Who said that only wine harmonizes with pasta and pasta in general? Champagne, if well selected, also brings a very pleasant harmonization to a dish with dough and a sauce and you should choose the drink according to the type of sauce you make to accompany the dough.
After all, when we talk about parties and celebrations in general, good champagne always falls well and we can combine it with the meal that will be served.
Knowing how to harmonize this drink with a starter properly, the main course and a dessert can cause a unique experience in your taste buds, because believe me, making a certain meal with the correct type of champagne that harmonizes perfectly to the dish completely changes the taste of everything that is in your mouth.
For those who do not know, champagne is made from three grapes, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay and, unlike the wine process, it goes through a second fermentation called Champenoise (also known as traditional method or classic method), which is carried out already with the drink inside the bottle.
And, when having the first contact with some champagne, you will be able to observe aspects such as age and type according to the variation that there is between the different shades, for example, there are champagnes of light yellow and crystalline color up to a strong and intense golden. In addition, all this drinks have pimples, usually small and quite abundant.
A very important thing that you should observe and pay attention to when serving champagne is the glass. First, it must be completely clean, without soap or detergent residues, because if there is, the bubbles mentioned above will not form.
Understand the aromas that each type of champagne has, in this way, you will know exactly which one should harmonize with a certain kind of starter, main course and dessert. And also, do not forget to observe if it is drier or sweeter, as there are several versions, which also influences harmonization time.
Briefly understand the labels on this kind of bottles:
- Blanc de Blancs: it is a white champagne made only with white grapes, whether a blend or varietal;
- Blanc de noirs: it is a white champagne made only with red grapes, whether a blend or varietal;
- Vintage: it is a type of champagne very rare and difficult to find, as it is safrado and made only in specific years;
- Not vintage: it is the traditional type of champagne, as it is not saffron, that is, it is made from the mixture of different grapes of different vintages. Despite this, each Maison has a unique style of ‘recipe’ for making this drink.
Now that you are already able to understand the labels, let’s know the different types of sweetness:
- Nature: it is the driest there is, as it has only 3 grams of sugar per liter;
- Brut: it is dry and has a more balanced taste, as it has about 8 to 15 grams of sugar per liter.
- Extra Brut: this is sweeter than Nature but drier than Brut and has in its Formula about 3 to 8 grams of sugar per liter.
- Sec: it is sweeter than Brut, despite the name, and has a variation of 15 to 20 grams of sugar per liter.
- Demi-sec: this is much sweeter than the above and has about 20 to 60 grams of sugar per liter.
- Doux: this is the sweetest type of all and features more than 60 grams of sugar per liter.
How to harmonize champagne with starter, main course and dessert
Now that you know how to differentiate each type of champagne, see how easy it is to blend them in a dinner with starter, main course with different types of sauce and dessert.
Entry
The starters should always be light because they are the beginning of the meal, so for an entry with salad, the ideal is a champagne brut.
Now, if the entree is with meat, you can harmonize with a champagne rosé Pinot Noir.
Main course
Regardless of the pasta, you will serve with champagne, because this is a light drink, you should also do pasta with a light sauce. In this way, if the sauce is more aromatic and less full-bodied, serve with very aromatic vintage champagne. If the sauce is a little greasy, fill it with more acidic champagne of the Blanc Noir type.
Dessert
And finally, when serving a dessert, such as petit gateau with cream ice cream, a thousand leaves with vanilla cream or even a cheesecake, harmonize with a demi-sec champagne.
You can also meet and enjoy these delicious varieties at American Pasta
