When
my sisters and I were born my grandparents bought each of us a bottle of
Champagne that we were supposed to save and open at our weddings. Unfortunately
my parents weren't too wine savvy at that time and lacked a decent place to
store any of these bottles so they were left in the kitchen pantry, which
didn't end too well. I know of at least two times when my parents were forced
to secretly replace a ruined bottle, before finally deciding it wasn't really
worth the hassle. My oldest sister, Alicia, and I somehow still had intact
bottles, and luckily my middle sister, Teresa, grew up to be more of a beer
drinker so it didn't seem to bother her. I don’t remember if Alicia opened hers
at her wedding (open bar and I was still drinking liquor back then… it’s a
rather hazy memory altogether), but mine is the only one left.
Since
I’m rather ambivalent about marriage, not to mention way too young (or too old
according to some of my relatives), I've decided waiting for a wedding that
might never happen is just plain silly. So I've decided that my bottle of G.H.
Mumm Carte Classique Extra Dry is getting opened tonight after work. Chances
are it’s not even good, but even a terrible bottle of wine can be good material
for a post. Hurrah for late-night experiments that probably won't end
well!
Later
that night...
I opened the would-be wedding Champagne after getting home tonight
and was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't horribly spoiled.
Had this been the original bottle my grandparents bought when I was born it
probably would have been a much less pleasant experience. Of course you never
know, maybe after being stored in a kitchen pantry for 27 years it would have
had lovely notes of breakfast cereal, uncooked pasta and almost every cooking
spice you can think of.
This
bottle was perfect after a less than stellar week. It’s hard to tell from
the picture, but it’s a really lovely deep golden color. On the nose it has
baked peach and red apple with yeasty characteristics. Smooth and medium-bodied
with flavors of baked pear, dried apricot and orange zest which are quickly
taken over by hints of clove, toasted almond and honeysuckle. The honeysuckle
notes lead flavors of rich honey that coats the mouth before being balanced out
by crisp acidity.
I
really didn't expect much from bottle, so actually enjoying it has
been a pleasant surprise. Even so I doubt this family tradition will be carried
on. I plan on starting a nice collection of birth year and age-worthy wines for
my niece so she can be a classy drunk when she reaches the legal drinking age
(20 years from now). I don’t think she’ll be missing out too much if I don’t include
a NV champagne that’s been kept in rather questionable conditions for 20-plus
years.
