Monday, January 9, 2012

Wine and Champagne


Bond girls are use to eating and drinking the best. Sadly, this is usually because someone else is buying (unless like Tracy, the woman Bond married, you have a rich daddy). So, what's a Bond girl with less disposable income to do? The first thing to do is realize that good wine can be found at reasonable prices. First, you should understand what you are looking for. Are you going to serve it with food? Then you'll want to consider what you are having and choose a wine accordingly. As a rule, white goes with white and red goes with red, meaning that "light" colored foods such as fish and chicken are usually paired with a white wine while "darker" foods like beef need the stronger, robust flavor of a red wine. But as they say, rules were meant to be broken. Choose what tastes best to you. I am by no means an expert, but there are many people out there that are and it may be helpful to go to the bookstore or library and read up on wines so that you'll feel more confident about choosing a wine. What follows is just the tip of the iceberg.

White wine grapes include Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Blanc and Muscat, while some of the better known red grapes are Carbenet Savuignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Zinfandel (Zinfandel can be a red or a white wine). There are many wonderful wines for under $10 a bottle, so don't let price scare you off. Ask some of your friends for their favorites and think about stopping into a wine shop to ask about a good wine in your price range. People who sell wine love to talk about it. For a real thrill, there is nothing like Champagne. The Champagne that Bond drinks, real Champagne as opposed to sparkling wine, only comes from the Champagne region of France. The French are very proud of their wine making, Champagne in particular and have set rules and regulations about everything from the planting of the grapes to the final corking. Only after it has met all these conditions can it be labeled as Champagne. Bond seems to prefer a good Bollinger and can be seen drinking it in more than 11 movies (so far!). If you're going to push the boat out and get the Bollinger, just be prepared for a bit of sticker shock but, from what I'm told, it is well worth it.

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