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Wine Pairing Weekend Holiday Gift Wine Ideas
Our monthly Wine Pairing Weekend group is convening this month to offer some excellent ideas for wine as a holiday gift. Take a look further down in this post for some creative thoughts to help you knock off that holiday gift list!

Grower Champagne is sure to please ANYONE

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The Perfect Wine Gift For Almost Anyone*
It’s the holiday season and you have some tough cookies on your gift list:

• Wine enthusiast friend or relative
• Cooking enthusiast or general foodie
• New neighbors
• Party host
• (this is the part where you start thinking of your gift challenges)

Just one caveat, perhaps wine would NOT be a good gift for one of the above challenges , and you know why it wouldn’t:

• *under-age
• *tee-totaler
• *should be a tee-totaler

If wine is on the nice list, I have a great solution for you.

• First, this is the holiday season and you want your gift to say you care and you’re willing to splurge a bit.
• For the cost of a decent man’s tie (millions of dads around the world are groaning right now at the thought of another tie), you can give a sure winner.
• Not Prosecco
  • Not Cava
    • Not American Sparkling wine
      • Not Crémant
• A bottle of Champagne.  Real Champagne. From the Champagne region of France.

Champagne Copinet Brut Blanc de Blancs

After all, everyone in the world understands Champagne is unique, just a bit of a luxury, and definitely a splurge. It’s also an instant party in a bottle. Whenever you open a bottle of Champagne, everyone will know they are special.

But not just any Champagne, here’s the trick! You’re going to purchase a “Grower Champagne“.  For just a few dollars more than a basic Champagne from one of the Grandes Marques, you can have a bottle which will please everyone, from those who don’t know better to your most choosy wine enthusiast friend. There’s nothing wrong with the Grand Marques, the Veuve Clicquot’s of the world. But you can get them at Costco.  You want something with a bit more “je ne sais quoi”, that indefinable mystique that is part of Champagne. Besides, built into the Grandes Marques bottle price is a hefty shot of advertising.  The Grower Champagnes give you more Champagne bang for your buck.

Grower Champagnes

What’s Grower Champagne?
Most Champagne producers are negociants.  They typically grow some of their grapes, but they also purchase grapes from growers in their region or anywhere in the officially demarcated greater Champagne region. This way, they can achieve consistent flavors in their “house style”, year after year. They also have a larger business, sell more Champagne and increase the value of their “brand”.  Grower Champagne producers must grow at least 95% of their grapes themselves on their own estate land. Typically, these were grape growers in the past who decided to make the jump to being producers, albeit small producers. When you buy Grower Champagne, you’re supporting small business.

NM on the label (center right) means the Champagne comes from a Negociant, a “Marque House”

You’ll have to search to find the secret code

Somewhere on the label, you’ll find it. RM=Grower Champagne!

How To Find A Grower Champagne
While they are in the minority, most wine shops now carry at least a couple Grower Champagnes.  One good way to find one is to ask! A knowledgeable shop employee should be able to point out the grower Champagne to you.  The slang term is “farmer fizz”, try that!  What if your shop employee doesn’t know or is unsure?  There is a secret code!  Get out your magnifying glass, because it’s always in the fine print.  Grandes Marques Champagnes are “Negociant Manipulant” or NM.  Growers are “Recoltant Manipulant” or RM. Look for the RM.  To help you remember, think the “faRMer puts the RM in faRMer fizz”. Finally, choose “Brut” as the all-around most popular and pleasing level of sweetness in the Champagne.

Champagne flutes are out of favor today, but sometimes the occasion calls!

Is Grower Champagne Expensive?
Basic non-vintage Brut Champagne from one of the major houses (Piper-Heidsieck is my fave in this group) will typically run $30-50 in the US. Grower Champagnes in our local shops in Minnesota are usually available in the $40-60 range, so a bit more, but your gift recipient is worth it!

Other Nearly as Good Wine Suggestions From Wine Pairing Weekend Buddies
Our Wine Pairing Weekend Group has a bunch of gift wine suggestions this month.  Visit the links below for some great ideas.  If you see this in time, we chat on Saturday morning, Dec. 9 at 10AM CST on Twitter at the hashtag #WinePW. Join us!

• Jade from The Tasting Pour will tell us “How to Choose a Wine Gift“
• Jeff from foodwineclick will share “Holiday Wine Gift Ideas: Not Just Any Champagne“
• Cindy from Grape Experiences will post “Wines from The Hess Collection – Will You be Naughty or Nice?”
• Here on Cooking Chat we will write about “Christmas Wine Gifts: Tips and Bottles To Give“
• Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm will share “Spreading Christmas Cheer“
• Michelle from Rockin Red Blog is telling us “How to Give the Gift of Wine“
• Gwendolyn from Wine Predator will share “Grateful for Good Gifts, Good Stories with Wineries from Napa Good Gifts“
• Culinary Adventures with Camilla is talking about “Sips Worth Sharing“
• Jennifer from Vino Travels is covering “Holiday Wines with a Sicilian Flair“
• Lauren from The Swirling Dervish is blogging about “Family, Food, and Wine: The Gift of Memories“
• Jill from L’Occasion will share “Wine Wrapped Up: The L’occasion Gift Guide“

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