Life is simply too short to not always have a bottle of CHAMPAGNE chilling in the refrigerator!
Now before you say anything.... it can most definitely be a less expensive brand, or a cava (Spanish version) or a prosecco (Italian version)....but, you never know when a special occasion will arise, like maybe a good friend popping in, or your husband comes home after just having a good day at work! If we don't celebrate little things like this, when will we celebrate? Annual holidays don't come around often enough.....and Americans are overworked and overstressed so maybe it would help if we looked at more of the little things as worthy of celebration.
Now, for my "wine storage" - we have a small inside joke - when we bought our refrigerator, we were "forced" to get the KitchenAid Architect series (terrible I know) - because we have a door in the way in our tiny house which a deeper refrig would just out and be very much in the way, not to mention the aesthetics. We couldn't really afford a Viking or other "counter-depth" model. KitchenAid was affordable in comparison. Well, one of it's features is a "wine rack" which consists of a plastic thingy that hangs on the side of the shelf and holds one bottle of wine. You would not have thought to call this a "wine rack" if you had seen it. We found it quite humorous. Admittedly, it sounds impressive to tell your friends you have a wine rack in your refrigerator, and it works perfectly to keep a bottle of some sort of sparkling white wine on hand at all times. It keeps it up and out of the way, so it was partly my inspiration to do so. Anyone could buy one of these for their own refrigerator, probably through the Kitchenaid website - or I'd bet The Container Store or maybe even Target has something functionally similar.
My other inspiration for always keeping a bottle of Champagne (or sparkling white wine) in the frig is one of my all time favorite movies "Breakfast at Tiffany's" - because THAT is the life I really want to lead..... ;)
I strive for it. (ok, maybe not the call girl part, just the endless wild swanky parties wearing fabulous clothes part.)
One issue many have is how you open a bottle of champagne, drink a couple glasses, then what the heck do I do with all this champagne? I have two solutions.
1. Buy the little bottles. I think they are half liters - maybe even less. Enough for about two full glasses or 3 to 4 small "toast" size glasses. Even a few of the better Champagnes comes in these smaller bottles. I often purchase them for just the two of us, because Stefan doesn't like to drink ANY white wine. He will drink it when I make him, but not more than a glass, then I end up drinking the rest by myself! Not an entirely unfortunate scenario I suppose, but I can't say I always want to be drunk all by lonesome.
2. There are some very handy special stoppers (also available at many stores which sell that sort of thing - like Bed Bath & Beyond or Target/Wal-mart) which work perfectly to keep any bubbly beverage (I also use them for sparkling mineral water) fresh and bubbly for very long periods of time. Not the vacuum type wine stoppers, those won't work at all. These have a silver or metal thingy which bends down and tightens the seal. They work extremely well. The prosecco I used for dessert at Easter had been in there since New Years! I'm serious! It honestly, in my opinion, didn't taste horrible or anything. Especially since it was only used for dessert. It's not like I had a sommelier coming to dinner. It will only work if you have at least a quarter to a half bottle left. Anything less is not worth keeping anyway, make some Champagne vinegar out of it!
(money saving recipe for champagne (or any other) vinegar: take any amount of champagne (or wine or cider etc.) in any glass bottle or jar, I usually use the bottle the champagne or wine came in, and add a teaspoon or so of Bragg's raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar with "the mother" in it - available at many health food type stores. "the mother" is the living culture that will feed off the sugars in the wine and turn it to vinegar within a few weeks, depending on the temperature. Do not cork or keep the lid tightly closed. It needs air. I usually wrap the opening with a little fabric (like cheese cloth) and tie it with string or rubberband. This keeps fruit flies etc. out yet allows it to breathe.)
Now, I am certain a sommelier would cringe at the thought of this. However, while I know I have a fairly good palate, my taste buds are not QUITE that refined.... (and not to be rude, but neither are my guests', for the most part anyway! So I just don't think most of us need worry about this aspect.)
Honestly, if you are one who claims you are not crazy about champagne, I have found it is often due to having exclusive experience with nasty cheap Andre (or similar least expensive brand) often found with a plastic cork. Or maybe only having experience with that which is served at midnight on New Year's Eve in most clubs after already consuming a dozen other drinks, which is a most common cause of the "champagne headache" many of us have personal experience with on New Years Day! It is always amazing to me how anyone could proclaim they do not like "Champagne" when this is often their only experience with it!
My advice, hit a wine store, talk to someone there and get suggestions. Try out an inexpensive, yet still decent bottle (avoiding plastic corks and screw caps). My rule for most wine is usually $10 or less, unless I splurge on good Champagne. And, don't be afraid to tell the person at the store your price range, otherwise how will they know? Just begin to experiment with a few sparkling white wines. Then, go home and have a glass with some fruit like say ...peaches, strawberries, raspberries etc....you might just be transformed!
Posts
