In true Becks and Posh fashion, September’s Wine Blogging Wednesday was one of glamour, glitz and glittering effervescence. Hosted by nosh pro Sam, WBW#25 promised to push boundaries, expand experiences and provide enough tummy upset to last for the rest of the month.

One thing that the Wine Blogging Wednesday series has forced us to do is to experiment with varietals, styles and entire segments of the wine industry that we either consciously or subconsciously avoided. Champagne would be one of them and very consciously at that. Even thinking about the bubbly was enough to make my stomach feel a little queasy as I read Sam’s proposal for WBW #25: Lovely Jubbly Bubbly. Not only did it have to have bubbles, but it also had to be from Champagne, as in that French region that is the source of much personal misery.

You see, it all goes back to high school; yes, those glory days of yore. It was New Years, and like the quirky teenagers we were, a group of four friends and I decided that plain old alcohol just wasn’t enough to ring in the new year. We, we would have to have ‘champagne’ (I shall make the distinction in deference to to Sam’s love for the real thing, we likely had the fizzy version of two buck chuck). It was 10 minutes to the apple drop and we sat huddled in my friend’s living room awaiting the moment when we could pop the cork (an adventure in itself) and imbibe. And imbibe we did. Not that we drank a lot (if you exclude the ridiculous amount of non-Champagne consumed earlier in the evening), and not that it was particularly disgusting…I believe we just drank too fast, and soon the combination of fizz, booze, sugar and sleep deprivation exploded into a riotous mass of puke on the aforementioned friend’s mom’s brand new cream couch. The source of the ‘accident’ was quickly helped to the washroom while the rest of us panicked, queasy and intoxicated, trying to figure out how to clean up the mess before the parents returned from their own party. Imagine now, being tipsy, being nauseous, and bending over a vomit coated chesterfield scrubbing away at someone else’s fresh, alcohol-infused…you get the picture.

Needless to say that since that moment, I have tried Champagne exactly once. For Wine Blogging Wednesday. I have to admit to cheating however, and I do apologize to Sam as I know the whole point was to get The Real Deal. We had every intention of buying authentic Champagne, we even went to the liquor store to pick it up, but were dismayed when the cheapest bottle we could find was more than we would normally pay for three bottles. As much as I love trying new things, and as much as I love WBW, it was just too much to ask for us folks on a fixed budget.

Seeing that we couldn’t shuck over that many shillings at the time, we stuck with the spirit as best we could and scooped up the frilliest froofiest fizz we could find, simply named ‘Pink‘. A refreshing mix of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Australian bubbly producer Yellowglen, we popped Pink to celebrate our successful move to new digs, which include a small deck out back perfect for sipping. I lunged for the rose sparkler immediately rather than go with a traditional white, simply because I thought the soothing colour might help to offset any gastro-intestinal unease. Despite my apprehension, it proved to be perfectly enjoyable, with predominant strawberry notes on the nose and palate given dimension thanks to the riper fruits contributions of the Chardonnay and a titch of tasty acidity. The bubbles were surprisingly small, making them less off-putting (to me) and adding a great textural element to the overall experience.Sadly, neither of us know much of anything about Champagne, nor do I really think it’s something we’re going to become devotees of, so aside from giving two thumbs up and recommending this very easy-going fizz for everyday drinking (alone or with food friends), there’s not much to be said.

I realized we totally missed the boat (and the deadline) on this one, but we really wanted to get it up seeing that we made the effort to take part.