We are less than a week away from one of our countries beloved holiday, Thanksgiving. The season for celebrating the upcoming holidays, means there will be a lot of bubbly to be popped! House of Squirrels has the 411 on the three things you need to know when choosing your champs!

Decoding the label:

Cuvee means blend. Most Champagnes are blends of grapes and also contain wines from multiple years.  Brut, is how a Champagne is classified according to its sweetness. From driest to sweetest. Extra Brut to Demi Sec. HOS recommends Brut Champagne. RM/NM, is how you determine how indie your Champagne is…RM stands for Recoltant Manipulant- a grower who converts their own grapes. NM, stands for Negociant Manipulant- a buyer who buys some or all of his grapes. Most Champagnes come from NM. Personally, I look for the word ‘Champagne’ and ‘Brut’,  if you have those two you are all good!

Brrr it’s cold:

Keep your Champagne cold. Ice cold. This helps keep the bubbles intact. Before serving your champs, keep it in the freezer for about 15 minutes. This will bring it to a perfect temperature. After you have poured the glasses, put back in freezer with champ cork. Dr. Squirrel and I have been practicing this for years. Pssst…Squirrel secret 🙂

Go Vintage:

Squirrel those flutes, and pour the champs in a wide-mouthed coupes. (Did I just make a rhyme?) The picture above is an example of the glasses. Drinking out of these coups, makes me think of how it would be if I lived during the time of Marie Antoinette…who always drank her champs this way! In addition, I think it sets a certain elegance to your ambience and your guests will enjoy having your cold, brut, Champagne!

Squirrel Tip: The word “Champagne” labeled on a bottle means it was made in ‘Champagne’, France. Other sparklers cannot use the word “Champagne” unless it came from that region in France.

Happy Thanksgiving!

~Kisses Kitchen Squirrel