A Few Statistics and Recommendations for Champagne Day on October 22

Don’t let the incessant rain get you down Vancouverites, Champagne Day is on the way!  October 22, 2021 to be precise.  You can find champagne at many restaurants if you go out for dinner on Friday to celebrate, as well as both private wine shops, and the BC Liquor Stores also carry a wide range of champagnes.  You can get champagne made from Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, or Chardonnay, either on their own, or in a blend.  Blanc de Blancs champagne is 100% Chardonnay, while Blanc de Noirs is from Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier.  You can also get a Rosé coloured champagne.  Many champagne are blended from various vintages of base wines to create a house style, but sometimes in exceptional years, you can get champagne made from that named year.  Lots to choose from.

Here are some statistics about Champagne that you may not know (courtesy Champagne Bureau, USA):

• 

  There are approximately 58 million bubbles in one bottle of Champagne. 
• The pressure in a bottle of Champagne is 90 pounds per square inch, about three times that in your automobile tire. 
• It takes approximately 350 Champagne bottles to fill a bathtub – a discovery made after Marilyn Monroe took her famous champagne bath. 
• Champagne is a signature drink of choice for many famous fictional characters, including Jay Gatsby and James Bond.  
• Beneath the Champagne region’s official 34,300 hectares of vineyards, there are 1.3 billion bottles currently aging in its cellars. 
• Last year Champagne exported 244.1 million bottles to countries around the world. More Champagne shipment statistics for 2020 can be found here.

Three Champagne’s I tried last year from Taittinger that I really liked were:

Taittinger Brut Réserve and Prestige Rosé Champagnes

Champagne Taittinger Brut Reserve NV – This Champagne has nice stone fruit aromas.  Tiny creamy bubbles.  It is off-dry with a medium body.  Ripe stone fruit and apples along with some pepperiness. –

Champagne Taittinger Prelude Grands Cru NV – Light apple and stone fruit nose.  Medium-plus body with higher acidity.  Citrus apple and light toast on the palate.  Very creamy bubbles.

Champagne Taittinger Prestige Rosé NV  – Nice red apple nose.  Light body; dry.  Creamy light bubbles.  Red fruits followed by red apples on the palate. –

Enjoy Champagne Day this Friday, October 22!  You can post your champagne pictures using #ChampagneDay to celebrate with the rest of the world as well.