Sharing a few bottles of Champagne with your best girls always equals a night of fun. It’s hard to believe that this experience can be improved, but the team at the Australian Wine and Beer School has done just that with their Champagne Showdown. Team Modern Wedding was lucky enough to try the Champagne Showdown in December and it was definitely the perfect way to kick off a fun filled night!
The aim of the game is to determine what Champagne you really like without being influenced by the label. We blind taste tested six iconic Champagnes (all genuinely French, all delicious) and ranked them according to taste.
While we worked our way through the glasses, our host Ben (who has almost 25 years of Australian Wine Industry experience and well over 40 years of entertaining experience) gave us a Champagne mini-master class as he guided us through the tasting.
We were taught how to properly hold the glass, reset our palette between tastes and what to think about while tasting. He also fielded our very random questions and settled long-standing disputes (is it Mo-way, Mo-wee or Mo-ett!?) and made sure we came away with more than just a good time and belly full of great Champagne.
Once the Champagne labels were revealed our true tastes were shown! It was interesting to see what Champagnes came out on top and who’s tastes weren’t as fine as they thought!
The AWBS Champagne showdown was an absolute hit and is the perfect classy but fun activity for a hens or kitchen tea party. AWBS can come to your chosen venue or, you can begin your great night out at their venue in the Sydney CBD.
We can’t recommend the Champagne Showdown enough and are sure that you and your girls will love it! After all, who doesn’t love Champagne?
Quick Questions with Champagne Expert Ben!
Your favourite Champagne?
Oh, I would drink Krug all day long. However, I do love Tassie bubbles, amazing quality and great value.
Top tips for picking a wedding day champagne?
Ask me 🙂 [email protected] or
1) Work out your budget, per bottle.
2) Think about who is coming, is it just your boozy friends or have you got a whole heap of straight laced relatives coming?
3) Work out how much they will drink over the length of time, (for example, my friends will drink a ½ a bottle each, your relatives will have one glass each) including wine and beer.
4) Work on approx. 7 glasses (nearly 110mls per pour) per bottle. This will help you to not run out, the biggest crime, nor over cater.
What is the best way to keep an unfinished bottle of champagne from going flat?
What, does this happen!!!!!? I’m shocked. We actually sell the most wonderful Diamonte Champagne stoppers.
The theory of the silver spoon in the bottle to keep the bubbles from going flat, does it work?
Ah, really again, issues with finishing the bottle!? This is a bit of an old wives tale. The first thing you do once you have put the spoon in the top of the bottle is to put it in the fridge. The metal spoon is highly conductive and cools down first, cold air forms around the spoon and drops onto the liquid. This creates a soft barrier. But it does not really work! Best option is to drink it or get one of our Diamonte stoppers.
You seem to love your job, why?
Silly question really! I have listened to lots of boring people talk about wine, I’ve been in the industry for a long time!………. I make it fun and relevant, no boring wine talk. Everything we do has the core business mission of fun, social, education. Champagne is fun right!?
How do you say Moët? Ah, probably the most asked question. It is pronounced “MO-ett” the ‘e’ is pronounced like the ‘e’ in ‘wet’. Bonus points for calling it ‘Moët et Chandon’ as the French do.
You can get in touch with AWBS by calling them on 1300 550 245 or emailing [email protected].
Image Credits: Milk & Honey Photography / Tealily Photography