CQ's Wine Guide to France Part 2: Champagne

Classification

1. 17 Grand Cru vineyards
2. Tete de Cuvee is the top quality wine for each producer
3. Grower bottlers v. Grand Marques

Five areas of major production

1. Montagne de Reims – mostly Pinot Noir
2. Cote de Sezanne – mostly Chardonnay
3. Cote de Blancs – mostly Chardonnay
4. Valley of the Marne – all three grapes, but mostly Pinot Meunier
5. Aube – mostly Pinot Noir
   
   

Segura Viudas Brut Reserva: House Wine of the Majestic

I've been asked many times by friends and acquaintances alike about my house wine of choice. Since I have three certificates in wine studies, and I've worked in some pretty fancy restaurants, I think people are sometimes disappointed and/or shocked by my answer. Undoubtedly, it's a bottle that retails for around $6.99: Segura Viudas Brut Reserva. It's kind of a little secret and I always am excited to tell folks that the bottle costs as little as it does after they have told me how much they are enjoying it. I think I've paid an awful lot money to unabashedly be able to enjoy cheap wine and to let everyone around me know that I think it's ok to drink cheap wine too. To a great extent, all of those educational expenses have made me feel entitled to my opinion! Sadly, it seems that cultural bias and wine snobbery dictate that the quality of a wine (and it's drinker) be judged by the price that one pays for what's in the glass. In the case of the bubbly category this is grossly exaggerated. That's why it's so refreshing to find something like this humble Cava that really delivers for the price.