Imperial Brut for a B`day

It was my BIL`s wife`s bday yesterday & it was celebrated in style. We opened a bottle of Champagne. & not just another champagne. Moet & Chandon. This was one of the seven bottles of alcohol that Doctor successfully smuggled into Indian seas from her last trip to Europe. Her friend in UK was apparently presented with this one for an achievement at work. But as she doesn`t indulge in the holy habit of drinking water of life, she passed it over to Doctor.

So the bday was a perfect occasion to uncork the beautiful champagne. Moet & Chandon is a french winery & co-owner of the luxury brand - Louis Vitton. It is one of the world`s largest producers of champagne & also a champagne house. I was curious about a small note on the bottle about it being a supplier to the queen Elizabeth II. Wiki clarifies that M&C holds a royal warrant to supply champagne to Queen Elizabeth II.

I quickly set out to look for some strawberries. Did you know, strawberries & Champagne make a great combination?? If you saw Pretty Woman, you would remember Richard Gere explaining to Julia Roberts that the strawberries bring out the taste of champagne better. But alas, I could not find any in the neighbourhood nilgiris or more or reliance fresh or the food world. What a shame!

Doctor wanted the bday girl to shake uncork the champagne, but I advised against allowing the nectar to be wasted in froth. I am more than willing to shake uncork a local champagne but not this one. M&C produces 4 kinds of champagnes - Imperial Brut, Rose Imperial, Nectar Imperial & Grand Vintage. Impreial Brut is their flagship product. We quietly pop opened the Brut & ummmmah, the vinous aroma started flowing around. It apparently has pears, apples & citrus overtones. No wonder, the aroma. Its infused with butter, gingerbread & lots of vanilla. Is your mouth watering??

A bottle of 750 ml of Brut generally costs around 50 US$ , but if you try to buy it in India it will cost Rs3,400. Thx to duties. Imperial Brut is a blend of three wines Chardonay,Pinot Noir & Pinot Meunier & has about 12% alcohol in every 100 ml. I dont know how old it was in the bottle, but apparently its good if experienced after one year in the bottle. Nevertheless, our share tasted extremely heavanous leaving behind a sense of harmony and mellowness with peach and nectar lingering.

We did not malign the drink with any snacks but just savoured every sip of it. After about two rounds for every one & little more than that for the greedy myself, I was feeling mildly pleasant. I call this state " feeling good" & a close friend of doctor`s calls it "pleasantly tipsy". haha!!

We all moved over to enjoy the dinner!!