Well hopefully you survived Christmas and have recovered enough from the parties to start looking forward to New Year’s Eve. The long-standing tradition is to have a glass of champagne in hand to help bring in the new year and how better to keep an old tradition alive than with a long-standing champagne house? For this I’d recommend the Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve.
The Charles Heidsieck house has been making champagne since 1851 and have received a number of accolades from people like Emperor Napoleon III and Tsar Nicholas I to many modern day judges and writers. Also, their production is large enough that their wines can be found in a number of stores around the United States. But enough about the winery: let’s get to the bottle!
First, take a quick look at the bottle. 
The first thing you should notice is the the name, followed by the words “a Reims.” Reims is one of the two major production centers of the Champagne region of France. Below that you notice two key words: “Brut Réserve.” We learn two key things from that phrase. The first is that the wine is fermented dry, meaning that there is very little sugar left in the bottle. The second means that the winery held the wine after it was disgorged in 2008 (stated on the back of the bottle) for a longer period of time than normal before shipping it out. This results in the start of something called autolysis, where the lees of the wine are broken down and absorbed back into the liquid, giving the champagne another layer of flavor. Autolytic flavors are best described as yeasty (like French Brioche or thick French Toast) and nutty (toasted almonds). Autolysis doesn’t happen overnight, but is a long developing process comparable to the aging of red wines. but I’ll describe the whole champagne process in depth at another time.
Now break out your champagne flutes and pop that bottle! WAIT!!! Whatever you do, don’t shoot that cork out of the bottle, but rather keep your hand over the cork at all times and gently guide it out of the top. Shooting the cork and sending it flying creates a vacuum which draws out a large portion of the carbonation, killing the bubbles! When you pour the glass, take a minute to look at the beautiful golden color and the bubbles. The bubbles tell you a lot about the quality of the wine. Tiny bubbles, barely the size of a pinprick, that go up in straight lines let you know that the champagne was made to a very high standard and will usually have a very delicate mousse, or mouth-feel of the fizz. Large, fat bubbles that appear inconsistently in the glass denote a more basic production and the mousse will be harsher. In the case of the Charles Heidseick, the bubbles are very small, a bit larger than pinpricks.
Next stick your nose over the glass. What do you notice? The first thing that grabbed my attention was the strength of the bouquet: I could smell the champagne from a distance as I poured a glass. This is a very pronounced nose for a champagne and the smell of it was very nice. When I first stuck my nose over the flute, I picked up the scent of lemon, thick brioche and toasted almonds. This changed as the wine opened up but I’ll get to that in a bit as I’m willing to bet that you are tired of just smelling the champagne and want to take a sip!
As you take your first sip, think about the structure of the wine. It is dry (but we know that already from the label “Brut”), with a soft but full mousse and a full body for champagne. It also has a high acidity which makes it great for a variety of food pairings. I also noticed that the champagne had a smooth creaminess to it and a round, supple mouth-feel to it, leading me to wonder if the wine saw oak before going into the bottle. Now take another sip and think about what you taste. At first I tasted a few distinct flavors. The first flavor was a tart lemon, followed by the creaminess of an oaked chardonnay, followed by the nutty breadiness of the autolysis which carried through most of the long finish. Along with that French Toast-like quality, the finish developed a hint of candied lemon peel.
Now for the interesting part: over the years I have had a massive number of sparkling wines, but this was the first champagne I’ve ever had that actually changed with air. As the wine opened up, the line between the lemon and the creamy bread blurred drastically and in its place emerged a distinct taste of dried apricots. This change not only happened on the palate but also in the nose. The champagne continued to open and developed hints of tropical fruit, especially pineapple.
All in all I really enjoyed this bottle. I like the flavors and the body and acidity make it very good for pairing with foods like pork, poultry and meaty seafood like swordfish and lobster tails. However the lack of tart citrus flavors or minerality would hinder its pairing with light seafood and shellfish like oysters and crabs. As for New Year’s, this would be a great bottle for the count-down: while it isn’t the lightest or most refreshing bubbly out there, its flavor increases and deepens with air. In other words, as you are watching the ball drop, it’s breathing and will taste better in the new year. While at around $35 to $40 a bottle, this isn’t necessarily the best choice for serving if you’re hosting a large party, but for a small group, it is a great champagne that will have you and your friends remembering the evening for a long time to come.
HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!
