Debate a Bubble - Champagne News and Reviews

Wine and food matching

When we moved to Champagne several people said we would soon discover that within five minutes of starting a conversation with anyone local the topic of conversation would inevitably have turned to food and wine. It may have been a slight exaggeration, but essentially it was spot on.

It seems that the French have always given a more prominent place in their lifestyle to enjoying good wine and good food than most English people do. Fortunately things appear to be changing here and in recent years there’s been a growing interest and more media attention given to food and wine matching.

Champagne fact or champagne fiction?

There are loads of stories about champagne – how to drink it, how to store it, etc etc and everyone has their own ideas. Some are fact and some are fiction, but in a way that’s all part of the fun.

If you have any, please do share them with us and we’ll see if we can shed any light on them.

To start things off, here are a few old favourites that come back again and again:

'Under the table' champagne

You may have seen, although perhaps not noticed, the little, green, round sticker on the top of the cork of every bottle of wine sold in France. This is proof that tax has been paid on wine and it’s illegal to sell wine in France without one of these stickers.

However, if you get to know some French friends, particularly in Champagne, the chances are that when they invite you round to their house they’ll serve you champagne from 'Derrière les fagots' or champagne from 'behind the logs'.

These bottles have absolutely no labels on them, no markings whatsoever in fact – just plain green bottles with a cork and NO TAX STICKER.

Sangria from Champagne

When we lived in Champagne one of our neighbours, M. Deville, was a champagne-maker. Nothing unusual in this you might say, and you’d be right.

In fact it’s more unusual to find a neighbour that’s NOT a champagne-maker, however this particular one was special because he made a mean jug of sangria.

When we went round to his house, which happened quite frequently, it was a toss up whether to drink his excellent champagne or his remarkable sangria.