Sharing
or
A Cause for Celebration
A Morality Tale
Only one character in all of literature - Swithin Forsyte - readily comes to mind as a person who deliberately set out to regularly drink champagne alone. At his last recorded dinner party, he bragged about his habit of drinking a pint of champagne over the same solitary dinner night after night at his club. His goal was to drain the club cellar of its celebrated Heidsieck - pint by pint! In case you may wish to emulate him, let me remind you that he is not an enviable character and does not come to the happiest end.
Sparking wines are meant to be savored - and shared - with friends. Champagne is the nectar of conviviality. Its very presence is elevating. Last week, with Swithin Forsyte in mind, I invited three friends to join me at my club to share a meal and three lovely bottles of "fizz." No solitary splendor for me! The four of us sat down to a six-course dinner and three sparking wines; a 1996 Argyle Brut ($25.00 at my local wine store), a non-vintage yellow label Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin purchased in 2000 (currently $40.00 at my local wine store), and finally a Schramsberg 1999 Crémant (currently $25.00 from the winery) from the Napa valley. These wines, like my guests, were old friends guaranteed to make for a wonderful evening.
We started with the 1996 Argyle Brut. Grown from grapes just outside of Dundee, in Oregon's Willamette valley, noted for its pinot noir crop, this sparkler has a pale color and small fast even bubbles. A light, fresh, crisp wine, that tastes a little of apple, the Argyle is probably best consumed with a light snack on a lazy sunny Sunday afternoon. It was a little light to start a dinner. To be fair it did assume a little more gravitas as we reached the bottom of the bottle, but it was a bit of a wait. The flavor got a little lost in our first two courses of salmon terrine with horseradish, and lobster and caviar in a sabayon. As my English guest put it, "this is a great wine for slurping." Do not underestimate this sparkler however, within a very short time under its influence the charming ladies at the table were ever more charming and the evening had turned into a celebration.
We greeted with delight our good friend, the yellow label NV Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin. A true champagne, it is grown near Epernay in the champagne region of France. The non-vintage is known for its flavor and color consistency due to blending several vintages to get that great Cliquot taste. As the dinner progressed under its golden influence, we reminisced about early adventures with this well known wine. (For me a most memorable occasion in the mid 1970's - but that is another story.) We talked of times we had enjoyed various Cliquots; in France, with former loves, great food, travel, gossip flowed. As always "the widow" exerted her influence. This was a rich creamy wine, very yeasty with some of that apple we had tasted earlier in the evening but also buttery, with almost a custard flavor. The surprise of the evening was how well this wine went with pan-seared scallops garnished with grated black truffles. I had never considered serving it with shellfish before. This wine just gets more creamy with every minute it sits in the glass. Since 1772, the consistency of Cliquot has never failed to satisfy. The evening was well on its way to becoming memorable.
We had expected that the 1999 Schramsbeg Crémant would be served with dessert. Consequently we were surprised when it was opened as the chef came out with squab resting on a slice of seared foie gras. "Divine!" There is no other word. This demi-sec sparkler created from flora grapes - cross between Semillon and Gewurztraminer - is a little bit of heaven. The bubbles are a little slower and fewer in number punctuating a glass of pure gold. Although advertised as having peach and apricot flavors, and suitable with spicy Asian food, our now ebullient table tasted, to a person, pear. We were arguing over who was going to serve this wine next and for what occasion. I hear that for the last twenty-five years, they have done the same thing at the White House. Dessert arrived and I was a little surprised that this Crémant was better paired with madeleines, berry sorbets, and fig jellies, than it was with chocolate confections. By the end of dinner we had settled that the women in our party were the youngest, best looking, most sophisticated dinner companions, with the most flawless skin in the city. Now that is cause to celebrate!
As I sit with these treasured memories from a week ago, I cannot but be confirmed in my belief that sparkling wines are best shared. These three wines, like my dinner companions, have become old friends. Old friends become stale unless we introduce them around and make our time with them a celebration. Both sparkling wine and friends can lift the ordinary to the sublime. No one ever said of poor Swithin that he was like champagne - he drank alone and was rather dull. Go out! Share any one of these three wines and make your life a celebration!
About the author: A Seattle native, Mark Kernaghan has been a life long traveler. He delights in pursuing culinary adventure. He is a fan of the performing arts, especially opera, and loves a good Sunday afternoon at the museum. On a good evening he is found at home either entertaining friends to supper or lost in a good novel.
