Champagne

[Jill<br><br>Jill (99)]

On BBC Breakfast they were saying that sales of Champagne have dropped in France and have risen in England. Apparently lots of people are drinking Champagne in wine bars in England and they were saying it is so affordable these days - you can get it for as little as 12.99 a bottle.

Am I alone in feeling this gassy liquid that tastes more like a soft drink to me is very over-rated and very over-priced - well perhaps not so over-priced if making methods are more expensive - but is it all worth it? At new year, a friend was insisting I had champagne and a friend and I said, no thanks we'd rather drink red wine. Her attitude was, it's new year, you must drink champagne. Frankly, I'd rather drink the cheapest red wine than a champagne. It just makes me feel gassy and spoils the digestion of anything I eat or drink after it.

French visitors had bought over some Champagne for us a few years ago and I said I would keep it for a special occasion. So, I opened it for our 25th Wedding anniversary a few months ago and then wondered why I hadn't given it away as a raffle prize and bought a better than usual red.

I know it's a matter of taste to some extent - I find even dry white wines too sweet (with the exception of retsina) but is Champagne really that fantastic?

It's the same with foie gras - it tastes OK but I wouldn't go out and buy it unless it was served as part of a meal. As for truffles, I've not tasted them except in something an Italian friend gave me which was a sort of paste with parmesan (I think) and a few slices of truffle stuck to the inside of the jar as decoration. Tasteless!

Perhaps it's just me, and my husband, and my kids.



Jill (99)

[Teamedup]

I've never really liked champers either. I've had expensive ones, I've had cheap ones and they all taste yeasty to me, with the exception of some of the Rothschild Champagnes which are OK, but certainly not my favourite drink. I remember being at our neighbours for the Galette des Rois and as he was from the champagne region served champagne. Her grandmother lived with them at the time and dropped a sugar cube into her glass, so I did the same, I certainly got more hostile looks than granny did, but it certainly improved it for me.

I like Clairette de Die Tradition. You probably wouldn't like it Jill as it is more of a dessert sparkling wine.

Now I love foie gras, I really do. I didn't think I would, but there you go.

And truffles, well there are many sorts of truffles, some better than others. But they too have been a disappointment for me. Someone gave us a truffle a couple of years ago and I felt really let down. There are other fungii that I much prefer.

[Dick Smith]

Either champagne is very good or millions of people are either gullible fools or pretending to like something they don't...

We all have tastes and preferences, why is it so hard to accept that other people feel differently? Or is it a case of wanting to be different?

Regards

Dick
BONO ANIMO ES

[letrangere]

Jill, you took "the posting" out of my mouth, I was just about to post same. There was article in the Telegraph this week citing the figures but Mama-in-Law binned it before I had a chance to cut it out. OK, the Brits do drink a lot of it - and the WJ's personally work very hard (scrimp and sacrifice) to ensure our lofty position in the world - but the French still consume a fair amount. I'm hopeless at remembering figures but French consumption was several litres per person per annum. Take in to account children, those who don't like it, those who can't afford it, the few who don't drink at all and that's still one helluva lot of bubbles.

Personally, I love it and can (and will) drink it until the cows come home. I'm not rich but simply budget for it and always have a bottle (or 2 or 3) in the fridge. It's my preferred choice any time of the day, fabulous with breakfast, "goes" with just about every meal (try it with curry, quite perfect), whiles away boring hours on aeroplanes (lost count of how many glasses I drank on the way home last night - certainly approaching the cost of the ticket!), just what you need at the end of a positively awful working day, even better at the end of a good one.

For the last ten years no matter where we are in the world we've had a Friday institution, 5 o'clock on the dot "Friday bubbles". Which reminds me, I'm currently GMT +3 so only an hour to go. Sante!

M

[GRT17]

>On BBC Breakfast they were saying
>that sales of Champagne have
>dropped in France and have
>risen in England. Apparently
>lots of people are drinking
>Champagne in wine bars in
>England

So, at last we are doing something right in the eyes of the French!

Gill

[Richardbk]

Champagne is a little like learning to drink beer it takes some time (perhaps years) to start to appreciate it - the good ones, the bad ones (according to your tastes) and the very many differences in flavours.