After a busy holiday season, we usually slow down on Jan. 1. We stay home, order a box of fried chicken, top it with some caviar left over from one of our restaurants and reflect on the year gone by while sipping something special and sparkling. Not only is it a delightful pairing for our decadent meal, but a glass of something bubbly also is undeniably celebratory.
If you’re looking for an excellent bottle to pair with a New Year’s at home, here are a few of our standout Champagnes of 2024:
A.Bergère Origine brut NV. An accessible splurge from an outstanding family of winemakers, this blend of 70% chardonnay, 20% pinot noir, 10% meunier is sourced from three historic vineyard sites. The wine is complex on the nose and lively on the palate, with notes of orange hard candy and a pleasant floral quality.
Dhondt-Grellet Dans un Premier Temps brut NV. This company is another family affair, led by the young, brilliant Adrien Grellet. A blend of 50% chardonnay, 30% pinot noir and 20% pinot meunier, this wine is graceful, lean and showcases the chalky mineral quality so often associated with Champagne.
Michel Gonet Les Hautes Mottes brut nature 2017. If you are seeking a showstopper, try this special bottle from Michel Gonet. Using grapes from a single vineyard in the famed Les Mesnil sur Oger grand cru, this wine is a blanc de blancs (100% chardonnay) without any added sugar, hence the designation of brut nature. It’s all finesse and minerality, with layers of citrus and tart apple that unfold on the palate.
If your celebration tastes tend toward cocktails, we also have some ideas for elegant sparkling variations that can be made at home easily, including this one with Champagne.
CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL
1 sugar cube
3 dashes angostura bitters
5 ounces brut Champagne or dry sparkling wine
lemon twist
Place the sugar cube in a Champagne flute and saturate with the bitters. Slowly pour the wine over the cube; be careful not to let it bubble over. Garnish with the lemon twist.
Serves 1.
Per serving: 128 calories (percent of calories from fat, 0), trace protein, 6 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams total sugars, no fiber, no fat, no cholesterol, 7 milligrams sodium.
Variations: The death in the afternoon cocktail was a created by Ernest Hemingway and named after his novel. Simply replace the sugar cube with ¼ ounce of absinthe. And Champagne à Nicholas II was the version preferred by the Russian czar. For one of those, replace the sugar and bitters with ¼ ounce of yellow Chartreuse.
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