the champagnes of Taittinger

As you know, I was a few weeks ago in Champagne to taste a lot and learn a lot. One of the most inspiring tastings was at one of Taittinger, where I talked for a long time about how you should actually drink champagne. Most people start talking about the finish and full flavors and wood tones and I don't know what else, but I haven't got a clue about that so I usually just mumble along awkwardly. So I asked: “How do I know if I’m dealing with a good champagne or with rubbish?” And the answer was incredibly simple but very effective and useful. Here it comes:

“Champagne is about emotion, about celebration. So you don’t have to pay attention to the technical part at all, it’s about what it does to you.”

In restaurants, I never dare to taste the wine because “I don’t know anything about it” and also during the Champagne trip I kept apologizing that I knew nothing. Well, that was unnecessary, he said. People who start looking very seriously when tasting and can name all the tones and flavors are not that interesting. Champagne is all about experience, so that should be central. He dared to state that even the great champagne connoisseurs would not distinguish one house from another during a blind taste test.

This tasting was the first on our program, so I asked him how I should approach the following days. “Do your own experience,” he said. Close your eyes, take a sip, and try to guess for yourself what you think of it. Too much bubble? Too sweet? Too little bubble? You need to develop and discover your own taste, and you do that by tasting a lot, and by not just relying on what others tell you. And not by knowing a lot, therefore.

So the next time you don’t know what to order in a restaurant, try to describe what you like. For example, I like a fat wine that leaves those streaks on the glass, and however silly that sounds, when I say that, I always get a nice one. So it works. Less pretension, more pleasure, that makes everyone better. Pop!