Bubbles

I enjoy a glass or two of wine now and then, but I don't tend to consume a lot of it (my at-home drinking tastes run to the basic, like Narragansett beer). I know even less about champagne, except that you tend to have to spend a lot to find anything good. In the mid-90s I worked a second job on the front-of-house staff at the Huntington Theatre, which included concessions, where I was introduced to, and completely spoiled by, Veuve Clicquot.

This year my family decided to spend Christmas Eve at home, opting to order a bunch of prepared foods from a local market. I thought it would be nice to have some champagne, but I wasn't feeling flush enough to drop $38 on a bottle of VC (that's the price I found at Kappy's). I went to the liquor store one night last week, hoping to find a decent bottle at a decent price.

I browsed the sparkling wine aisle for a couple of minutes, and considered just copping out and grabbing a bottle of Freixenet, but I felt I could do better. Normally the staff at Kappy's are happy to give advice and make suggestions, but the store was very busy and I could not locate anyone free. I went back to the aisle and saw a sign, made by someone at the store, that said "good French bubbly" stuck to the shelf below a bottle called Veuve Moisans.

Technically this wasn't champagne, because it's made in a different part of France, but I reasoned that it was closer to champagne than Spanish sparkling wine, and it also happened to cost less than the Freixenet. I figured I'd give it a try, and if it turned out not to be very good I'd only be out $10, and if it did turn out to be good, I'd have found a relative bargain.

As it turned out, it was really good, and especially impressive given its low price. The label is a similar orange to that of Veuve Clicquot, though it's striped in a darker orange so as not to be too blatant a ripoff. My idea was well received, and we polished off the bottle so quickly I found myself wishing I'd gotten two bottles--which I'll certainly do next year. But for only $10, I almost certainly won't wait for next Christmas to have this very enjoyable sparkling wine again.

PS: In the beer department, this is the only time of year you can pick up Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale. It's an IPA with a bit more bite than the regular Sierra, but without any of the spices typically added to "holiday" or "winter" beers. While I enjoy it in bottles, I think it's best experienced on tap, if you have the opportunity.