Veuve Clicquot Champagne

What is it about Champagne that makes grown-ups willing to part with so much cash? Don't they know it's just fizzy white wine? I love the stuff, but there's still a bit of me that doesn't really 'get it'. Regardless, Champagne is the Boss. It rules. So I doff my hood.

For M's special birthday (it had a nought in it) we popped open a bottle of Veuve Clicquot's Brut Yellow Label, a blend of Pinot Noir (50-55%), Chardonnay (28-33%) and Pinot Meunier (15-20%). This is described as a "powerful and complex" blend, about a third of which comes from "reserve" wines aged up to 20 years.

The aroma was biscuity - M, who's been on a tour of the region, says this is common - with a bit of grassiness and melon too. I struggled to describe the flavours, other than "complex" (I'll try harder next time). Interestingly, I found my first sip a little tart, but by my second fluteful things had become softer and friendlier. I would guess the reason people drink Champagne, or indeed fizzy wine generally, is because of the bubbles. Bubbles equal fun, or at least they gets the fun into the veins more quickly. VC's Brut was the bottle with which M and I toasted our engagement, and no doubt in future it'll help us acknowledge other Significant Things. Some traditions are too ingrained to question much, particularly when they taste biscuity and bubbly.

HISTORY: The House of Veuve Clicquot was founded in Reims, France, in 1772.

COOL FACT: The greatest Champagne vintages, according to Veuve Clicquot, include 1998, 1996, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1985, 1979, 1976, 1969, 1959...