How To Serve Champagne Throughout An Entire Meal

Is there anything more luxurious than quaffing a glass of champagne? Sparkling wines such as Italian prosecco or Spanish cava and French champagne are a delicious aperitifs, perfect for whetting the appetite, or as an end-of-meal digestif to settle the stomach. But they also go very well with the main meal too. 

That’s right, champagne isn’t just a drink to be consumed when celebrating. Champagne is a wine that’s capable of holding its own at any time of the day or night, with pretty much any meal. Bringing out the flavor of the food it's partnering. 

Whether you prefer prosecco or champagne, it doesn’t matter. Sparkling wines make a fantastic accompaniment to food. 

But which foods work best? Where does the balance lie between the delicate, refreshing bubbles of a bottle of sparkling wine and a plate of food?

While sparkling wines can in themselves contain incredibly complex flavors, when paired with food, they come alive, adding a layer of versatility to a meal that might otherwise be lacking a certain je ne sais quoi. 

Plus, serving champagne makes matters simple for the host - there is no need to find other wines to pair with the offerings when you can just serve champagne throughout.

Pairing food and champagne

Appetisers

Appetizers, those little plates of nibbles that are passed around before sitting down work wonderfully well accompanied by a glass of champagne - titillating little nibbles to tantalize the taste buds, washed down with tiny bubbles. 

Match a Blanc de Blancs with mini cheese tartlets, goat cheese, and red pepper, or blinis topped with smoked salmon or caviar. 

Caviar and champagne is the ultimate in food and wine pairing. The salty pungency of caviar balances beautifully with a crisp, delicate champagne. The younger the champagne the better here, as anything vintage could overpower the caviar. 

Starters

Champagne works well with most starters. From seafood to charcuterie, champagne is the perfect pairing. Serve young champagne with a platter of fresh oysters drizzled in lemon juice, but accompany langoustines slick with butter, hand-dived scallops, or lobster with a more robust champagne, a slightly older, drier vintage with the depth of flavor required to match that of the seafood. 

Charcuterie might not be the first choice that springs to mind to serve with sparkling wine, but the contrast in flavors provides an exciting pairing. Consider slices of cured meats, sweet peppers, tangy gherkins or pâtés en croûte. If you’re going to go with anything stronger than a light pate, you’ll need to serve a glass of vintage champagne to match the strength of the flavor. 

Mains

Serve champagne with a range of mains, from poultry such as chicken or guinea fowl to stronger flavored red meat. A simple roast chicken requires a younger champagne, whereas a more complex meat needs an older brut champagne. 

Red meat on the other hand needs a rose champagne, as it not only complements the flavor of the meat, it's also appealing aesthetically. But don’t think you can only serve fillet steak with champagne. 

Meat stews or casseroles work too. As do non-traditional cuisines such as Chinese or Thai. A sweeter demi-sec will go well with the sweeter notes that these dishes tend to have. 

Dessert

While champagne isn’t renowned for being a wine traditionally served with pudding, a young champagne, a Blanc de Blanc, will work with a light fruit salad, a strawberry tart or a delicate meringue. 

For anything heavier or containing chocolate, an older brut champagne or a demi-sec will lift the meal, ending it on a light note, rather than let it sink. 

Cheese

Champagne and cheese again aren’t the first combination that you might consider, but actually champagne really brings out the flavor in certain cheeses. Camembert, reblochon, brie, or Savoie cheese like Comté happily pair well. 

Avoid anything blue though, that just won’t work with champagne. 

But that’s not all...

Champagne for breakfast, brunch or afternoon tea

Champagne doesn’t need to be reserved until the evening to be enjoyed. Champagne is a wonderful accompaniment at breakfast, brunch or afternoon tea. 

A champagne breakfast can set you up for the day, or a glass of bubbles works well with your smoked salmon and scrambled egg Sunday brunch. Or why not accompany a selection of delicate sandwiches and little cakes for afternoon tea with a bottle of brut non-vintage champagne?

Champagne is such a wonderfully versatile sparkling wine, that you’d be hard-pushed to find something it didn’t work with.