November 16, 1999
Web posted at: 1:12 p.m. EST (1812 GMT)

Chat Moderator: Welcome Ed McCarthy!

Ed McCarthy: Hi, everybody.

Question from ron_s: I'd like to know what are some good, inexpensive Champagnes.

Ed McCarthy: First of all, you have to look at the non-vintage brut category. That's where all the inexpensive Champagnes are, and eighty-five percent of all Champagnes that are produced are non-vintage. That (means) they are a blend of several vintages.

The Champagne region in northeastern France (has) marginal weather for growing grapes--they just about ripen in some years. When the climate is good they have a vintage year, and they can make Champagne from grapes of one harvest year. But in general, only 4 or 5 years in any decade give weather good enough to produce vintage Champagne. So non-vintage Champagne dominates production because of the nature of the weather.

Champagne prices vary throughout the U.S. according to the area and size of the store. Some of the larger stores can buy in larger volumes and get better prices and pass along the price break to consumers. Some non-vintage bruts at a good value are Bollinger Special and Cuvee, which is a solid brand, very full-bodied. It goes for about $30. I hate to give a price because the price is going to be all over the place, depending on where you are.

Gratien is another (good) one; their Brut Classic goes for about $25 to $30. Also recommended are Heidsieck and Co. Blue Top Brut, which goes for about $25; Philipponat, a very good one (which) you can get for $20 to $25; Pol Roger; and Cattier and Henri Abbele, which go for around $20. Those are some good inexpensive Champagnes. I'll drink to that!

Question from SueCNN: What do you define as inexpensive?

Ed McCarthy: Inexpensive in Champagne is $25 to $30. There are some markets like New York City that are very competitive in prices for Champagne. You can actually find some Champagnes in New York for less that $20. $20 to $30 is the low end for prices for Champagne.

Question from Elizabeth: Ed, have you been keeping busy since the book was published? (It's your editor, Elizabeth Kuball, here.)

Ed McCarthy: Isn't that something? I had a book party for "Champagne for Dummies" and about 80 people attended. We went through about 60 bottles of Champagne. Also, Elizabeth, the book has won its first award. It's won the Georges Duboeuf Wine Book of the Year Award. It was kind of neat because it's only been out for a few weeks. Thank you Elizabeth, you are a great editor.

Question from NavyVetWifeMaeve: What is your opinion of Krug non-vintage?

Ed McCarthy: You can't get much better than Krug. It's almost the Rolls Royce of Champagnes. It's almost hand-made, they go through all sorts of efforts to really make a premium product. They get the finest grapes. They age even their most inexpensive Champagne which goes for over $100. It is aged for 6 years before it's released,which is important. I'm a big fan of Krug. I think it's at the top. It's not for everybody. It has a heavy, full-bodied style, but lots of Champagne lovers really adore it.

Question from SueCNN: Can you quickly explain the difference between Champagne and other sparkling wines?

Ed McCarthy: Well, that's a big question. True Champagne can only come from the Champagne region of France. Even other sparking wines made in France cannot, by law, call themselves Champagne. If they are outside the Champagne region, they cannot be called Champagne. The European Union countries respect that rule so therefore sparking wines from Italy, Spain, Germany, etc... are not called Champagne. Even the better sparking wines from California don't call themselves Champagne.

Unfortunately, the least expensive, mass-produced sparking wines that are in the $3 to $10 category do call themselves Champagne, which is very confusing to the consumer. Obviously a $3 sparking wine which is mass produced has absolutely no relationship to Champagne in quality except they have bubbles, and you don't have be a connoisseur to tell the difference. There are some good sparking wines made in California and elsewhere but the best has always been and still is from Champagne, France.

Question from Trey: What's the best true Champagne for under $100?

Ed McCarthy: That's a very good question, and of course it's a very subjective question. I'll have to cop out by naming a few because naming one is just too limiting. The Bollinger vintage Champagne, Grand Annee, is about $70, and there's a great Champagne that's less than $50, called Gosset Grande Reserve. Gosset's best Champagne is Celebris; it's about $85.

Pol Roger is about $90. Pommery Louise is about $85-$90 also. And Pommery Louise Rose is also about $90. Finally, Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame, is also around $85-$90. Those are some of my favorite Champagnes for under $100. Another famous one, but it's probably over $100 in most markets now ,is Dom Perignon.

Question from Mags: Why is Champagne so expensive?

Ed McCarthy: That's a good question and has a very honest answer to it -- it's the most expensive wine to make. First of all, it's just a wine with bubbles, but to make Champagne you have to go through two fermentations. All wine goes through one fermentation, changing the grape juice into wine, but Champagne goes through a second step to trap the carbon dioxide in the wine and that's a very complex process. They have to add yeast and a little sugar. So it's much more labor intensive to make Champagne, that's the bottom line. Good Champagne will never be cheap.

Question from Lorenzo: What's the most expensive Champagne out there?

Ed McCarthy: You know, it keeps going up and up. The most expensive Champagne that I know of is Krug's Clos du Mesnil. It's a Champagne made from a single vineyard, and it's what we call a blanc de blancs, made entirely from Chardonnay grapes. The price starts at $300 to $350. So that's the most expensive Champagne when it's released, as far as I know. Of course, older Champagnes could go higher that that. Roederer Cristal from say 10 to 15 years ago would be even more expensive.

Question from lolo: Can you explain what the differences are between the types of Champagne?

Ed McCarthy: You know, there are different levels for that question. Let me explain what I mean. First, you can categorize Champagne according to whether it is non-vintage or vintage and a third level called Prestige Cuvee. Prestige Cuvee is a premium Champagne such as Dom Perignon or Cristal. In my book "Champagne for Dummies", I spend three chapters on this subject. Another level is classifying Champagnes according to dryness or sweetness. The driest style of Champagne would be brut. A sweeter Champagne would be demi-sec.

You can also categorize Champagnes by special different types of grapes. For instance there are the Rose Champagne blends, and the Blanc de Blancs types, which are made from white grapes only. So, it's a complex question.

Question from Trey: I have a bottle of '73 Dom. Do you think it's worth anything or has it gone bad?

Ed McCarthy: If it was stored ideally, it might still be good. Ideal storage means cool temperatures and fairly high humidity and a dark place. If it were not stored ideally, chances are the Champagne is probably finished. It's probably oxidized. 1973 was an average to good year. Chances are, unless it had perfect storage, the Champagne will be disappointing so you might as well open and drink it. No sense in saving it any longer.

Question from Xiidaen: Can you please talk about storing Champagnes? Are there Champagnes that should be purchased now and held onto for a few years?

Ed McCarthy: That's a very good question. In general all Champagnes improve with aging. This is especially true with vintage Champagnes. My advice is to age Champagne for a few years as long as you have a good place to store it. Champagne must be kept at a cool temperature, under 60 degrees. The ideal range is between 53 and 59 degrees. The cooler the better, really. The place should be fairly humid because the cork can dry out if it's not humid. It should be a dark place, as light is the enemy of Champagne and wine in general. And it should be a place that's free from vibrations such as washing machine motors. So, if you want to keep Champagne, you really have to have these conditions, otherwise there's no sense in storing.

Question from WendyJoan: What is your favorite kind of glass to serve Champagne in -- a flute, tulip cup or something else?

Ed McCarthy: I like the tulip cup, especially a tall sort of full tulip, because that allows the Champagne to develop a little in the glass. The flute, which sort of looks like the instrument, is ok for young Champagnes and maybe less expensive Champagnes, but for really fine Champagnes the tulip is best--the long, tall, full tulip glass. One of the best producers of Champagne glasses is an Austrian firm called Riedel.

Question from ron_s: How long can you store Champagne in a refrigerator?

Ed McCarthy: That's another good question. And I'm glad someone asked that question because this is one of the common abuses I find in Champagne storage. Champagne should not be stored indefinitely in a refrigerator. The excessive cold sort of numbs and flattens the Champagne. It loses its character and flavor, and there are other things about refrigerators. Food smells can eventually permeate the Champagne. You can imagine a strong cheese or something like that. The refrigerator motor going on and off is not good for the Champagne either.

I would say it's fine to store a fine Champagne in a refrigerator for a few days, maybe even up to a week, but you should not store it for a few months or more. I know people that have had Champagne in their refrigerator for years, and I wonder what that Champagne is going to taste like when they open it.

Question from Cathy: I heard there will be a shortage of Champagne for New Year celebrations. Is that true?

Ed McCarthy: There's some truth in that. But, there will be Champagne available, I'm sure, even up to New Years Eve. Champagne producers made a great deal of Champagne and they have a lot of reserves. The problem is, this year there has been an inordinate amount of Champagne sold, in the United States especially. The United States has broken its own record for selling Champagne this year. As a result of that, you are not going to find all the brands available. Especially brands from the smaller houses. For instance, Bollinger is very scarce right now. The Prestige Cuvees, the more expensive Champagnes, will probably disappear well before Christmas, such as Cristal and maybe even Dom Perignon. So if you want a broad choice, my advice is to shop early.

Question from Elizabeth: Ed, How does the consumer know, when buying a bottle of Champagne, that it's been stored properly from the time it left the producer?

Ed McCarthy: That's probably the best question so far. Frankly it's very difficult for the average consumer to know. I would suggest, firstly, that you buy Champagne from stores that have a large turnover so that the bottle hasn't been languishing on the shelf for months. You have to be very careful buying a Champagne during or after summer, for instance. We had a brutally hot summer this year on the east coast. Some of the better stores have temperature-controlled facilities for their Champagnes and wines. Those would be the stores to seek out. Now about the distributors warehouses.....the truth is some warehouses have temperature controls and some don't. I guess the only way for the average consumer to find out is to ask his retailer. Ask how the Champagne was stored before it got to the store. My final piece of advice is to be careful buying Champagne during or after hot weather.

Question from Trey: Does Piper-Heidsieck make a good bottle of Champagne?

Ed McCarthy: Piper-Heidsieck is better than ever right now. There's been a big improvement in this firm over the last decade. They've hired an excellent wine maker. Piper-Heidsieck's style is what I call fairly light and fairly fruity. It would probably appeal to more the beginning Champagne drinker than one that has cultivated a taste for very dry Champagnes.

Question from Trey: Are '76 and '79 good years for Dom?

Ed McCarthy: 1979 is a very good year not only for Dom Perignon but also for Champagne in general. If the Champagne has been stored well, `79 is still drinking well. 1976 is a bit more of a problem. It was a very hot, dry year. The Champagnes made were very fat and ripe, but low in acidity. So only the very best 1976 Champagnes are still drinking well. I can't recall drinking a `76 Dom Perignon but my guess is that it's very passe at this point.

Question from aim: What about Veuve Clicquot?

Ed McCarthy: Veuve Clicquot is a very large house. It's the second largest house after Moet Chandon. In general it's a very reliable brand, but it's at its best with its vintage Champagnes and its premium Champagne, La Grande Dame.

Question from threeDgfx: What actually makes a Champagne taste more dry?

Ed McCarthy: With just about all Champagne a small amount of sugar is added during the second fermentation. So those Champagnes that add very little sugar, in fact a few add none, would be the driest Champagnes. This is all explained in my book, by the way. Another factor is the ripeness of the year. In a very hot year, when the grapes get very ripe, they naturally have more grape sugar. When the wine is made, the wine will taste sweeter even if it's not sweeter, because of the ripeness of the grapes. But the main factor is the amount of sugar called the dosage, that is added during the second fermentation.

Chat Moderator: Thank you Ed McCarthy for joining us today to discuss Champagne.

Ed McCarthy: There are so many questions. We could go on for hours. I would suggest that you pick up my book. It's written in a very clear, easy-to-read style. And I cover almost every question about Champagnes. Plus I make loads of recommendations. Thank you!

Chat Moderator: This concludes our food chat with today's guest, Ed McCarthy. Thanks for coming everyone! Great questions! CHEERS!

Ed McCarthy: Bye, everyone.