26 August 2010

Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve NV Champagne









As we all know, a very important vote was held at the weekend.

The fortunes of a nation depend on the result, and the campaign saw the candidates give diverse demonstrations both of their knowledge of foreign affairs and of their ability to look good in a Speedo.

But in the end, no matter how close the contest or which way the swingers swing, there can only be one champion of the people - and I, for one, am most pleased with the result.

In a victory for balloon smugglers everywhere, Jimena Navarrete (a.k.a. Miss Mexico) showed herself to be the very worthy winner of the contest which, in more civilised times, was named the
International Pageant of Pulchritude, but which we all now know as the Miss Universe Pageant, 2010.

The interesting thing about the Miss Universe contest (apart from the obvious; and Donald Trump's hair-thing) is that, despite its intergalactic ambit, the Earthling gals so far have an extraordinary rate of success. Also, the English have never produced a winner. Who says that Americans have no taste.

All of this brings me rather loosely to the subject of this week's missive - champagne. Ms Navarrete was drinking it to celebrate, and so was I.

I couldn't tell what brand she was drinking, but I was into some Billecart-Salmon Brut NV. So, let's run with that.

The first thing to clear up is that, despite the slightly confusing connotation in its name, this is not a rosé. The Billecart boys do make one of those as well - and a famous one at that - but I'll leave that for another time.

One attribute I don't share with Sinatra - and there are only a couple - is that I do, happily, get a nice little kick out of champagne. But only the good stuff. And this gear is great.

Alive with brilliant, sparkle and tight effervescence, it's enough to turn any occasion into a celebration.

It smells like hot apple pie in buttery pastry. It's richly flavoured, but also clean, and incredibly crisp.

It's just what you're after, any time of the day or night.

Yum. Yum. Yum-Yum-Yum.

Keeping in mind that eating is cheating, we ensured that the bottle was fully devoured before making it out to dinner. But, equally, I think it would also stand up nicely with food - something from the sea would be the obvious choice.

As we all know, things are always better when someone else pays - especially at this price. And so I pass on my thanks, and hearty congratulations, to the good friends who so unparsimoniously stumped up for this bottle.
Rating: 8.99/10
Drink with: A smile
Price: $65

2 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. not sure...it wasn't me...strange..

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