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like weddings. Champagne is a sparkling wine. Like Kava, you canget it for $10 or $15 and it’s amazing. When you look at the field ofwine possibilities, almost nothing pairs as well as champagne. It’s aterrific pairing wine with light, salty foods, salads and soups. It’s very“We have become orientedinto thinking we can only havechampagne at New Year’s orspecial events like weddings.Champagne is a sparkling wine.Like Kava, you can get it for $10or $15 and it’s amazing.”refreshing and a great palate cleanser. Bubbles or no, it’s a wine.”She just reminds to buy during the ‘off’ seasons– retailers will jackthe prices up right before New Year’s–so stock up on the bubblywhen the price is right!All in all, practice makes perfect. Remember that Rule #1 is thereare no rules. And Rule #2 could be there are still no rules...drink whatwines you like. Leave the myths to the Greeks. ■Source for this article is Elizabeth Schneider’s blog Wine forNormal People.going away soon.”What about the myth of storing a particular valuable bottle ofwine for a certain number of years before opening it? “Picture yourselfhaving a Christmas dinner,” said Elizabeth, “and you’ve been savingthese choice bottles of wine for 10 years or more. They cost a lot ofmoney, and you’ve been hoarding them in your cellars. You open itand it’s terrible. You open the next bottle and it’s terrible. You musthave a back-up plan for wine.” She reminds that first of all, old winedoesn’t always mean better. “Special wine isn’t for special occasions.There’s some risk involved when you age something. Wine is chemicaland it changes with time, and even vibration. It’s a very sensitivesubstance. You’re lucky most of the time if your wine has made it froma journey,” said Elizabeth. So she offers words of caution when dealingwith storing wine for long periods of time. Be careful with what youplan to put on your table, and make sure you have back-ups.A nice back-up to have is a little bubbly, yes? The only time youshould bring out champagne in the winter is New Year’s Eve. Right?Wrong, says a very adamant Elizabeth. “I think this is just crazy,”she admits. “People wait all year to have bubbly on New Year’s Eve.I have friends that work in the champagne business, and 90 percentof their sales happen right before New Year’s in the U.S. I can’t stressenough how much, as a culture, we have become oriented intothinking we can only have champagne at New Year’s or special eventsHERLIFEnewyork.com 29