Sparkling and white meat

White meat calls for a wine that goes with its tender flesh without masking it. Champagne or Crémant does this with the freshness of a white wine, plus the lift of its bubbles. Your choice depends on the recipe, simple or richer, and then on how many guests you are serving.

Everyday Meals: The Liveliness of a Brut or Extra Brut

For a weeknight roast chicken, a pan-fried cutlet or a pork tenderloin, choose a young Brut or Extra Brut. Low in dosage, they suit savory food and keep your palate fresh until the last bite.

EU rules reserve the term Brut for wines with less than 12 grams of sugar per liter, and Extra Brut for those with 0 to 6 grams. With a simple dish, a Crémant is as good a choice as a Champagne; keep long-aging bottles for richer recipes.

Keep the bottle cold on the table during the meal, in an ice bucket: a sparkling wine that warms up soon loses its liveliness.

Festive Meals: Black Grapes Bring Body to Richer Poultry

A stuffed roast hen, a veal roast in its juices or poultry in a rich sauce calls for more body. Champagne counts two black grapes among the main varieties, Pinot Noir and Meunier, alongside Chardonnay. A Champagne led by these grapes often has more breadth.

Blanc de Noirs, made solely from black grapes, goes further still: choose it for festive poultry. It holds up to the stuffing and the pan juices, so one wine can carry the whole main course.

A Crowd at the Table: The Magnum, Made in Its Own Bottle

For a whole bird or a roast shared among many guests, plan on a magnum: its 1.5 liters equal two standard 750 ml bottles. For Champagne, it is also the largest size for which the appellation requires the wine to be sold in the bottle where it went through its second fermentation.

This rule applies from 75 to 150 centiliters. Below and above that range, half bottles, jeroboams and larger sizes may be filled by transferring the wine once the bubbles have formed. To be sure you serve wine still in its original bottle, open several magnums.

Put magnums in the fridge earlier than a standard bottle: a larger volume takes longer to chill.

Fried, Vinegar or Mustard Chicken: Recipes to Serve with Bubbles

Which sparkling wine goes with fried chicken or cordon bleu?

With fried chicken or cordon bleu, a recent Brut sparkling wine is all you need, Champagne and Crémant alike. These simple dishes don’t need a wine built for aging. The ham and melted cheese in cordon bleu call for a Brut, so skip the Demi-Sec.

Which sparkling wine goes with chicken in vinegar sauce?

With chicken in vinegar sauce, serve a crisp sparkling wine such as Brut Champagne or Crémant de Bourgogne. A sweeter or very mature wine would lose its freshness against such a tangy sauce. If the sauce is finished with cream, a fuller Blanc de Noirs holds up better.

Which Crémant goes with mustard chicken?

With mustard chicken, serve a fairly full-bodied Brut Crémant from Alsace or Burgundy. The mustard adds bite and the cream rounds out the sauce, so the wine needs body without noticeable sweetness. A Champagne made mostly from Pinot Noir also works.

Where can you buy sparkling wine for white meat direct from the winemaker?

You can buy sparkling wine for white meat direct from the winemaker on Avenue des Vins. Each wine’s page names the producer who made it.

See also: White wines and white meat - Blanc de noirs Champagne - Rosé Champagnes