I ALWAYS feel that if you’re having lobster, you should definitely have a wee glass of champagne too. Champagne is actually very food-friendly even though we usually only have it as an aperitif or to partner the occasional canapé.
The grapes grown in the Champagne region are naturally high in acidity, one of the factors that make them so suited to the sparkling wine process. It’s this acidity coupled with champagne’s decadence that makes the wine the perfect partner to Shirley’s lobster and chips. If you were just having takeaway fish and chips, a good Sancerre would work really well as the minerality and acidity in the wine would cut through the fattiness in the batter.
An important factor to consider when choosing your bottle is the percentage of the different grapes in the mix. Some Champagne houses use more Chardonnay, giving the wine elegance and finesse. Others focus on the red grapes, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, resulting in wines with more structure and fruit and a bit more oomph. Oomph is a technical wine term.
A fine choice is the Nicolas Maillart 1er Cru Les Francs de Pieds Blanc de Noirs 2008 Vintage Champagne (Inverarity One to One, £73.99). This amazing wine only uses Pinot Noir grapes from ungrafted vines planted in 1973 in one of the best premier cru sites in the region. The sandy element in the soil allows the use of original (ungrafted) vines which is now very unusual. Most European vines have to be grafted on to American rootstocks to avoid the devastating effects of a wee greenfly called phylloxera vastatrix. In the 19th century, this little aphid ran amok and almost wiped out the whole wine industry by munching on the very tasty vine roots. America came to the rescue with their phylloxera-resistant vines and we’ve been grafting ever since. The wine itself is lush and rich, and works perfectly with lobster.
Another favourite of mine is the Canard-Duchene Brut NV Champagne (Majestic, £19.99). This old house makes wine in the "French style", with the focus very much on the fruit and approachability. The idea is that you should finish the bottle and want to open another. Not a bad idea, especially at that price. Many houses make different styles of wines for different markets. For example, the bottles destined for Russia tend to have a higher sugar content in the dosage than those heading for the UK, where we prefer a drier, more acidic version. I’m happy to stick with the French style. Let’s have another bottle.
Pete Stewart is Glasgow director of Inverarity One to One, 185a Bath Street, Glasgow www.inverarity121.com
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