Bubbly

I just attended a champagne event at Boulevard for Veuve Clicquot champagne. They were introducing a couple of rare vintages- a 1988 Brut and a 1985 Rose. We also had a Vintage 1999 brut and a 1999 rose. Now, I don't claim to know anything about champagne (or wine or beer or sherry or a lot of other booze), so I can only say what I liked. I liked it all, not surprisingly- this is the good stuff. Though I feel like a bit of a fraud at events where everyone else is a sommelier, I treat them as an opportunity to absorb information from the experts. You can never learn too much about topics in which you're interested. In both cases I enjoyed the brut more, because of it's earthy, moldy, mushroomy taste. I've tasted more sake than grape wine, and it reminded me of some of my favorite nigoris. I told one representative, "It's a good format for an earthy flavor, as in a sparkling wine it bubbles about the mouth, whereas in a wine or a sake it's more like having a mouthful of liquid dirt." This is why they don't ask me to write wine labels. I had the vegetarian meal, which was delicious but left me out of the conversation about which foods paired best with the champagne. People seemed to say that the salty and sweet, berry foods worked well with the rose. I had no opinion on the pork. Someone asked me what my veggie meal was. Out of the roughly six different items on my plate, I could only identify three of them for sure- mushrooms, squash, and spinach. Boy do I sound dumb when someone says, "Isn't that a Turkish artichoke you're eating?" and I haven't the slightest idea of which food item they might be talking about. I treat food like I treat olives- it's good to know which stuff pairs well with your meal, and by meal I mean liquor. But like it or not, if I'm going to write about booze, I'm going to have to start learning a bit more about food. Wish me luck.