It is difficult to imagine New Year's Eve, wedding or any other celebration without champagne poured into crystal glasses. This festive drink is also often presented as a gift. But in order for sparkling wine to really become a valuable present or table decoration, it is necessary to competently approach its choice.
High-quality champagne is produced by many companies, so you should not be guided only by the name of the manufacturer when buying a drink. The choice of sparkling wine should be based, first of all, on the taste preferences of the buyer. But how to evaluate a novelty without tasting the alcoholic drink? To do this, you need to take into account a number of signs of a good champagne.
The nuances of choosing champagne
Wine connoisseurs call champagne only the sparkling wine that is made in the Champagne province. However, such an elite drink is practically not found in Russian supermarkets, where the racks with alcohol are occupied by bottles with other varieties of sparkling wines. They are also called champagne, there are several types of such "fizzy".
The division into types of champagne is made according to the sugar content of the alcoholic beverage. It can be brut (no more than 15 g per 1 l), extra-brut (less than 6 g per 1 l), also popular types Dry (15-25 g of sugar per 1 l), Semi Dry (about 45 g per 1 l). You can also find very sweet champagne with a sugar content of about 65 g per 1 liter and about 85 g per 1 liter. These are the types of Semi Sweet White, Semi Sweet Red, respectively.
Gourmets prefer to drink dry champagne or brut, because real champagne does not contain sugar. But, of course, you need to be guided by the tastes of the guests, because sparkling wine without sugar is sour. You also need to pay attention to the color of the contents of the bottle - you can give preference to pink, red or classic light champagne.
Champagne quality criteria
First of all, it is necessary to evaluate the GOST figures indicated on the champagne label. Real sparkling wine has a marking starting with 5116. Be sure to check where and by whom the drink was produced, its expiration date. If the label has the inscription "Aged", it speaks of the worthy quality of the product. Examine the composition of alcohol. Champagne should not be flavored; low-grade wine may be labeled "sparkling wine". Such a drink was artificially saturated with carbon dioxide.
Champagne should have a tinted glass bottle; upon contact with sunlight, the alcoholic beverage tastes more bitter. It is worth buying wine with a cork stopper, it is also an indicator of quality. In order not to be faced with a fake, do not buy frankly cheap alcohol. It is recommended to make a choice of champagne in company stores or large supermarkets, where the quality of the goods is clearly monitored.
