Champagne: The Perfect Dinner Party Guest
Many people make the mistake of believing that Champagne should only be enjoyed as part of a celebration and not paired with a meal. These people are missing out on a real treat though. Champagne can be the perfect drink to accompany a meal and this quick guide will show you how to pair it with food for your next dinner party.
Starters:
This is the most typical time to serve Champagne, and if you like your dinner parties to begin with starters, then doing it with a sparkling wine is a great way to kick off the evening. Choosing a lighter bodied Champagne will give you the most choice of what food to serve with it. This can be paired with seafood such as lightly grilled white fish or oysters, fried mushrooms, or salads made with rocket.
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Main course:
For earthy, game meats such as pheasant, grouse or pigeon, you should choose a vintage Champagne that will compliment the flavors. Whereas a lighter Rose will pair excellently with a seafood main course, so why not try a lobster dish?
Rose Champagne cuts through oily food and cleanses the palate, making it the perfect accompaniment for dishes such as fish and duck. Quite unexpectedly, curries also work very well, but try to avoid going to too spicy and overwhelming the flavor of the wine.
Image by Cheryl VanStane used under the Creative Commons license.
Dessert:
This is where people often struggle. The fruity notes in Rose Champagne work really well with fresh fruit, so it stands to reason that sweet desserts that incorporate fruit such as rhubarb or apple work best. Pies or crumbles may not seem like the most likely to desserts to pair with Champagne but they work very well together.
Avoiding sweetness altogether, Rose Champagne is the perfect partner to many cheeses, especially goats cheese, and so providing a traditional cheese and biscuits will do nicely as an after-dinner treat. Add a homemade pot of red jam, made with the Rose, and and no-one will be wondering where the sweets are. Of course, you can always serve a sweet dessert and have a cheese and biscuits course as well!
What to avoid
According to many people Champagne simply does not work with foods that are excessive in any flavors. Foods that are very sweet, acidic, spicy etc. should not be paired with Rose Champagne as they will be overpowered. Whilst it is not an exception (no dish should be excessively salty) the saltiness of a dish does quite follow the same pattern. As salt is missing from the flavour of the Champagne it is a good idea to play around the salt levels of a dish to hit to right balance.
Don’t be fooled into thinking Champagne should be avoided with food. The right pairings can make for a wonderful, and often unexpected, meal.
Tesco Wines brings you a delicious way to enjoy Champagne
