Cheers! Selecting Champagne for Your Wedding

By Lisa Beth Miller

The champagne toast is a traditional part of most wedding receptions. It is a time to honor the newly married couple and celebrate their official union with an elegant and luxurious bit of the bubbly.

But do you truly understand how to select a champagne for the toast? Here are some basics. There are four basic types of champagne.

NV means the champagne is a nonvintage and is blended from several vineyards and harvests. For a champagne to be considered vintage, at least 80% of the grapes in the blend must have been harvested in the same season at a single vineyard.

Rosè means that the champagne blend contains a bit of red wine or macerated red grape skins, giving it a pink color.

Blanc de blancs are champagnes made only from chardonnay grapes, giving it a light and delicate taste.

Blanc de noirs are champagnes made only from black grapes and are more robust.

Once you have selected the type of bubbly you wish to offer your wedding guests, you will need to consider if you would prefer a dry champagne (for example extra brut, brut, or extra dry) or a sweeter variety (sec, demi-sec, or sweet). Most couples choose something in the middle, such as a slightly sweet and fruity extra dry containing 1.2-2% sugar.

Be sure to sample different types of champagne until you find the one which will be most enjoyable for your guests! For a simple toast, most guests will require a half-glass of champagne, which could certainly be garnished with fruit.

Cheers!