In California it is easy to learn about wine as you are surrounded by it. It is a part of our agricultural make-up. Plus growing up in a family that had Italian food roots there was wine on every holiday dinner table.  I remember being around champagne...actually my first champagne experience happened at a New Years Eve party at the ripe 'ol age of 3, hmmm.




It is a wondrous thing when people leave their glasses on a coffee table that you can actually reach and since I wasn't a shy child I thought everything belonged to me...including other peoples champagne glasses. As the legend goes, after downing a few glasses, I was doing "twirls" in the middle of the room in my party dress. Oopsie... Unfortunately I do not remember the brand of the champagne from that night or the vintage. And that has pretty much been the way my champagne education has gone, up until recently...it usually consisted of mimosas, champagne on New Years and a few other random occasions...weddings, bridal showers, etc. And it always ended with doing twirls in my party dress at the end of the night, champagne with unknown names and unknown vintages...I am joking...sort of.

Recently I have had the pleasure of learning more about champagne. I had my first champagne and caviar experience in Las Vegas a few months ago and it was breathtaking, as if I had walked into a new and wondrous world. I also had my first Cristal champagne experience in Phoenix not too long ago...also an eye opening event.

And most recently I had the pleasure of experiencing Duval Leroy Champagne at Bellavino in Thousand Oaks. This line of champagne completely changed the way I view champagne as this champagne was not too dry or too sweet or have that "bitter" kick at the end of it. It was truly very smooth, refreshing and easy to drink. Sure it probably helped that I could listen to Pierre's accent all night long, but no seriously the champagne was amazing. And yes his name really was Pierre! Actually on Thanksgiving I opened a bottle of Duval Leroy in the morning and we all tasted it and then we went to mimosas and it was just too disappointing...I have seriously been spoiled now.

Duval Leroy is well from France in the Champagne region...figured you probably could have guessed that part. However, it has been around since 1859 and it is one of the few champagne establishments that are still 100% family owned. It also has a female owner and a female winemaker which makes it even more unique.

It is hard to tell but the Eiffel Tower is on this bottle

The company definitely has champagne making to a science. Pierre was telling us that the champagne was aged for 18 hours and I thought for sure there was a translation issue, however the only translation issue was mine. As they are so conscientious with their champagnes that they do age some of their varietals for 18 hours, tasting it regularly to ensure that they are getting the flavors out of the grapes that they are looking for. He did say that depending on the crop sometimes it is 16 hours and sometimes it is 18 1/2 hours. However, I pretty much decided that is the job I want.

The champagne is made from chardonnay, pinot noir and meunier grapes. We tasted 4 different varietals and each of the champagnes had a slightly different flavor palette, but all were equally smooth, enjoyable and creamy. Here is the link to view their champagne menu: http://www.duval-leroy.com/rubrique.php?id_rubrique=77&id_parent=2&titre=Range%20of%20wines

Bellavino Appetizers

Bellavino will be doing a champagne event on December 6th if you are interested in trying it. They also have great food, a fun atmosphere and an eclectic wine list. Here is their web page: http://www.bellavinowinebar.com/

If you are local you can purchase the champagne at Bellavino's retail shop or you can buy it on-line at www.bevmo.com. And honestly the price point is not outrageous at all. The champagne is light enough that it could easily be paired with a fish dish or a light pasta dish. I definitely recommend it!! Cheers!!