveals a perfect balance between concentration and finesse, freshness and vinosity, intensity and refinement. One word to describe it - LUXURIOUS!

But I must say that when I first sip it, I felt it was nothing extremely spectacular and I don't understand why people paid so much for it. However, when I taste it side by side with other champagnes such as the Louis Roederer and Dom, then I realised the Cristal was really good. Well, I think Cristal is really worth its fame and not because Paris drinks it.

Louis Roederer Brut Premier

Well, if the 4 figure price tag for Cristal is too painful to bear, I'll definitely go for a bottle of Louis Roederer Brut Premier. It's still from the maker of Cristal, so how wrong can it be?!! Brut Premier is the House's flagship multi-vintage Champagne and its the Champagne that sets the house style for this esteemed producer. This brother of Cristal (hahah) has a golden colour with fine bubbles and a nose of fresh fruit and hawthorn. On the palate, it's smooth, complex with mingling flavours of white-fleshed fruit like pears and apples.

"A delicate Champagne, with spring blossom, smoke, yellow apple and anise flavors set on a fine-grained texture. The finish is fresh and juicy, with the smoky note lingering on the modest finish. Better than previously reviewed. Drink now through 2019." 90 Points Wine Spectator



"Krug Grande Cuvée is as a symphony, a composition where the instruments all play together, complementing each other in total harmony." -Henri Krug.

It was one said that the king of all champagnes is Krug. I wouldn't say that it's my King but it is in it's own way a royalty among the champagnes! The composition of this "cuvée" is a stunning mosaic of flavours where the three champagne grapes, 20-25 growths and 6-10 different years, are combined to give Krug Grande Cuvée its complexity, elegance and consistency year after year, blend after blend.

This is a wonderfully balanced bubbly that is both toasty and nutty with honey and apple flavours. It's rich, creamy and magical... The lingering finish, the flourish of freshness and the blend of vivacity leaves me longing for more!

Dom Perignon

If you've followed my blog right through from 3 years ago, you'll notice that I drink lots of Dom Perignon. Dom Perignon needs no introduction as everyone who drinks or not drink champagne would have heard of its fame. When I said lots, yeah I mean an uncountable amount. I've drank some 1996 to 2000 vintage during the past few years and I must say that although Dom is a celebrated champagne by many, I find it a little too yeasty. Don't get me wrong, it's still good but I'll probably have it as an early evening drink.

Did you know that Dom Perignon is named after a Benedictine monk who was an important quality pioneer for Champagne wine but who, contrary to popular myths, did not discover the champagne method for making sparkling wines. And right now they have just released the Vintage 2002 as you won't be able to find the 2000 or the 1999 on the shelves. But I'm lucky, I still have a bottle of 1996 and 1999! Let's cheers to that.

And remember...

"Champagne is the only wine that leaves a woman beautiful after drinking it."