The sound of a popping champagne cork is associated with celebration – birthdays, weddings, graduations and holidays. But why is that? Emmanuel de Madre, brand ambassador for French champagne house Maison Mumm, says it stretches back to the 19th century.

“We can find some old paintings of people in the courts of Europe [that depict] corks popping,” de Madre says. “It was associated with a food celebration … you can see people are enjoying themselves, having a great moment among friends.”

There’s also the simple fact of flavour: champagne is an easy, effervescent drink, lacking the strong tannins or gripping acidity of many table wines.

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“It’s not a connoisseur wine, even though you can have very old vintages or expensive ones,” de Madre days. “It’s a wine that’s made to be drunk now and enjoyed by everyone.”

Whether you’re celebrating over Easter, enjoying a bit of time off or just relaxing on the weekend, de Madre has some great tips for matching champagne to any event or occasion.

Cheese and biscuits in the park
A good bottle of sparkling complements a casual park hang as much as it complements the cheese.

“You need a wine that will carry the conversation and will be very fruity and very fresh, so it needs to be more of a youthful wine,” de Madre says. “Also, a drier wine so … when you finish your sip, your palate is left very fresh and clean.”

Anything young and crisp will do the trick here, but he recommends the Mumm Marlborough Brut Prestige sparkling wine, which has subtle pear flavours.

Charcuterie board and tasting plates at a backyard party
If you’re planning on serving charcuterie you should be thinking about serving champagne too, says de Madre. Specifically a non-vintage drop – the producer’s house style, which is blended from new and old wines held in reserve, is a good place to start. The freshness and vibrancy will cut perfectly through cured meats.

There are three grape varieties that go into champagne – pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay. De Madre recommends finding one that leans a little heavier on the pinot noir, such as Mumm’s Cordon Rouge brut champagne.

“It’s all about having the right balance of the ageing and the fruitiness,” he says. “[Pinot noir] brings structure and power to the wine, so when you balance it well enough with other grape varieties you get that sweet spot that’s perfect to be paired with food.”

Seafood barbeque
When it comes to seafood cooked on the barbie, de Madre says the only choice is a sparkling rosé.

“Prawns are just a classic with rosé,” he says. “You get those red-fruit flavours, but it’s still very subtle and incredibly fresh.”

The extra depth of a rosé – and you should be thinking on the drier side here – means you can get a little creative with the seasoning and flavours in your food.

“Think about doing a rub with pink peppercorns or cilantro and Asian spices,” de Madre says. “The spiciness is going to make an incredible pairing with the freshness and the dryness of the rosé.”

He suggests Mumm’s Grand Cordon rosé champagne, but only for the barbeque. For raw seafood such as oysters, opt for something that leads with the citrus and fruitiness of chardonnay, such as the Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut champagne.

Roast Dinner
A big cut of meat requires an equally powerful wine. For this de Madre recommends vintage champagnes, which have more depth and power thanks to extended ageing.

“You need to go with a champagne that has more richness and more depth so that the wine stands its ground against the food,” he says.

De Madre describes vintage champagne in terms of “bakery flavours” – think butter, croissant or toasted bread – and says they pair well with the crust that typically develops on roasted meat. He recommends the Mumm Millesime vintage champagne (Millesime means “vintage”), which is aged for six years, giving it time to really develop those flavours.

A special occasion at a fancy restaurant
A celebration is the moment for a truly exceptional champagne. Think old vintages and refined, classic drops. Those rich, buttery styles are the perfect foil for fish such as red mullet or trout, cooked simply and served with a butter sauce.

De Madre’s special occasion drop is the famed Perrier-Jouet Belle Epoque.

“It’s an icon of champagne,” he says. The vintage is “very recognisable … so silky and very delicate and still incredibly complex with citrus flavours and those amazing subtle brioche notes … It’s basically everything you think of when it comes to romantic champagne.”

This story is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with First Choice Liquor Market. See a full range of champagne and sparkling options at First Choice Liquor.*