I have a bottle of Corbel Champagne I received for my wedding three years ago.
The bottle has never been opened.
Does champagne go bad? Does the taste change after three years if the bottle is
unopened?
I know some will say "just taste it" but, since I'm not a champagne drinker, I
want to give it to someone else. I don't want to end up giving them cider <G>.
Any advise will be greatly appreciated.

It is just as well the bottle has never been opened, because once opened it
will lose the fizz quickly (flat Champagne isn't nice!) and go bad through
oxidisation within a couple of days.

Otherwise, it should keep for a few years, but unless it is a great
Champagne - and I have never heard of Corbel - don't expect it to keep
improving. My advice? Drink it up.

Angela
"PRV8EYE" > wrote in message
...
> I have a bottle of Corbel Champagne I received for my wedding three years
ago.
> The bottle has never been opened.
> Does champagne go bad? Does the taste change after three years if the
bottle is
> unopened?
> I know some will say "just taste it" but, since I'm not a champagne
drinker, I
> want to give it to someone else. I don't want to end up giving them cider
<G>.
> Any advise will be greatly appreciated.

ospam (PRV8EYE) wrote:

> I have a bottle of Corbel Champagne I received for my wedding
> three years ago. The bottle has never been opened. Does
> champagne go bad? Does the taste change after three years if the
> bottle is unopened? I know some will say "just taste it" but,
> since I'm not a champagne drinker, I want to give it to someone
> else. I don't want to end up giving them cider <G>. Any advise
> will be greatly appreciated.

All depends on conditions of storage. Three years at room
temperature will ruin everything bubbly, even the very best.

Kept cool, there are chances it might be drinkable. Never tasted
Corbel (isn't that "Korbel", btw?) here in Europe, so I can't give
further help.

M.

"Michael Pronay" > wrote in message
...
> ospam (PRV8EYE) wrote:
>
> > I have a bottle of Corbel Champagne I received for my wedding
> > three years ago. The bottle has never been opened. Does
> > champagne go bad? Does the taste change after three years if the
> > bottle is unopened? I know some will say "just taste it" but,
> > since I'm not a champagne drinker, I want to give it to someone
> > else. I don't want to end up giving them cider <G>. Any advise
> > will be greatly appreciated.
>
> All depends on conditions of storage. Three years at room
> temperature will ruin everything bubbly, even the very best.
>
> Kept cool, there are chances it might be drinkable. Never tasted
> Corbel (isn't that "Korbel", btw?) here in Europe, so I can't give
> further help.
>

Korbel, a California sparkler deliberately mislabeled as "Champagne."

There is no reason for you to want to taste Korbel, it is on the low
side of the quality spectrum, a California wannabe distinguished by
high acidity and large-bubbled bright fruit. It is decidedly not
Champagne, by the way. Closer to bad Cava.

As far as it keeping: any sparkling wine will go bad as any still wine
will, just a matter of time (the goal of any wine is to become vinegar)
and the quality of the cork, the integrity of the winemaking process
and so on. I would expect a three year old Korbel to be ready for
Halloween as a trick, not a treat.

pavane

"pavane" ha scritto

> Korbel, a California sparkler deliberately
> mislabeled as "Champagne."

If it is labeled Champagne, France should
impose an importation tax of 200% on every
wine coming in France from the USA until
this Korbel stops labeling Champagne what
is not Champagne.
Call this "an eye for an eye, a tooth
for a tooth".

Same should do we italians with canada,
where some canadian has registered the
trade mark "parma ham".

Governments who don't care of theyr
national products are a big source of
frauds against consumers everywhere.
And a big source of (stolen) income
for dishonest companies.

Vilco

I once read an article on this. For example Schramsburg is also labeled as
Champagne.

The rationale was that the actual vines were from that region in France.
Somehow I think that was felt to justify the naming of it.

Not sure but I don't think they operate outside the scope of the law. They
just choose not to show the respect for France by doing so.

This is interesting as France has Dijon Mustard which is the best in the
world. However the mustard seed comes from Canada for most. Should the
name be changes to Canadian Mustard Seed Dijon Style?

"Vilco" > wrote in message
...
> "pavane" ha scritto
>
> > Korbel, a California sparkler deliberately
> > mislabeled as "Champagne."
>
> If it is labeled Champagne, France should
> impose an importation tax of 200% on every
> wine coming in France from the USA until
> this Korbel stops labeling Champagne what
> is not Champagne.
> Call this "an eye for an eye, a tooth
> for a tooth".
>
> Same should do we italians with canada,
> where some canadian has registered the
> trade mark "parma ham".
>
> Governments who don't care of theyr
> national products are a big source of
> frauds against consumers everywhere.
> And a big source of (stolen) income
> for dishonest companies.
>
> Vilco
>
>

"dick" ha scritto

> This is interesting as France has Dijon Mustard which is the best in the
> world. However the mustard seed comes from Canada for most. Should the
> name be changes to Canadian Mustard Seed Dijon Style?

Dijon Mustard is a french recipe so they can call it as they want.
Champagne is a standardized product of a specific french region, so nobody
out of that french region can call a wine "Champagne".
That makes a great difference.
If you like to eat canadian "parma ham", that's your business, but then
you'd be eating a fake.
Same for the fake Champagne we were 'talking' about.

Vilco

"dick" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> I once read an article on this. For example Schramsburg is also labeled
as
> Champagne.

Even though its still wrong in principle, Schramsburg is a product worthy of
the name. Its quite another thing to produce something that tastes like
carbonated apple juice and slap "Champagne" on it.

Massa Blackadder

--
"I wants to be in heaven with all my white folks, just to wait on them
and love them, and serve them, sorta like I did in slavery time."

- Betty Cofer, former slave.

> The rationale was that the actual vines were from that region in France.
> Somehow I think that was felt to justify the naming of it.
>
> Not sure but I don't think they operate outside the scope of the law.
They
> just choose not to show the respect for France by doing so.
>
> This is interesting as France has Dijon Mustard which is the best in the
> world. However the mustard seed comes from Canada for most. Should the
> name be changes to Canadian Mustard Seed Dijon Style?
>
> "Vilco" > wrote in message
> ...
> > "pavane" ha scritto
> >
> > > Korbel, a California sparkler deliberately
> > > mislabeled as "Champagne."
> >
> > If it is labeled Champagne, France should
> > impose an importation tax of 200% on every
> > wine coming in France from the USA until
> > this Korbel stops labeling Champagne what
> > is not Champagne.
> > Call this "an eye for an eye, a tooth
> > for a tooth".
> >
> > Same should do we italians with canada,
> > where some canadian has registered the
> > trade mark "parma ham".
> >
> > Governments who don't care of theyr
> > national products are a big source of
> > frauds against consumers everywhere.
> > And a big source of (stolen) income
> > for dishonest companies.
> >
> > Vilco
> >
> >
>
>

> This is interesting as France has Dijon Mustard which is the best in the
> world. However the mustard seed comes from Canada for most. Should the
> name be changes to Canadian Mustard Seed Dijon Style?
>
Nay laddie. How about "Hamilton ground (or not) Canadian Mustard Seed Mixed
With Miscellaneous and Incidental Ingredients Dijon (France) Style".

We do many things well here in Hamilton at the Western end of the Niagara
Wine Route ;>))
--
Regards
Chuck
So much wine; So little time!

To reply, delete NOSPAM from return address

On 25-Oct-2003, "dick" > wrote:

> I once read an article on this. For example Schramsburg is also labeled
> as
> Champagne.

Do you mean to say "Schramsberg"? If so, where exactly do you find the word
"Champagne" on the label? Schramsberg is a sparkling wine from California
made in the "Methode Champenoise." "Method Champenoise" is the method by
which Champagne is made, but it does not imply that it is Champagne, the
region in France. There is a HUGE difference in calling a sparkling wine
"Champagne", which some very cheap wines do, and indicating that you make it
in the "Methode Champenoise".

Vilco wrote:
> "pavane" ha scritto
>
>
>>Korbel, a California sparkler deliberately
>>mislabeled as "Champagne."
>
>
> If it is labeled Champagne, France should
> impose an importation tax of 200% on every
> wine coming in France from the USA until
> this Korbel stops labeling Champagne what
> is not Champagne.
> Call this "an eye for an eye, a tooth
> for a tooth".

Blah blah blah.

Consumers that give a sh*t understand the difference
between "champagne" from California and Champagne. Other
consumers don't matter (they don't care... they just don't
know the difference and don't care anyway).

Now, I'm a guy that's uptight enough to call
sparkling wine from California "sparkling wine"
in casual conversation. I *get it*. I also don't
buy much French wine. If worrying about your name
is a big deal, I'm not interesting in your wine. The
reasons should be obvious.

Dana

Salut/Hi Dana Myers,

le/on Sat, 25 Oct 2003 20:54:25 -0700, tu disais/you said:-

>Consumers that give a sh*t understand the difference
>between "champagne" from California and Champagne.

That's probab ly true, yes.

> Other consumers don't matter (they don't care... they just don't
>know the difference and don't care anyway).

I'm sorry, Dana, I find that a little arrogant towards the millions of
people who buy "champagne" in those countries which allow their local
sparklers to be called that, and all similar attempts to pass off local
products using prestigious names from elsewhere. It's not JUST dishonest
vis-a-vis the people in the areas whose product names are being usurped, but
worse, it's fraud against the consumer. As you say, they may well not know
the difference, or that "Tokay d'Alsace" or "Tokay" from Rutherglen are
attempts to pass off their products (decent enough to stand on their own
names) as "the real thing".

>buy much French wine. If worrying about your name
>is a big deal, I'm not interesting in your wine. The
>reasons should be obvious.

They aren't. Not to me anyway. Passing off is passing off whether it's "Feta
cheese" or "Tokay" or "Parma ham" from France or "Champagne" from the USA or
Australia or "Blue Mountain Coffee" from Sumatra. It cheats both the
producer and the consumer. And saying that because the consumer is not yet
knowledgeable enough to know, s/he doesn't matter, is as arrogant and
dishonest as anything I've read recently. Sorry, but that's how I see it.

Ignorance can be cured by knowledge. An ignorant consumer (I have lots of
visitors who are ignorant about wine here) can usually tell the difference
when they get a chance to taste one wine against the other. As to which they
will prefer, that's another matter. But I CANNOT accept that it right that
laws don't forbid producers/ entrepreneurs/importers from passsing off, no
matter how long the fraud has been going on. This isn't in any sense to be
taken as anti-American, because I feel JUST as strongly about French and
British passing off. More so in fact, as these countries take a strong
stance against it when it is their products whose names are being misused.

--
All the Best
Ian Hoare

Sometimes oi just sits and thinks
Sometimes oi just sits.