It is said that about 1680 in a French monastery Dom Perignon made a great discovery. He called to his fellow monks, "Come quickly! I am drinking stars!"
The spirited exclamation may well be more of a 17th century advertising slogan instead of an actual event, but it does describe the experience of sparkling wine.
Developed over the centuries in the Champagne region of France, only sparkling wine from that region can properly be called Champagne, although the word has become generic and the wine an icon of celebration.
If you are celebrating the New Year with the bubbly, choose the right bottle and the right glass.
For the glass, choose a perfectly clean crystal, either a flute (tall and thin with a long stem) or a tulip (a wider base with stem). Hold the glass by the stem to avoid transferring heat from your hands to the wine.
Bottle size matters. A standard bottle will give about 5 glasses. A larger bottle, say a Magnum, gives about 12 glasses. For big parties and dramatic displays, champagnes come in all sorts of sizes.
The Jeroboam has the equivalent of four standard bottles, or 24 flutes of champagne, according to Pepites-en-champagne.
Still larger, the Rehoboam contains 6 bottles or 36 flutes. The dramatic Methuselah contains 8 bottles or 48 flutes.
One of the largest bottles is the Melchiesedech, which contains 40 bottles, or 240 flutes.
Interestingly, the larger bottles are said to provide a more flavorful sparkling wine.
