strawberries in champagne?

[cleopatra999]

is it okay to put a strawberry at the bottom of the champagne glass if we are doing a tasting? or will this change the taste of the champagne?

we have a variety of sparkling that we are tasting, the first is a true brut champagne, I think most people will not like this as much (except myself and a couple others), so I plan to pour smaller glasses of this, then offer more if it is enjoyed.

thought is might be nice to have the strawberry at the bottom of this one, since it is our first and since it will be a small pour.

thoughts?

[jobee1111]

I say skip the actually berry and enjoy a lovely glass of NV Veuve Clicquot Rose. It's about $60 a bottle and it's a crowd pleaser. Not too heavy, not too dry, not too sweet...I'll go with PERFECT on this one. Enjoy!

[gina]

I think a sweet, just-ripened strawberry is absolutely delicious with brut champagne, although I prefer to eat it while I'm sipping, not have it in the glass. I definitely recommend including strawberries on the side with whatever other nibbles you might be offering.

[bclevy]

Speaking from a French perspective (I went to school for 7
years in Reims, the capital of Champagne in France)
champagne and strawberries are a bizarre combination.
Champagne is supposed to be light and delicate. Strawberries
on the other hand are a rather dull and watery fruit. How could
they combine well? Besides champagne glasses are designed so that
the CO2 release will be very gradual. If you put strawberries in the glass,
you augment the surface to which bubbles can attach and release,
so the wine will go flat much faster.

[RicRios]

Agreed.

However, champagne and strawberry mixes are not that uncommon in the cuisine classique. As an example: Fraises des bois au champagne à la Cussy:

http://www.epicurien.be/blog/recettes/desserts/fruits/fraises-des-bois-au-champagne-cussy.asp

( Named after Louis, Marquis de Cussy (1766-1837), chief steward of the emperor's household under both Napoleon I and Louis XVIII.)

http://www.foodreference.com/html/wlo...

[ChefJune]

no one is preventing anyone from putting strawberries in Champagne, if that's what they really want to do. We're just suggesting it might not be a delicious combination.

Frankly, the only wine I can imagine the strawberries enhancing is Maiwein, which is a light Liebfraumilch. It tastes like not much in the first place, so the strawberries can't hurt anything.......

[ChefJune]

imho strawberries in Champagne sounds much better than it really tastes.

and no, never for a tasting, would I put anything into any wine. If your purpose is to taste the wine, then do that, and have your fruit, cheese, whatever else, on the side.

[RicRios]

Nope, Cleopatra. As Jason says above, no strawberries for tasting.

Now, if you dump a fresh water pearl, that's another story (don't worry, it won't dissolve).

[zin1953]

For brunch? Sure. For a tasting? Never.

[Gio]

Agree and FWIW whenever I've had strawberries in a glass of champagne or any other wine for that matter, the taste of the wine did not change. For me.
But the fruit did. There's nothing like fresh peaches in red wine, BTW....