STORY:
Champagne Choices, Which One is Right?

Picking the proper cork to pop for the Year 2000

Whether you’re at a black-tie bash a fireworks extravaganza or sitting on your couch this New Year’s Eve, chances are you’ll be celebrating the new millennium with a glass of bubbly. It’s a landmark event, the year 2000 only comes around once and you want to toast the millennium with just the right champagne. With so many brands to choose from, how do you pick the one that’s right for you? How do you pick the proper champagne for this historical New Year’s Eve?

According to the Vancouver Sun this is a great year to be sho pping for champagne. The Sun says prices are reasonable right now and the choices are plenty.

David Hopgood buys all the wine for Vancouver B.C.’s liquor distribution branch. That’s a lot of wine and champagne. There are 45 producers and more than 225 individual labels on the shelves. Hopgood gives us some insight into just what to look for when picking out your bottle of bubbly.

Let’s start with the most affordable champagne. According to the Sun, Hopgood says the category to look for is non-vintage. This means producers start with wine from a single base year and blend it with some reserve stocks to create a house style. That champagne is calledNon-vintage. You will have many choices in this category when you head to the store because this is the largest category of champagne on the market today.

The next category is a bit more expensive because it offers champagne from a single year’s work in a vineyard. Only the best years are called "vintage" and this is a great year to be buying vintage wine. Hopgood says three of the finest years make up the vintage champagne being sold today. They are 1988, 1989 and 1990. If you’re looking at vintage champagne and you see all three years, Hopgood says pick 1990 you can’t go wrong out of all three this will prove to be the best.

Finally, the top of the line champagne production is represented by the prestige cuvees. The most famous is Dom Perignon. Because of the millennium celebrations, you will find many for prestige champagnes this year such as; Trillennium Reserve Cuvee 1989 which was made in September of 1997 and released just for the millennium, and there’s Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial 2000 created especially for the millennium celebrations and sold only in the 1.5-litre format.

Whether you choose the non-vintage or the prestige champagne if you’re popping the bubbly at midnight you won’t be alone, millions will be doing the exact same thing at exactly the same time. Enjoy!

DATE: 10/13/99

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