Food & Occasion

Potée champenoise, a stew of pork, cabbage, potatoes and carrots, pairs well with Champagne from the Marne Valley. The dish is salty and rich, and that is exactly the balance a Meunier Champagne offers: its fruit meets the meat, while the bubbles lift the fat from the palate.

The cheeses of the wider Champagne region belong here too. The soft, creamy Chaource from the Aube, the robust Langres with its orange rind, and Brie de Meaux are classic companions. Their richness and pungency call for acidity and carbonation, and a Champagne with a brioche note echoes the rind and milkiness of the cheese.

A Champagne with little dosage, such as an Extra Brut, can be served with fish and seafood. Its taut acidity refreshes, and its chalky note suits oysters and pan-fried white fish well. Roast poultry in a cream sauce also pairs nicely with a rounder Meunier Champagne, since its fruit carries the sauce while the bubbles lighten it.

Occasions are mostly festive. Weddings, christenings and anniversaries count as classic Champagne celebrations, along with New Year's Eve. In the valley's villages, people also celebrate the end of harvest, once the presses stand idle and the first must rests in the barrel.

One tradition is sabrage, opening a bottle with a saber. Legend traces it to Napoleon's hussars, who opened bottles from the saddle. Whether this is true is unproven; today it survives as a performance at celebrations rather than an everyday act.