Why Champagne is the best Valentine’s gift

POPPING open a bottle of champagne on Feb. 14 to share with your special someone is to me easily the best Valentine’s gift of all time. This could be in the comfort of your home, at a hotel, or a fine dining restaurant.

Champagne is considered the world’s most glamorous beverage, and perhaps the most romantic as well. Champagne is very much part of the French lifestyle of swagger, luxury and snobbery that we all love.

CHAMPAGNE THE WINE REGION
Champagne is more than just a sparkling wine, it is a place of origin that the French have been protecting since the historical Treaty of Paris in 1891, and further re-affirmed post-World War I in the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 as one of the trade provisions. Cavas, Proseccos, Spumantes and New World sparkling wines are therefore not Champagnes. Champagne, just like other European appellation names — Port, Sherry etc. — are legally protected demarcated wine regions.

In 1994, The European Union (EU) further enhanced its claim to the Champagne name by forbidding the term Methode Champenoise (or Champagne Method — “in-bottle secondary fermentation”) to be used for sparkling wines made outside of Champagne. But just like Port, Burgundy, Chablis, and other well known EU properties, it had little enforcement in North America and other New World wine-producing countries for the longest time, especially on these countries’ domestic fronts. It is, however, still politically incorrect to say American and Australian champagnes when referring to sparkling wines made in California and Australia or for other wine producing countries outside of Champagne, France — though we may still see the name “Champagne” arbitrarily used on wine list referring to sparkling wines all over the country.

Below are five compelling arguments on why Champagne is best for a Valentine celebration:

1. Champagne is the most prestigious beverage in the world. Not to mention, the most pricey beverage too. In the Philippines, this is actually more true than in other countries. Our wine taxes are extremely biased against sparkling wines, with sparkling wines, especially in the Champagne price range, being taxed close to 23 times more than still wines. The excise tax alone for a Champagne is over P500/bottle, so there is no champagne out in the market that retails less than P2,000 per bottle! While you could always get non-champagne sparkling wines at much lower prices, like those from Spain (Cava), Italy (Prosecco and Asti Spumanti), Australia, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, and even from France (called “Cremant de” followed by the regional name, notably from Loire, Burgundy, or Languedoc-Roussillon), none still can approximate the cache of a real Champagne. Valentine’s Day is not the time to skimp on one’s budget for a love one.

2. Truly alluring bubbles. Champagne comes with bubbles, millions of tiny bubbles that never cease to stop in every pour. The bubbles can be seen as multiple streams, or a single stream, but are always fine. Use a crystal flute glass to be able to appreciate the inherent aesthetics of a poured champagne. The effervescence of Champagne comes from its process known as Methode Champenoise, which, in simple terms, mean around 18 months of secondary yeast fermentation inside a bottle. The trapped carbon dioxide multiplies exponentially during this gestation period, waiting to escape upon opening. It is very easy to see how fine, long, and relentless the effervescence of Champagnes are versus other sparkling wines like Proseccos or Asti Spumantes, which will have courser, shorter-lived bubbles. Finer and more delicate bubbles are definitely not only pleasing to the eye, but are actually more delectable when tasted.

3. The faster intoxicating effect. Not only have I read about this, but I actually experienced it. It seems that blood-alcohol levels zoom up, or get one inebriated faster when one is drinking Champagne as against still wine. This is even regardless of actual alcohol content of the liquids. As we all know, red wines, especially given global warming, are flagging at the 13.5% to 14.5% alcohol by volume levels, as against Champagnes that are more consistently in the 12% range. Yet a glass of Champagne always seems to do the trick faster than a glass of hearty red wine. Science suggests that the presence of carbon dioxide accelerates the absorption of alcohol into our bloodstream. While over time, the higher alcohol red wine may get you more drunk, Champagnes get you loose and less inhibited earlier. I believe this is a good recipe on a Valentine’s Day date.

4. Champagne as aphrodisiac. The late Dr. Max Lake, a US-born surgeon, wine maker, author, researcher, and best known in Australia as the “father of the Australian boutique wine industry” for being the first to open a boutique winery in all of Australia (Lake’s Folly winery in the Hunter Valley in 1963), had a fascination for this subject. Dr. Max had written after much research that the scent of Champagne, particularly of the blanc de blancs (those made from 100% Chardonnay) resembles the aroma of the female pheromone. There was not much follow-up on this theory from other scientific experts, but it is nevertheless extremely intriguing. But whether Champagne alone is an aphrodisiac or not, the two foods most associated with being proven aphrodisiacs — oysters and chocolates — are perfect pairs with Champagnes!

5. Champagne as depicted in the big and small screen.

Champagne’s biggest promoter has to be Hollywood, both the movies and TV shows. While James Bond prefers to drink his dry martini shaken not stirred when he drinks alone, his drink of choice when in the company of a beautiful woman is always Champagne. Champagne Bollinger in fact in most cases. This is almost a constant in all 24 Bond movies over the last 56 years, whether it be Sean Connery’s initial portrayal of the British super agent 007 in 1962’s Doctor No, to the most recent Daniel Craig starred, 2015’s Spectre. Who also can forget the Champagne ordered by Richard Gere’s character to be sent to his hotel penthouse room along with strawberries for Julia Roberts in the 1990 blockbuster Pretty Woman? There is so much more exposure in movies, including The Great Gatsby, where Moet Chandon champagnes were flaunted shamelessly. On the small screen, we see Champagnes in the long-running Emmy award-winning shows Frasier, Will & Grace, and, more recently, the Dynasty reboot of 2017. What we see larger than life makes Champagne the ultimate aspirational beverage. Champagnes are always referenced not only for celebration, but also for romance, courtship and seduction — all Valentine’s Day possibilities.

Let the bubbles speak love this Valentine’s Day!

The author has been a member of the Federation Internationale des Journalists et Ecrivains du Vin et des Spiritueux or FIJEV since 2010. For comments, inquiries, wine event coverage, and other wine-related concerns, e-mail the author at protegeinc@yahoo.com. He is also on Twitter at twitter.com/sherwinlao.