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American Morning
What Would New Year's Eve be Without a Little Bubbly?
Aired December 31, 2002 - 06:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: So what would New Year's Eve be without a little bubbly? Wine expert Maureen Petrosky is here with us this morning and she brought lots of champagne in and I want you to look who's joined us, Chad Myers.
Can't get this out without Chad running down here.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I have been in Champagna in France so they may be over here. Like I said, if there's a little bit of eperne (ph), you have to come so.
CALLAWAY: So, now, a lot of people feel like they have to spend big bucks to get a good bottle of champagne. That's not always the case, is it?
MAUREEN PETROSKY, WINE EXPERT: No, and especially this year. We have a lot of wine and nothing here on our table is over $35.
CALLAWAY: Really?
PETROSKY: Our most expensive one is, this is $34, and that's even a great deal, bottle for that bottle.
MEYERS: That's a good price on that one. I've seen it...
PETROSKY: Usually it goes closer to about $50. It's about $48.
MEYERS: Yes, I've seen it for 44 bucks at Kroger.
CALLOWAY: Well, where are you shopping? We want to...
PETROSKY: And this is a champagne. This is a traditional champagne from the champagne region of France. And right next to that is another traditional champagne for about $20. So there's two from France.
MEYERS: Champagne meaning it's from France. Sparkling wine is from California, right?
PETROSKY: Sparkling wine is from California.
MEYERS: Don't call me champagne if I came from California, right?
PETROSKY: Right. Well, every region of the world makes their own sparkling wines.
CALLOWAY: Right.
PETROSKY: You know, we've got Russia, Germany, Italy, and we even brought in a Spanish wine. And this is a Kava (ph). This is $7.50 a bottle so.
CALLOWAY: Now obviously your palate is a little bit more sophisticated than mine. So what, you know, do you have a favorite one that you think tastes the best for a good price?
PETROSKY: Well, I think for -- this is an excellent price.
MEYERS: It is.
PETROSKY: We tasted, we popped this bottle yesterday and you can see the bubbles are still there. And this was our...
CALLOWAY: How much was this one?
PETROSKY: $7.50.
CALLOWAY: Oh, my god.
PETROSKY: So, well, I can say $7.50, each market may change a couple dollars more or a couple dollars less.
CALLOWAY: The price of it, right.
MEYERS: Because of taxes, too, right, too, yes?
PETROSKY: Yes.
MEYERS: Of course.
PETROSKY: So we've got a couple things. But this is excellent for the price.
CALLOWAY: So you popped this yesterday and it's still fresh.
PETROSKY: It is.
CALLOWAY: Tell us about some of these gadgets.
PETROSKY: This is...
CALLOWAY: Now obviously this is one of the reasons why it still tastes so good.
PETROSKY: Exactly. This is what's called a clam shell and it just fits right over the top of your bubbly bottle. Now, if you don't have that another option is this is a vacubin (ph). Some people say this sucks the life out of your wine, but really what it's doing is taking oxygen out of that bottle so it's keeping it fresh. And with this or this U.S. can keep your sparkling bubbly fresh for about three days.
CALLOWAY: Now, the way you open it, does that make a difference on how long it will stay fresh?
PETROSKY: Yes, it does. You want to avoid the pop.
CALLOWAY: Oh, that's the fun part.
PETROSKY: Even though the pop is very festive...
MEYERS: Yes, you don't want the pop. That's correct.
PETROSKY: ... you really want to avoid the pop because it depletes the carbon dioxide much faster. So if you want to keep your bubbly strong, you want to avoid the pop, and that just means keeping a lot of pressure on that cork so that it's not going to have any overflow.
CALLOWAY: Right.
MEYERS: Turn it and let it kind of shhhh just a little.
PETROSKY: Right. And you want to always turn the bottle, not the cork, because those mushroom caps have a tendency to break if you're pulling on that cork.
CALLOWAY: Right.
PETROSKY: So that's a good tip also to do.
MEYERS: One question I have, because a lot of people don't know it, sec, demi sec, Brut, extra dry. Could you put them in order for them, for us, so that we know which one's sweet?
PETROSKY: OK, the most, well, there's so many different things, and we even brought another bottle. They've put something out this year. This is called an extra dry riche (ph). So they're throwing new things into the labeling market all the time.
CALLOWAY: Wow.
MEYERS: Yes.
PETROSKY: Brut is going to be dry. So if you want something that's not sweet, something dry, Brut.
MEYERS: That's the driest, brut?
PETROSKY: That's brut.
MEYERS: OK.
PETROSKY: And then there's extra brut, but brut is going to be dry. So like I said, there's a few things out there that may throw you.
MEYERS: OK.
CALLOWAY: And if you want sweet? PETROSKY: Asti, asti spumante is sweet.
MEYERS: Yes. Remember all those commercials, Martini and Rossi us?
PETROSKY: Asti spumante.
MEYERS: Right.
PETROSKY: Exactly. And if you like something sweet...
MEYERS: It's like sugar. It's like candy, yes.
PETROSKY: ... Martini and Rossi does make a nice sweet bubbly wine. So, the other things you have mentioned, sec is French and that's dry. And then there's dew. That's sweet. That's French. But you're not going to see a lot of those. The most common ones are going to be brut. Like this is a proseco (ph) so it doesn't have any of that labeling on there. This is Italian. It's going to be dry, but a little bit of fruit. And that's what this extra dry riche is also, dry with a little bit of fruit.
Then we've got something else like this that says blanc de blanc. That's something completely different. That just means it's all chardonnay. So it's going to be a lot lighter bodied. Actually, champagne is made from a red grape normally.
CALLOWAY: Right.
PETROSKY: That's the pinot noir or the pinot munier (ph) and it gives it that body.
CALLOWAY: Right.
PETROSKY: So if you see blanc de blanc, that's going to be a little bit lighter.
MEYERS: Now, this, the vouvre (ph) over here is, my wife and I's, champagne from our wedding.
PETROSKY: Yes?
MEYERS: I really like that. Is that on the dry scale, the middle scale, where is that?
PETROSKY: That's brut. That's dry.
MEYERS: That's dry?
PETROSKY: That is a dry.
CALLOWAY: This seems relatively sweet.
PETROSKY: This is the crystallina (ph).
CALLOWAY: This doesn't, isn't as -- yes. PETROSKY: This is a cava (ph) so see, even if it says brut on the front of it, the Spanish idea of something dry may be a little different than the French, than the Californias.
CALLOWAY: Right.
MEYERS: Sure. So 10 bucks is enough to spend?
PETROSKY: You can spend 10 bucks...
MEYERS: You don't have to go out and spend 40 bucks to impress somebody?
PETROSKY: Not at all.
CALLOWAY: Hey, Maureen, what's the most you've ever paid for a bottle of champagne?
PETROSKY: Myself?
CALLOWAY: Yes.
PETROSKY: Well, for a special occasion we have spent upwards of $50. But I don't even like to go much over that. I mean there are some bottles out there and a high price doesn't mean that it's a better wine.
CALLOWAY: Right.
PETROSKY: It just means that maybe it's name recognition, that there's going to be -- people may recognize Dom Perignon or people may recognize Vuvclicuv (ph) so they can charge more. Or there's less available and that's going to drive the price up, also.
MEYERS: These are all non-vintages. You're not going to look for a number, a year on these?
PETROSKY: We actually do have a number -- we do have a vintage. I think it's this Gore Ferrer (ph). That's a '94 brew.
MEYERS: OK.
PETROSKY: So a lot of champagne wines and sparkling wines are non-vintage, meaning that they're blends, the best grapes from different vintages, different years that they pick the grapes so.
CALLOWAY: Right.
MEYERS: Great.
CALLOWAY: Well, thank you for bringing all this in, Maureen. It's great. We love it when you come.
MEYERS: Happy New Year.
PETROSKY: Cheers! Happy new years. CALLOWAY: Happy new year to you out there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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Aired December 31, 2002 - 06:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: So what would New Year's Eve be without a little bubbly? Wine expert Maureen Petrosky is here with us this morning and she brought lots of champagne in and I want you to look who's joined us, Chad Myers.
Can't get this out without Chad running down here.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I have been in Champagna in France so they may be over here. Like I said, if there's a little bit of eperne (ph), you have to come so.
CALLAWAY: So, now, a lot of people feel like they have to spend big bucks to get a good bottle of champagne. That's not always the case, is it?
MAUREEN PETROSKY, WINE EXPERT: No, and especially this year. We have a lot of wine and nothing here on our table is over $35.
CALLAWAY: Really?
PETROSKY: Our most expensive one is, this is $34, and that's even a great deal, bottle for that bottle.
MEYERS: That's a good price on that one. I've seen it...
PETROSKY: Usually it goes closer to about $50. It's about $48.
MEYERS: Yes, I've seen it for 44 bucks at Kroger.
CALLOWAY: Well, where are you shopping? We want to...
PETROSKY: And this is a champagne. This is a traditional champagne from the champagne region of France. And right next to that is another traditional champagne for about $20. So there's two from France.
MEYERS: Champagne meaning it's from France. Sparkling wine is from California, right?
PETROSKY: Sparkling wine is from California.
MEYERS: Don't call me champagne if I came from California, right?
PETROSKY: Right. Well, every region of the world makes their own sparkling wines.
CALLOWAY: Right.
PETROSKY: You know, we've got Russia, Germany, Italy, and we even brought in a Spanish wine. And this is a Kava (ph). This is $7.50 a bottle so.
CALLOWAY: Now obviously your palate is a little bit more sophisticated than mine. So what, you know, do you have a favorite one that you think tastes the best for a good price?
PETROSKY: Well, I think for -- this is an excellent price.
MEYERS: It is.
PETROSKY: We tasted, we popped this bottle yesterday and you can see the bubbles are still there. And this was our...
CALLOWAY: How much was this one?
PETROSKY: $7.50.
CALLOWAY: Oh, my god.
PETROSKY: So, well, I can say $7.50, each market may change a couple dollars more or a couple dollars less.
CALLOWAY: The price of it, right.
MEYERS: Because of taxes, too, right, too, yes?
PETROSKY: Yes.
MEYERS: Of course.
PETROSKY: So we've got a couple things. But this is excellent for the price.
CALLOWAY: So you popped this yesterday and it's still fresh.
PETROSKY: It is.
CALLOWAY: Tell us about some of these gadgets.
PETROSKY: This is...
CALLOWAY: Now obviously this is one of the reasons why it still tastes so good.
PETROSKY: Exactly. This is what's called a clam shell and it just fits right over the top of your bubbly bottle. Now, if you don't have that another option is this is a vacubin (ph). Some people say this sucks the life out of your wine, but really what it's doing is taking oxygen out of that bottle so it's keeping it fresh. And with this or this U.S. can keep your sparkling bubbly fresh for about three days.
CALLOWAY: Now, the way you open it, does that make a difference on how long it will stay fresh?
PETROSKY: Yes, it does. You want to avoid the pop.
CALLOWAY: Oh, that's the fun part.
PETROSKY: Even though the pop is very festive...
MEYERS: Yes, you don't want the pop. That's correct.
PETROSKY: ... you really want to avoid the pop because it depletes the carbon dioxide much faster. So if you want to keep your bubbly strong, you want to avoid the pop, and that just means keeping a lot of pressure on that cork so that it's not going to have any overflow.
CALLOWAY: Right.
MEYERS: Turn it and let it kind of shhhh just a little.
PETROSKY: Right. And you want to always turn the bottle, not the cork, because those mushroom caps have a tendency to break if you're pulling on that cork.
CALLOWAY: Right.
PETROSKY: So that's a good tip also to do.
MEYERS: One question I have, because a lot of people don't know it, sec, demi sec, Brut, extra dry. Could you put them in order for them, for us, so that we know which one's sweet?
PETROSKY: OK, the most, well, there's so many different things, and we even brought another bottle. They've put something out this year. This is called an extra dry riche (ph). So they're throwing new things into the labeling market all the time.
CALLOWAY: Wow.
MEYERS: Yes.
PETROSKY: Brut is going to be dry. So if you want something that's not sweet, something dry, Brut.
MEYERS: That's the driest, brut?
PETROSKY: That's brut.
MEYERS: OK.
PETROSKY: And then there's extra brut, but brut is going to be dry. So like I said, there's a few things out there that may throw you.
MEYERS: OK.
CALLOWAY: And if you want sweet? PETROSKY: Asti, asti spumante is sweet.
MEYERS: Yes. Remember all those commercials, Martini and Rossi us?
PETROSKY: Asti spumante.
MEYERS: Right.
PETROSKY: Exactly. And if you like something sweet...
MEYERS: It's like sugar. It's like candy, yes.
PETROSKY: ... Martini and Rossi does make a nice sweet bubbly wine. So, the other things you have mentioned, sec is French and that's dry. And then there's dew. That's sweet. That's French. But you're not going to see a lot of those. The most common ones are going to be brut. Like this is a proseco (ph) so it doesn't have any of that labeling on there. This is Italian. It's going to be dry, but a little bit of fruit. And that's what this extra dry riche is also, dry with a little bit of fruit.
Then we've got something else like this that says blanc de blanc. That's something completely different. That just means it's all chardonnay. So it's going to be a lot lighter bodied. Actually, champagne is made from a red grape normally.
CALLOWAY: Right.
PETROSKY: That's the pinot noir or the pinot munier (ph) and it gives it that body.
CALLOWAY: Right.
PETROSKY: So if you see blanc de blanc, that's going to be a little bit lighter.
MEYERS: Now, this, the vouvre (ph) over here is, my wife and I's, champagne from our wedding.
PETROSKY: Yes?
MEYERS: I really like that. Is that on the dry scale, the middle scale, where is that?
PETROSKY: That's brut. That's dry.
MEYERS: That's dry?
PETROSKY: That is a dry.
CALLOWAY: This seems relatively sweet.
PETROSKY: This is the crystallina (ph).
CALLOWAY: This doesn't, isn't as -- yes. PETROSKY: This is a cava (ph) so see, even if it says brut on the front of it, the Spanish idea of something dry may be a little different than the French, than the Californias.
CALLOWAY: Right.
MEYERS: Sure. So 10 bucks is enough to spend?
PETROSKY: You can spend 10 bucks...
MEYERS: You don't have to go out and spend 40 bucks to impress somebody?
PETROSKY: Not at all.
CALLOWAY: Hey, Maureen, what's the most you've ever paid for a bottle of champagne?
PETROSKY: Myself?
CALLOWAY: Yes.
PETROSKY: Well, for a special occasion we have spent upwards of $50. But I don't even like to go much over that. I mean there are some bottles out there and a high price doesn't mean that it's a better wine.
CALLOWAY: Right.
PETROSKY: It just means that maybe it's name recognition, that there's going to be -- people may recognize Dom Perignon or people may recognize Vuvclicuv (ph) so they can charge more. Or there's less available and that's going to drive the price up, also.
MEYERS: These are all non-vintages. You're not going to look for a number, a year on these?
PETROSKY: We actually do have a number -- we do have a vintage. I think it's this Gore Ferrer (ph). That's a '94 brew.
MEYERS: OK.
PETROSKY: So a lot of champagne wines and sparkling wines are non-vintage, meaning that they're blends, the best grapes from different vintages, different years that they pick the grapes so.
CALLOWAY: Right.
MEYERS: Great.
CALLOWAY: Well, thank you for bringing all this in, Maureen. It's great. We love it when you come.
MEYERS: Happy New Year.
PETROSKY: Cheers! Happy new years. CALLOWAY: Happy new year to you out there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
u
