A brief on Champagne & its brands in India

Champagne is the best known sparkling wine,it is so popular that it is synonymous with any sparkling wine made across the world, but legally it can only be made in the Champagne region of France using the traditional method of secondary fermentation in bottles. Champagne is the most tightly regulated of sparkling  wines and below are some highlights that matter to the consumer:
Champagne Highlights :
- Made in Champagne, France
- Grapes Used: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot  Muenier, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Petit Meslier and Arbane. The first three grapes account for 99% of the total grapes. 
​- Secondary bottle fermentation and minimum time spent maturating on lees is 15 months for non-vintage Champagne and three years for vintage Champagne. Lees are the dead yeast cells responsible for the biscuit or toasty notes in a traditional method sparkling wine like a champagne.
- Vintage Champagnes can use grapes from one year and is done only in exceptional year as the champagne house deems fit.  Most of them are Non Vintage, meaning a blend of wines from different year.
- Most Champagnes are meant to be drunk once bought but for Vintage ones which can stay for extended periods. 
- Blanc De Blanc Champagnes are made from white grapes like Chardonnay and Blanc De Noir is made from either of the two black grapes, the Pinot Noir or Meunier. 
- Brut on a bottle indicates the sugar levels in the bottle. It is less than 12gms of Sugar per liter of Champage. Extra Brut is less than 6 gms. Just for comparison, a cola has around 120 gms. 
- When it comes to Champagne and Food pairing, we say "when in doubt open a Champagne." . Nonetheless on top of the classic pairing come Oysters and from the Indian perspective we will stick to salted nuts, cheese canapes, and no-heat Indian kebabs like the Chicken reshmi kebab, Broccoli Malai tikka etc. 

Brands of Champagne in the Indian market with their Mumbai pricing
​G H Mumm Rs 6300
Besserat de Bellefon Grande Tradition Brut Rs 7200
Drappier Carte d'Or Brut Rs 7500
Phillipe Gonet, BLANC de BLANC BRUT Rs 7853
Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Reserve NV Rs 7950
Laurent Perrier La Cuvee Brut Rs 7999
Moet Chandon Brut Rs 8163
Louis Roederer Brut Rs 8200
Chartogne-Taillet Brut Saint Anne Rs 8360
Vueuve Cliquot Rs 8750
Moet Chandon Ice Rs 8900
Jacquesson Cuvee No. 742 Rs 9900
Besserat de Bellefon Cuvée des Moines Sec Rs 9999
Billecart-Salmon, BRUT RESERVE Rs 10778
Laherte Freres Les Empreintes Rs 11699
Agrapart File Mineral Rs 17990
Krug Grand Cuvee Brut Rs 23662
Dom Perignon Vintage 2008  ​Rs 26723
BB Cuvee 1843 Rs 48000
Rose:
Leherte Freres Rose NV Rs 6800
Besserat de Bellefon Cuvée des Moines Rose Brut Rs 7200
Besserat de Bellefon Grande Tradition Rose Brut Rs 8299
Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Rose NV Rs 9990
Laurent Perrier Cuvee Rosé Rs 13500
Pol Roger Brut Rose Rs 16400
Billecart-Salmon, BRUT ROSE Rs 17399