Bacchus
A Perrier-Jouet lunch is a beautiful thing. Especially when it’s a tasting lunch and you can try their five favorite bubblies on the house. Bottles of Perrier-Jouet champagne range from about $30 to $350, so it’s very much a special occasion drink. It’s generally a bad idea to assume that expensive wine = good wine, but this stuff honestly is very good. Especially the Blanc de Blancs, one of the most expensive: it’s only made in years when the grapes are good enough for this chardonnay-only champagne.
The Blanc de Blancs was developed by Herve Deschamps, Perrier-Jouet’s Chef de Caves for almost twenty years. He clearly knows from elegant, expensive French wines, so I posed this challenge to him: if $15 were his budget, what wine might he choose? Herve gave three options - and none of them French!
Campo Viejo Rioja: A big, very flavorful Spanish red. $14.
Graffigna Malbec: Argentinean, so pair it with meat and other flavorful foods. $10.
Jacob’s Creek Reserve Riesling: A soft wine, but from Australia; very highly rated. $13.
