Buy Champagne
If you have ever been "sold up" on a bottle of Champagne by a snooty sales clerk, you could use a primer in what type of bubbly is (and isn't) appropriate to bring to a New Year's shindig. Here's a quick guide.
Instructions
1. Know what you're buying. "Champagne" isn't synonymous with "bubbly white wine." In the strictest sense, capital-C "Champagne" should only be used to refer to sparkling wines originating in the Champagne region of France, but the U.S. allows some kinds of champagne (notice the lower-case "c") to be produced in California. In any event, the recipe for Champagne is much more subtle than injecting bubbles into white wine.
2. Set a budget. Despite what you have seen on TV, not everyone takes out a second mortgage to afford the finest bottle of Champagne on the market. If you're hosting a black tie soiree in your penthouse apartment, spending a few hundred bucks per bottle is reasonable. If you're hooking up with your pals in a convenience store parking lot to watch fireworks, any three buck champagne should do just fine.
3. Don't skimp on the amount of bubbly you buy. When figuring out what kind of bubbly to buy, take into account how many people you're likely to be serving. If you're having 50 folks over to your place on New Year's Eve, one high-end bottle will send most of them home grumbling. You should have at least enough Champagne on hand for one good-sized glass and one refill, per guest. As a rough rule, each bottle of Champagne is enough for about 10 hearty toasts.
4. Don't be intimidated. You know with whom you'll be ringing in the New Year, so you know if they're a) the type of people who will look at you crosswise for bringing a 1985 vintage when 1987 is all the rage or b) couldn't tell a genuine Champagne from a California champagne from a sweetened wine cooler. Don't be cowed into spending more than you can afford, and remember, it's New Year's Eve-the next morning, most folks are unlikely to remember who brought what.
Tags: , capital-C Champagne, white wine