Wow, I had no idea this thread was still going! May I venture an opinion or two?
Originally Posted by
Traveltalker
Champagne has been an integral part of celebration for so long. I was on vacation a few weeks ago and got so tired of seeing all these people ordering champagne.
Spot on. It's
everywhere. In retrospect I also realized that I don't favor carbonated drinks of any kind
Probably should have added that to the OP.
Originally Posted by
gfunkdave
Ah oui, zee terroir of zee place imparts a certain je ne sais quoi...
LOL... I don't know if you're channelling Jackie Gleason or Homer Simpson, but it works either way.
Originally Posted by
JeremyS1973
Who says champagne is a marker for special occasions? It is just another wine. It is like saying chardonnay, cabernet, or Scotch for that matter would lose its "specialness" if you drank it every day.
I drink champagne the same way others drink chardonnay. It is my everyday wine of choice.
I enjoy good red wine as often as I can. But people aren't making a big deal out of it everywhere I go. It's the 'big deal' that people make which is at least as annoying as the champagne everywhere. It's presented to me as though I'm supposed to imagine that life is suddenly transformed just because I'm given a glass of lukewarm generic fizz. Nope.
This has spread and spread to the point where I'm just sick of champagne generally and (frankly) look down upon people who drink it all the time thinking they've upgraded their lives to first class.
Originally Posted by
JeremyS1973
"Real" Champagne is any Methode Champenoise sparkling wine. I don't buy into the French protectionist racket when it comes to naming convention. It would be as silly as England trying to stop sweaters not made there from being called Cardigans or Raglans.
Nope the analogy would be with Harris Tweed, or better yet Shetland Wool, which are indeed protected. 'Kobe Beef' is another example: protected at its origin and lied about wildly in the USA. Because you can make money that way.
For my part US champagnes should be called "Champagne-style sparkling wine' but the law is the law and they can call it whatever they want. Note that we do protect (generic!) cheese and ice cream more carefully!
Originally Posted by
aamilesslave
And should we extend this by calling wine blends from other parts of the world Bordeaux, Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, Médoc, Graves, etc.?
Exactly.
Originally Posted by
stimpy
Americans should understand the concept as the US Congress formally declared that Bourbon has to come from Kentucky. If you shop for Bourbon in the UK for instance, they have Jim Beam there that is actually made in the UK. However you will not find the word Bourbon printed anywhere on the bottle.
Yep, might makes right. Now, I don't eat caviar but should any caviar dyed black be named Beluga? Of course not. But why? Just because of the species?