The announcement was made this month that the INAO, the institute that governs the appellation controlee system of vineyards and vine-growing in France, has authorized the expansion of the areas that may legitimately call themselves part of Champagne.

You must understand: This is a HUGE BIG DEAL. This NEVER HAPPENS.

The region in north-central France where the world’s best and best-known sparkling wines are made — and which alone should be entitled to the name “champagne” — was rigorously limited to 319 villages by the INAO in 1927. This recent addition of 38 villages or communes is unprecedented. The motivation lies in the increasing demand for champagne all over the world, but especially in Russia and China, those wondrous realms of new wealth. Between 2006 and 2007, sales of champagne increased 41 percent in Russian; in five years, sales of champagne have increased in China by 30 percent. There’s not enough to go around.

The INAO tentatively addressed the problem of supply and demand in 2006 by allowing, on an experimental basis, for the grape yield per hectare (about 2.47 acres) to increase from 13,000 kilos to 15,500 kilos, though the increase is supposed to be held in grower’s tanks in reserve in the event of disease, hail, frost or bad harvests. Still, evidence both historical and contemporary shows that in many cases increasing yields in vineyards (taking into account such factors as density of vines and canopy management) can result in lower quality wine.

As “TimesOnLine,” the website of The London Times said on March 14, “Permission to make champagne is almost a license to print money,” and not only because the luxurious effervescent beverage is so much in demand. Land that was previously outside the allowed areas of Champagne may increase in value as much as 200 times. Gilles Flutet, who is in charge of demarcation at INAO, was quoted in many sources as saying: “If your vines fall on the wrong side of the divide, they will be worth 5,000 euros a hectare. On the other side they will be worth a million euros.” License to print money indeed. We understand why communes have petitioned and filed law suits for years in their attempts to join the Magic Circle of Real Champagne Farmers or at least for the chance to sell their land. The fact that new law suits are being filed by land-owners and communes not admitted in the expansion — in other words, the losers — emphasizes how serious the fiduciary aspects of the situation are.

I hate to sound cynical. Obviously the INAO has spent a great deal of time researching the quality of the soil and the character of the land in the newly permitted communes, as well as the history and traditions and micro-climates of the anointed areas. In the United States, however, we have seen too often how political and commercial is the system that grants official American Viticultural Area status to regions that seem to have no real viticultural value other than the exigencies of local geography and the influence of local growers, winemakers and legislators. It would be a miracle if the INAO were immune to similar pressure. In all the stories I have read about the decision, no one is quoted as saying, “We’re doing this for the glory of our beloved Champagne region.”

It will be 10 years before grapes and juice from the 38 communes make their slow way through the traditional champagne method into bottles and thence onto the world’s retail shelves. By then, we might not care. Go ahead, throw a few more villages into the mix. Will the Russians and Chinese be able to tell the difference?

Image from istockphoto.com.

Now we come to the end of our champagne and sparkling wine celebration of The Twelve Days of Christmas. In Merry Old England, at least, Twelfth Night was a night of bonfires and wassailing. In fact, according to the Julian Calendar, which was used in England until 1752 (though abandoned by the rest of Europe in 1582), January 5 was the Old Christmas Day. In any case, from Roman times, this was a day of revels, and appropriately, Shakespeare’s pay Twelfth Night, or What You Will, one of his most engaging and romantic comedies of misadventure, mistaken identity and crossed love, was written to be performed during Twelfth Night festivities.

Our concern, however, is with the effervescence providing by champagne and sparkling wine, and for this, our final post in this series, I’m going to provide six choices of bubbly products (in order of ascending price) for your own festivities (this eve or any time), so, with no further ado — and much ado about something — here ’tis, though with briefer descriptions than previous entries

*Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs 2004, California. The B de B is always Schramsberg’s most delightful, lilting sparkling wine. For 2004, this 100 percent chardonnay sparkler is notably fresh, clean and attractive; it offers notes of green apple, orange zest and roasted lemon with touches of fresh biscuits, toast and almond skin. It’s full-bodied and lush but energized by crisp acid and limestone elements. Great as an aperitif and with light appetizers. Excellent. About $35.

*Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut. Wow, this is great! Made from 100% chardonnay grapes, the Gimmonet B de B Brut is unusually ripe and fleshy, spicy, macerated, bursting with pear and lemon, almond blossom and acacia flower; it’s incredibly fresh and clean and crisp, scintillating with acid and minerals. Tremendously appealing. Excellent. About $45 to $55. A Terry Theise Estate Selection for Michael Skurnick Wines, Syosset, N.Y.

*Gosset Grande Reserve Brut. Made from 54 percent red grapes (pinot noir and pinot meunier) and 46 percent chardonnay, all from Grand and Premier Cru vineyards, Gosset’s Grande Reserve is an elegant and luscious blond beauty, subtle yet zesty, tremendously appealing and impeccably balanced among mandarin orange and Meyer lemon flavors; toasty, yeasty elements; limestone qualities; and crystalline acid. Excellent. About $63. Palm Bay Imports, Boca Raton, Florida.

*Bruno Paillard Premiere Cuvée Rosé Brut. This rose is a blend of 85 percent pinot noir and 15 percent chardonnay. The style here balances touches of macerated dried red fruit with tremendous energy, power and weight. The champagne is very dry and crisp, full-bodied, quite toasty and yeasty, packed with dried spice and roasted hazelnuts and limestone. A great effort. Excellent. About $75. Martin Scott Wines, Lake Success, N.Y.

*Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé Brut. All pinot noir, all verve and steel and flaring bubbles in a pale gold color with a ruddy sheen that LL called “cold fireworks.” This is quite dry and austere but rounded out with a trace — I mean a trace — of macerated peach and strawberry and spiced almonds. Mainly, this is about elegance and hauteur and star-power. Excellent. About $80. Laurent-Perrier US, Sausalito, Ca.

*Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle Brut. “This is almost like food,” said LL, and indeed Laurent-Perrier’s Grand Siècle Brut, made from half and half chardonnay and pinot noir from Grand Cru vineyards, is amazingly deep and complex and substantial; no delightful aperitif sparkler, this is a champagne that demands attention and really needs to be consumed with dinner, I mean macaroni and cheese, veal Prince Orloff, lobster thermidor, quenelles of pike, old-fashioned decadent fare. Wheatmeal, almond and apple skin, cinnamon toast, roasted lemon, monumental amounts of toasty bread and limestone, but with a delicate tracery of jasmine and candied lime: All of these qualities add up to a package of wonderful elegance and power. Exceptional. About $110. Laurent-Perrier US, Sausalito, Ca.

Image credit for the costume design of Feste the clown from Twelfth Night: ocw.mit.edu.

One of the world’s most unusual wines is Inniskillin’s Vidal Sparkling Ice Wine, from Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula. Inniskillin, now owned by Constellation Brands, specializes in beautifully-made ice wines made primarily from vidal or riesling grapes, though there’s also a highly unusual ice wine made from cabernet franc that’s deliriously delicious, I mean shiver-inducing, with a piece of dark chocolate.

The Inniskillin Vidal Sparkling Ice Wine 2005 sports a medium gold color with a tinge of brassy-green. The bubbles come not from the traditional champagne method but through the Charmat process of fermentation in a closed chamber to retain carbon dioxide, though you shouldn’t let that worry your pretty little head because the bubbles are constant and lively and true. The wine opens with a burst of pure apple and pear and nectarine, followed by spiced and buttered peaches. Flavors lean toward roasted peaches and apricots with hints of apple skin and orange rind steeped in cloves and cinnamon. The texture is amazing, because for all the crisp acidity and balletic effervescence this is dense, nectar-like, almost viscous from start to finish. Sip this on its own at the end of a meal or with the simplest and least sweet desserts like a plain apple tart or a shortbread cookie. This certainly merits an Excellent rating. Prices range from about $70 to $85 for a half-bottle.

OMIGOD, tomorrow is Twelfth Night, and thus the last entry in our champagne and sparkling wine countdown of The Twelve Days of Christmas! Check back to see how we handle the situation.

Established in 1584, the house of Gosset is the oldest wine producer in Champagne. In those days, however, the wine wasn’t the sparkling product that we know and love today; that process didn’t begin until the late 17th Century, and for 125 years or so the practice of producing a sparkling wine by a second fermentation in the bottle was an inexact and accident-prone science. In any case, the Gosset family was certainly there at the creation of the champagne wine industry.

In 1994, after 410 years of ownership by the same family, Gosset was purchased by the Remy-Cointreau company and Beatrice Cointreau was put in charge, wisely keeping to the same regime of grapes purchased primarily from Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards, barrel fermentation and no malolactic, so the Gosset champagnes retain more than usual vivacity.

Most commentators describe the non-vintage Gosset Brut Excellence as “simple” and insist that the rest of the house’s line-up is something like light-years better, but I found the G.B.E to be not only charming and delightful but edging over into the realm of the truly characterful. The blend of grapes is 45% pinot nor, 42% chardonnay — these chosen from Grand Cru, Premier Cru and other vineyards — and 13% pinot meunier. The color is medium gold; a fountain of tiny bubbles surges upward in a constant stream. The bouquet offers fresh baked biscuits and toast, spiced and roasted lemon and lemon curd and an intriguing touch of candied grapefruit. In the mouth, this champagne is crisp and lively but also not merely minerally with limestone and chalk but earthy and so dense that the texture is almost viscous; you feel an uncommon sense of presence. The finish is long, packed with limestone and spice, and notably austere. This gets an Excellent rating from me. Suggested retail price is about $46, but I have seen the Gosset Brut Excellent discounted on the Internet to $25.

Palm Bay Imports, Boca Raton, Florida.

By the way, the company’s website (here) recommends that the Gosset Brut Excellence would be appropriate for “late morning cocktails,” to which I say, “Right on!” How much better life and work would be if we could take a champagne break at late morning. In fact, the world would probably be a far better place if everybody would drink a glass of champagne at 11:30 a.m.

Tomorrow is the Eleventh Day of Christmas… check back.

Damnit, I love this champagne. “This” is the José Dhondt “Mes Vieilles Vignes” Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut, non-vintage, another of the small houses, the “grower” champagnes, that are earning a great deal of attention now, as opposed to the large major houses whose champagnes often seem to lack individuality. “Mes Vieilles Vignes” means that the vines are old (how old we don’t know); “Grand Cru” means that the grapes came from a very small regulated selection of communes at the top of the vineyard hierarchy in Champagne; “Blanc de Blancs” means that the champagne is made from 100 percent chardonnay grapes.

This medium-gold colored champagne is spectacular, elegant and sleek yet rich and impressively substantial in weight and tone. The bouquet offers baked apple, roasted lemon and lime peel with notes of fresh biscuits and bread. It feels wonderful, suave, supple, resonant and lively with crisp acid; intense and concentrated citrus flavors and dried spice, like cloves and cinnamon toast, are subdued in the face of a monumental tide of limestone and chalk for a finish that’s dry, austere and scintillating. Wonderful stuff. I have seen prices as low as the mid $50s but about $70 is more realistic.

This is a “Champagnes et Villages” selection by Becky Wasserman and The Miller Portfolio, for USA Wine Imports, New York.

A restful day, yet festive in its own right. For 20 years or so, I have prepared on this day, in keeping with Southern tradition, a pot of blackeyed peas with hog jowl and turnip greens. I used to serve this to a large New Year’s Day party but curtailed that strenuous activity a few years ago. Wanting to do something different this year, I made blackeyed pea masala, with plenty of ginger, jalapeno, tumeric and cumin BUT with the hog jowl and greens. It’s pretty tasty, but of course no longer vegetarian.

Though its name looks a bit like a punch-line from an old joke — “Not tonight, honey, I have a migraine” — there’s nothing jokey about the non-vintage A. Margaine Premier Cru Brut. From a small house that makes only about 5,000 cases annually, this mildly flushed gold, bloomingly effervescent blend of 90 percent chardonnay and 10 percent pinot noir — it’s almost a blanc de blancs — offers a wonderful bouquet of focaccia, almond skin and apple skin, roasted lemon with a hint of grapefruit and heaps of limestone. Weight and substance are amazing, yet like all great wines, this displays that heartening paradox of tissues of delicacies — in this case lace-like, glacial acid and skeins of smoky citrus — wrapped in density that’s almost viscous. At the same time, the champagne is so dry, so elegant that it feels as if you’re drinking liquid limestone. Whoa! Absolutely an Excellent rating here. Prices, again, vary widely but settle in mainly at between $42 and $50.

What merits the “Premier Cru” designation on this champagne is the fact that the grapes derive from some of the 38 officially named Premier Cru communes in the Champagne region. There are only 17 “Grand Cru” communes, so a product named “Grand Cru” is rare indeed. There are 301 “cru” communes in the region. Perhaps someday a reorganization of the system will award these designations to separate vineyards rather than entire villages, but such a move would require a monumental overhaul at every physical, psychological and marketing level. Don’t hold your breath.

The A. Magraine Premier Cru Brut is a Terry Theise Estate Selection imported by Michael Skurnick Wines, Syosset, N.Y.

Barring the fact that you might be tossing buckets of bubbly at hordes of giddy revelers — try the Gruet Brut (non-vintage) from New Mexico, a fresh, fruity, biscuity style of sparkling wine (fashioned in the methode champenoise) with lots of crisp acid and limestone, about $14 to $17 — let me offer a couple of impressive products that deliver top quality without reaching for the stratospheric prices of the top-of-the-line cuvées.

A romantic dinner for two tonight would benefit greatly from the elegance and dignity of Schramsberg’s J. Schram Brut 2000, a blend of 80 percent chardonnay and 20 percent pinot noir. Schramsberg, the leading producer of sparkling wine in California, despite increasing (and increasingly better) competition, generally draws grapes from four North Coast counties, in this case Napa (60 percent), Mendocino (20 percent), Sonoma (12 percent) and Marin (8 percent). The result is a recognizable house style for this flagship sparkling wine of terrific substance and character. The color is pale burnished gold with a slight silver tarnish; the bouquet teems with wood smoke, dried spice, quince, roasted lemon and toasted almond skins. This is a very high-toned sparkling wine, structured with vibrant acid, elements of chalk and limestone and so much lip-smacking texture that it feels viscous, almost candied around the edges. The finish, not surprisingly, is dry, minerally, spicy and austere. The rating is Excellent, and the suggested price is about $90. Production is 1,542 cases.

To go in a different direction, and less expensive, that same romantic dinner for two, or a small dinner party, would slide smoothly on the winsome wheels of the Veuve Clicquot Reserve Rosé (non-vintage), a classic French rosé champagne that to its traditional basis of pinot noir grapes (50-55 percent), pinot meunier (15-20 percent) and chardonnay (28-33 percent) adds a balance of 12 percent red wine. The result here is a lovely pale peach-salmon color enlivened by a steady stream of tiny silver bubbles and an attractive bouquet that weaves hints of raspberry, pear and melon with limestone and hints of biscuits and toasted almond. In the mouth, this champagne offers resonant acid and limestone qualities with touches of dried red fruit, fresh bread and cookie dough. Charming and expressive with an Excellent rating. As happens with popular imported champagnes, the range of prices for the Veuve Clicquot Reserve Rosé is astonishing; coastal cities will see prices from about $52 to $62, while in heartland cities the price can go up to $70 and $75.

Or, wait — this is a brilliant idea — serve the Veuve Clicquot Reserve Rosé as aperitif and the J. Schram 2000 with dinner. Everybody will love you.

Since New Year’s Eve is the biggest champagne and sparkling wine night of the year, let me append some tips on proper serving.

1. Champagne and sparkling wine should be served chilled, straight from the refrigerator.

2. They should be consumed in tall “flute” glasses, not the shallow “coupe” glasses said to have been modeled on one of Marie Antoinette’s breasts. I wonder which one.

3. Never try to open a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine with a cork-screw. Strip off the foil capsule and untwist the wire cage that surrounds the cork. With a towel over the bottle, grasp the cork in one hand and the bottom of the bottle in the other. Extract the cork by twisting the bottle, not the cork.

4. Now matter how plastered you are or how much hilarity you anticipate, NEVER push the cork out with your thumbs, hoping for a loud POP, a gush of foam and a cork careening about the room. The pressure inside a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine is enormous, and the cork will rush out at great speed and force, enough to damage an eye.

Two myths about champagne and sparkling wine exploded:
1. Consuming large amounts of champagne does not make you smarter, funnier or sexier. Believe me, I’ve tried. It doesn’t work.
2. Despite all the hype, champagne is not great with caviar, unless it happens to be the very, very driest more exquisitely elegant champagne with the very very best caviar, and already the tab is about $300. In all other cases, super-chilled vodka, straight from the freezer, is truly the best accompaniment to caviar. The Russians knew what they were doing.

The Taltani Brut Taché, non-vintage, is a great deal for the price. A blend of 52 percent chardonnay, 41 percent pinot noir and 7 percent pinot meunier grapes (the traditional grapes of Champagne), the wine derives from the Pyrenees region of Australia’s Victoria (70 percent) and from Tasmania (30 percent). The color is what LL, who knows something about gems and watches and so forth, called “rose gold,” which is to say that it’s like pale salmon-copper with a shimmering pink-silver sheen. The bouquet is a delicate weaving of macerated raspberry and dried orange rind with hints of toasty, biscuity notes. In the mouth, this methode champenoise sparkling wine nicely balances its effervescence with a slightly creamy texture and scintillating acid, subdued citrus flavors and burgeoning elements of limestone and chalk. In a word: delicious. I rate this Very Good+ and a Good Value at about $22.

Look all the way Down Under to Tasmania for the Clover Hill Brut 2003, a blend of 55 percent chardonnay, 39 percent pinot noir and 6 percent pinot meunier. This is a very charming and nicely complex sparkling wine, also methode champenoise, that’s unusually fruity and savory. Scents and flavors of roasted lemon, lemon curd, quince and lime are bolstered by smoky, biscuity elements with backnotes of toffee and cinnamon toast. The limestone and flint really come up in the mouth, adding a slightly formidable touch to ringing acid and a texture that balances lace-like effervescence with the heft of its yeasty, oaky nature. I rate this Tasmanian sparkling wine Excellent. At $32, it’s Worth a Search. especially because, unfortunately, only 200 cases were imported to the United States.

The importer is Goelet Wine Estates, formerly Clos du Val Wine Co. Visit taltarni.com.au.

On The Seventh Day of Christmas? Whoa, that’s New Year’s Eve! You’ll have to check back tomorrow.

I’ve tasted other champagnes from the well-run house of Bruno Paillard, but for whatever reason had not tried their Rèserve Privée Blanc de Blancs, non-vintage, before. Boy, am I glad I did.

Made completely from chardonnay grapes, this utterly elegant and refined Blanc de Blancs offers a radiant pale gold color enlivened by a persistent swirling surge of tiny bubbles. The bouquet wreathes limestone, roasted quince and pear, almond skin and lightly buttered toast. It’s a well-integrated champagne that finds perfect equilibrium among mature notes of wheatmeal and caramel, a light gloss of citrus flavors, resonant acid and a powerful limestone element that dominates the long, spicy finish. Clearly a rating of Excellent is merited here. The suggested retail price is $70

Imported by Martin Scott Wines, Lake Success, N.Y.

On the Sixth Day of Christmas? Sorry, you’ll have to check back tomorrow.

A great movement is afoot to extol the virtues of artisan-made champagnes from small, family-owned firms, and I’ll admit that I’m a sucker for the concept, not just because of the notions of authenticity and integrity involved but because the examples I have encountered recently express a great deal of character and individuality.

Packed with those qualities is the Chartogne-Taillet Brut Cuvée Sainte-Anne, a nonvintage blend of about 50 percent each chardonnay and pinot noir. I tasted this champagne twice in the past two weeks and was taken with it each time. The color is medium gold with a blush of brass; tiny bubbles rush upward in a constant and consistent fountain. The bouquet offers apple, quince and lemon with hints of macerated stone fruit, almond and almond blossom, all of this enveloped in a toasty-biscuity melange. See what I mean? It’s a champagne of dignity and effervescent elegance, though quite substantial, and features crisp acid, touches of baking spice and wheatmeal, flavors of citrus and roasted lemon, and a vast limestone-laced finish. Yikes, I certainly rate this one Excellent.

It’s a Terry Theise Estate Selection, imported by Michael Skurnick Wines, Syosset, N.Y.

Prices are all over the freakin’ map for this champagne. It costs about $50 in Memphis, but can easily be found on the Internet for anywhere from $26 to $40.

On The Fifth Day of Christmas … well, you have to check back tomorrow.