Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Choosing the Right Champagne
Aired December 31, 2001 - 06:22 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.
TOM HAYNES, CNN ANCHOR: Well maybe you guys don't know your Brut from your Asti but you'd still like to sip a good champagne to celebrate the New Year, wouldn't you?
Well Maureen Petrosky is here to help us out, she's a certified Somieler, and she has some tips on picking just the right bubbly.
Thanks a lot for being here this morning.
MAUREEN PETROSKY, WINE EXPERT: Thanks for having me.
HAYNES: It's an appropriate topic for today. You know I can't tell the difference between like a $10 bottle of champagne and a $100 bottle of Dom Perignon.
PETROSKY: Well then don't spend a $100. Most people don't know the difference so there's lots of options for you out there and that's what we're here to talk about now.
HAYNES: Well, when I go out to buy champagne, I have like no idea what to look for. I mean when I go to buy wine, at least the labels look pretty and you can tell like a good red from a good white. What about champagne?
PETROSKY: Well the difference is champagne has to come from Champagne, France, so those are going to be your more expensive sparkling wines. Anything outside of that region is a sparkling wine, and those are going to be lower priced. If you like something dry, not sweet, you're going to look for Brut. If you want something that's sweeter, maybe an Asti or a Mascoto (ph) or something like that.
HAYNES: Can you do things to your champagnes? I mean you don't have to drink it like straight up, do you, you can flavor them? What's some different...
PETROSKY: Sure.
HAYNES: ... kinds of things we can do with champagne?
PETROSKY: Well, if you're going to flavor them, mix them maybe with orange juice or peach schnapps, something like that. You're going to want to buy a lower priced champagne because you then are taking away from the quality of the champagne. You can make any kind of cocktails, mimosas, things like that.
HAYNES: I'm going to be honest with you, when I drink a glass of champagne, I get -- and I don't mean to be silly here, but I get a buzz faster than when I drink wine. Does champagne have more alcohol content in it?
PETROSKY: No, not necessarily. A big red wine is going to have more alcohol content. Some people have an adverse affect to sparkling wine, the bubbly in there, the carbon dioxide, and they tend to think they get a little more buzz faster.
HAYNES: Now let's talk about like opening a bottle of champagne,...
PETROSKY: OK.
HAYNES: ... because I know when I try to open a bottle of champagne, it's ridiculous like.
PETROSKY: Well sometimes it can be difficult because there is a lot of pressure in this bottle so...
HAYNES: Yes.
PETROSKY: ... you want to be very careful.
HAYNES: OK.
PETROSKY: First we're going to take the foil off, and most bottles of champagne have this tab,...
HAYNES: There's like a little tab to do it, right?
PETROSKY: ... so you'll just follow that right around.
HAYNES: Do all bottles have that or?
PETROSKY: Not all bottles.
HAYNES: Like the cheap bottles have it. Dom Perignon, if you don't know how to open it, you don't belong drinking Dom Perignon?
PETROSKY: Well, not necessarily, everyone deserves to have a little. But you -- if not, you're just going to use your wine key...
HAYNES: OK.
PETROSKY: ... and use the knife on that.
HAYNES: Then there's a little screw there.
PETROSKY: Then here we have the cage,...
HAYNES: All right.
PETROSKY: ... and we're going to unscrew this. And always keeping pressure on as soon as you remove that foil...
HAYNES: Right.
PETROSKY: ... because this could go at any time.
HAYNES: I was going to say,...
PETROSKY: So we'll take...
HAYNES: ... you don't make the connections, necessarily, between champagne and safety, but this can really hurt someone, can't it?
PETROSKY: Yes, if you're not careful.
HAYNES: Right.
PETROSKY: Then the next thing is you want to turn the bottle. I have a napkin here, a serviette, so that it will catch that cork...
HAYNES: OK.
PETROSKY: ... if in fact it does come flying at me. It's going to be safer than just my hands.
HAYNES: So you don't want to actually hold the champagne out and pop that cork, do you?
PETROSKY: Well, if it's a festive occasion and a $3 bottle, that's fine. But if you're going to by something, especially for a special occasion, like tonight, we're going to have -- this is a $30 bottle of champagne so we're going to try to keep most of it in the bottle.
HAYNES: OK.
PETROSKY: And we are going to turn the bottle...
HAYNES: It's on special, too.
PETROSKY: Yes. ... and not the cork. And keeping -- plying pressure the whole time because these mushroom corks, and that's what you want.
HAYNES: Wow. That wasn't very festive, though.
PETROSKY: No, not too festive, but that's the way...
HAYNES: I only heard a little hum (ph).
PETROSKY: That's what you want.
HAYNES: OK.
PETROSKY: That's what you want. You want to keep your champagne in your bottle. You don't want to...
HAYNES: Now tell us how to pour it.
PETROSKY: OK, well I have a couple of different glasses here.
HAYNES: All right.
PETROSKY: This is a trumpet style glass, this is a Waterford special.
HAYNES: It's Waterford, yes.
PETROSKY: And then this is a dark colored glass. I brought this to say both of these are beautiful, but if you're looking at your champagne and you really want to see if it's good and...
HAYNES: Yes, and if you're really going to let your hair down, chances are you don't want to be drinking out of Waterford.
PETROSKY: Exactly. So here we go. And first thing you're going to do is prime your glass.
HAYNES: OK, what does that mean?
PETROSKY: So priming means we're going to pour a one-ounce pour first...
HAYNES: OK.
PETROSKY: ... and let that as the mousse...
HAYNES: Right.
PETROSKY: ... settles. That's going to...
HAYNES: Which is the froth at the top, right?
PETROSKY: Exactly.
HAYNES: OK.
PETROSKY: That's going to avoid the champagne from overflowing.
HAYNES: OK.
PETROSKY: Once people pour a glass of champagne, they don't know...
HAYNES: It's going to go all over your hand and then it's going to be a big disaster.
PETROSKY: ... when to stop, and often it goes outside of the glass.
HAYNES: OK, so you've got a little bit in there.
PETROSKY: And then you can -- that's a one-ounce pour.
HAYNES: All right.
PETROSKY: And then you're going to finish off. And the reason we have these clear, unadorned glasses is so that we can actually see the bubbles that are in that glass, and that's what ...
HAYNES: OK.
PETROSKY: ... you judge your champagne on.
HAYNES: I'm already thinking New Year's.
PETROSKY: You can see the color. There you go.
HAYNES: Very nice.
Maureen Petrosky,...
PETROSKY: Cheers.
HAYNES: ... cheers. Happy New Year.
PETROSKY: Happy New Year.
HAYNES: Thanks a lot for joining us.
PETROSKY: Thanks for having me.
HAYNES: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
