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| Wine & Spirits |
Magnum Dreams
Tara Weingarten
07/01/2004
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“I drink Champagne when I’m happy and when I’m sad.” So said the legendary
Madame Lily Bollinger, who married into one of the great Champagne houses and
ran it for four decades. In a 1961 interview with the London Daily Mail, she
elaborated: “Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company, I
consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry, and drink it when I
am. Otherwise, I never touch it—unless I’m thirsty.”
 | | THE TITANIC sailed on its star-crossed maiden voyage without a proper
Champagne christening. |
For those among us who
believe that to live is to love Champagne—and I have never met anyone who feels
otherwise—it is a trivial matter that Champagne does not appreciate monetarily
as quickly as a first-growth Bordeaux. Enjoyment of the finest Tetes du Cuvées
from the latter part of the 20th century—magnums of 1959, 1961 and 1973 among
them—comes from a place far deeper than the pocketbook. We stock our cellars
amply lest we be caught empty-handed when a particularly happy, sad or thirsty
occasion arises. To celebrate great moments or launch ships without Champagne is
to play a dangerous game with fate. The Titanic sailed on its star-crossed
maiden voyage without a proper Champagne christening.
Sybarites who can
resist drinking or smashing their bubbly and yearn instead for dollar values,
however, will be pleased to know that as a growing number of imbibers are
learning to appreciate the richer, toastier flavors of aged Champagne, auction
prices of older vintages are on the rise, and the most desirable years are
becoming scarce. Contrary to popular opinion, collecting and aging Champagne in
the cellar can be lucrative—that is, if we lay down the right brands wearing the
sought-after vintages.
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