Nothing says “party” like popping a bottle or two of champagne. When you’re ready to buy champagne on Grand Cayman, Jacques Scott Wines & Spirits offers some fun facts about the bubbly and great tips from our experts.
Jacques Scott Wines & Spirits is known throughout the Caribbean for our huge selection of popular international name brand and hard-to-find wines, beers and spirits. We have six convenient stores to serve you on Grand Cayman, but you can also order online and have your purchases delivered anywhere on Grand Cayman for free! Place your online order before 3:00pm, and we’ll deliver it on the same day (Monday through Saturday).
Shopping for Champagne
Champagne is the name exclusively given to sparkling wines made in the Champagne region of France. The three grape varieties used for champagne (chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier) must be grown there or the beverage can’t legally be called champagne.
Bubbly wines from all other regions are called “sparkling wine.” They include the Spanish sparkling wine called Cava, the Northeast Italian Prosecco and Spumante, and sparkling wines made everywhere from California to Switzerland to Australia.
Sugar is added to all sparkling wines to help level out acidity. To select an appropriate bubbly, choose a sweet variety for dessert or a dry, more acidic variety for your pizza or crab cakes. Brut, Extra Brut, Natural Brut are the dry choices. Demi-Sec, Sec, Extra Sec and Doux are the sweeter choices.
It’s also important to understand “tiers.” “Classic” is an entry level champagne. “Reserve” means it has a little age to it. “Prestige” means it’s been made with top-of-the-line grapes.
The experts at Jacques Scott Wines & Spirits recommend:
Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve Champagne – This highly regarded rosé champagne has notes of pear, baked apples, citrus and biscuits. It suits all occasions, and it will pair perfectly with a multitude of food dishes.
Pol Roger Brut – This elegant champagne is pale gold, has a flowery, delicate fruit aroma, and is creamy and beautifully balanced with a dry, harmonious finish.
Veuve Clicquot Demi-Sec – This is the ideal champagne to serve with fruit-based desserts. Its delicate bubbles and intense aromas of ripe fruit offer the perfect touch of sweetness.
Fun Facts About Champagne
- Champagne emits 30 bubbles per second.
- A rough rule of thumb is the smaller the bubbles, the higher quality the champagne.
- The pressure inside a Champagne bottle is about 90 pounds per square inch, or about three times the amount of pressure inside an average car tire.
- When opening your bottle of champagne, the cork can reach a speed of about 25 miles per hour, so be careful where the bottle is pointing.
- Your bubbly will stay more bubbly when you drink it from a glass called a “flute.”
- According to her biographer, Marilyn Monroe once took a bath in champagne. It took 350 bottles to fill up the tub.
- A famous champagne-lover was the late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who reportedly drank an estimated 42,000 bottles between 1908 and 1965.
If you need more help with buying champagne on Grand Cayman, visit Jacques Scott Wine & Spirits where you’ll enjoy an unparalleled selection and exceptional customer service.
