Look beyond the bubbles

Champagne is the one expensive wine all of us drink at some stage, but if you care about wine, be a little wary of many of the basic non-vintage bubblies

What is the most expensive wine most of us will drink? The answer is easy if you think about it. Few of us can afford the Rs10,000 plus bottles of imported wine that we see on restaurant wine lists. And, for the average Indian, it makes no sense to spend as much money on a bottle of wine as we would spend on, say, a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label. The whisky will last for a week or two (or more, if you are an occasional drinker) while the wine must be consumed soon after the bottle is opened.

The very name of champagne is associated with celebrations, so champagne will always have a market(Shutterstock)

The winemaking process of champagne takes at least double the time of an average wine (Shutterstock)

Cristal was created for the Tsar of Russia and rich Russians still buy cases of it

Champagne goes well with most dishes, but not with meat (Shutterstock)

One test of good champagne is to wait till the bubbles diminish. That’s when you try it

Dom Perignon is probably the best value of all high-quality vintage champagnes

Richard Geoffroy changed the world of vintage champagne in 1990

Vincent Chaperon will take over as chief winemaker of Dom Perignon

Moët is by far the world’s leading champagne brand (Shutterstock)

Buy a cheaper still wine rather than a bad non-vintage bubbly (Shutterstock)