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Contrary to popular belief, pairing food with Champagne is remarkably easy, perhaps even easier than with still wines. The natural acidity, effervescence , and unique aging process make Champagne one of the most versatile and adaptable wines in the world.
”In choosing the best food pairing, it becomes a memorable, multi-sensory experience,” notes Sarah Durand, our global brand ambassador. “Champagne Lallier cuvées are not reserved for rare occasions—they are to be enjoyed spontaneously in good company.”
The many categories of Champagne, such as Rosé and Brut Nature, present an array of flavor profiles to choose from when pairing with a variety of dishes.
From light appetizers to richer main courses, there’s a Lallier Champagne to complement every table.
How to Achieve the Perfect Champagne and Food Pairing
While Champagne’s versatility is well known, we have a few suggestions to guide your pairings and create a singular dining experience. A general principle is to find the perfect balance between food and Champagne, either in continuity or in contrast of flavors.
As Sarah Durand recommends: “The best Champagne and food pairings are the ones that bring your senses to the full and that make you feel emotions. It is truly a personal matter, depending on personal tastes, habits, culture, and the season of the year. Yet, there are some general principles to follow to make sure your Champagne pairing will work well. First, look for balance between your Champagne and your food, so a dish that will be as light as the wine. Then make sure it is either harmonious or using contrast: a play between the creaminess of a dish and the liveliness of the Champagne wine, for example.”
One approach is to break up the courses, focusing on a specific Champagne pairing for each dish. This allows you to create intentional and harmonious combinations that highlight the unique characteristics of both the food and the wine.
Alternatively, you can offer a selection of Champagnes, allowing your guests to explore different pairings throughout the meal. This approach embraces the spirit of discovery and experimentation, encouraging guests to find their own perfect match.
Regardless of your chosen approach, our Champagne Lallier portfolio offers a wide range of expressions to complement any culinary creation. From our crisp Réflexion R.019 to the complex and nuanced Ouvrage, there’s a Lallier Champagne to match every culinary expression.
Different types of Champagne to Pair with Food
The diverse styles of Champagne, ranging from dry to sweet, made from one unique grape variety to a blend, and young to mature, make it an incredibly versatile wine for pairing. At Lallier, our lighter dosage approach ensures a balanced sweetness in our wines, further simplifying the pairing process.
When pairing Lallier cuvées, we recommend favoring seasonal produce and the natural excellence of fresh, locally sourced ingredients as much as possible, depending on the flavor profile of the wine, and the moment of consumption,” suggests Sarah Durand. This philosophy highlights the importance of seasonality and terroir, emphasizing the harmony between our Champagnes and the freshest ingredients of your region.
This approach allows you to explore a wide range of pairings, from delicate seafood dishes to hearty meats and seasonal vegetables. The possibilities are endless so, embrace your creativity and discover the perfect pairing that complements your chosen Lallier cuvée.
Non-vintage Brut
Non-vintage Brut, the most prevalent style of Champagne, is usually the one that best represents a house or grower’s style, being a blend of different years, grape varieties, crus and winemaking techniques. Its usually minimal dosage, and delicate notes of citrus and baked pastry, allow it to pair effortlessly with lighter dishes such as fish, crudités, delicate white meats, and goat cheese or young Comté.
Whether you’re enjoying a simple appetizer or a multi-course feast, our Réflexion R.018 represents a versatile choice. This Brut Champagne is the perfect companion for fish dishes accented with citrus fruits, succulent shellfish, seasonal vegetable tarts, and creamy risotto with green asparagus. Its vibrant acidity and delicate fruit notes create a harmonious balance with these lighter flavors.
Vintage
Vintage Champagnes, like our Millésimé 2014, which are made with grapes from a single harvest, benefit from aging, which imparts a characteristic nuttiness, maturity, and refined intensity. This broad flavor profile allows for a wide range of pairing possibilities, from cheese courses to wild game, not to mention an array of mushroom-centered dishes including pastas, risottos and terrine.
Millésimé 2014 is particularly well-suited for cave-aged cheeses like old Comté, roasted chicken or turkey, and delicate fish like sea bass or sole. Its complexity and depth of flavor also complement richer dishes like lobster scampi, pan-seared diver scallops, fish with creamy herb sauces, and stewed white meats with seasonal vegetables.
The singularity and complexity of vintage Champagne makes it an ideal choice for ensuring memorable moments. From intimate dinners to grand celebrations, its ability to complement a wide variety of flavors and textures ensures a delicious pairing every time.
Rosé
Rosé Champagne not only has a beautiful color, but captivating aromas and flavors characterised by light red fruits, as well as a floral component, as a result of its complex production process. These can be made by blending white wine with a small amount (between 5% and 20%) of red wine, known as rosé d’assemblage, or by macerating the juice of black grapes with their skins for 36 hours, rosé de macération. Shorter maceration times result in a rosé de saignée.
Lallier Rosé, with its delicate blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, is a rosé d’assemblage that possesses a remarkable ability to complement a wide array of flavors. Pinot Noir brings depth, complexity, and tannic structure, while the Chardonnay contributes minerality, acidity, and light citrus notes. This combination is fruit-forward, with notes of fresh cherry, red currant, raspberry, and delicate hints of apple, mandarin, and floral aromas. Its intense freshness and a delicate acidity allow it to seamlessly transition between contrasting dishes, from delicate grilled salmon to duck, or even crispy fried chicken.
Embodying our unique and progressive Champagne-making philosophy, this vibrant Rosé boasts freshness that makes it incredibly versatile at the table.
Blanc de Blancs
Blanc de Blancs—”white from whites” in French—is a style of Champagne made exclusively with white grape varieties, usually Chardonnay. Lallier Blanc de Blancs, crafted exclusively from Chardonnay grapes, from the Côte des Blancs and Aÿ, has a light yellow color with emerald reflections, and floral aromas with caressing pastry notes. Purity and freshness dominate on the palate, but with tender generosity and a delicate power, leading to a tense and mineral finish.
As a result, Lallier Blanc de Blancs thrives in the company of delicate sashimi, roasted asparagus, sweet potato tataki, grilled white meats like chicken or pork, and other flavorful dishes that complement its elegant character. It also pairs beautifully with fresh cheeses such as ricotta or fresh goat cheese.
Blanc de Noirs
In contrast with Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs is made exclusively from black-skinned grape varieties that are gently pressed to avoid extracting color from their skins. Lallier Blanc de Noirs is made exclusively from the Pinot Noir grape variety , mostly sourced from two complementary terroirs, Aÿ (Vallée de la Marne) and Verzenay (Montagne de Reims). The South exposure of the Aÿ terroir brings distinctive softness and depth, which balance the fresh, tense character of the North-facing Verzenay terroir.
The result is complex, with delicate fruitiness. Aromatic notes are dominated by slightly candied, ripe fruits such as peach and mandarin, and spring honey, supported by a touch of pastry. The palate, meanwhile, is rich, intense and generous, with spicy notes. To pair with this, consider more generous and structured types of foods such as pasta with grilled pork or chicken, fleshy fish, sole turbot, or lightly cooked white or red meats.
Extra Brut
Our Ouvrage, slightly drier than our other cuvées, presents a symphony of buttery and brioche aromas, complemented by delicate apricot and mild fruit notes. Its refined finish reveals subtle hints of hazelnut. With a blend of 65% Pinot Noir and 35% Chardonnay, from the two most beautiful and successful plots of each year, this exquisite Champagne pairs beautifully with caviar, lightly pan-seared scallops, white meats, langoustines, and lobster risotto with a delicate herb butter demi-glace.
Our Loridon, a single Chardonnay plot cuvée, from Aÿ, features pure and refreshing aromas, with notes of almond, candied citrus fruit and summer honey, while on the palate it is straight and smooth, with a lengthy expression and great purity, full of fresh mineral character, leading to pastry and light buttery notes on the finish. As a result, consider pairing it with scallop carpaccio, poached cod with grilled citrus fruits, root vegetables, and shellfish. The wine’s complexity and depth of flavor will complement the savory notes of these dishes, creating a truly well-balanced and memorable culinary pairing.
Le Sous, a single Pinot noir plot cuvée from Aÿ, is also an Extra Brut and is structured and rich—a fleshy cuvée that offers a beautiful balance between vinosity and freshness. This makes it an excellent match for slightly salty dishes, like game meats, root vegetables, and elegant shellfish.
Brut Nature
Brut Nature is a vibrant style of Champagne, sometimes with no discernable sweetness although some expressions can retain a natural light sweetness when crafted with grapes left to achieve a higher level of maturity. Also known as zero dosage or no dosage, Brut Nature contains zero to three grams of sugar per liter, offering minerality, white flowers and fruity notes—yellow fruits such as peach and Mirabelle plum, white fruits such as pear, and citrus fruits including lemon—and delicate brioche and pastry undernotes.
To complement its delicate character, we suggest pairing it with simply prepared dishes that allow its inherent flavors to shine.
Consider pairing Brut Nature with freshly shucked oysters, lightly broiled or pan-seared seafood, or pan-roasted potatoes and caviar, seasoned with a touch of lavender Himalayan salt. These unadorned preparations will enhance the wine’s bright acidity and mineral notes, creating a harmonious culinary experience.
Demi Sec
Due to the low dosages across our range of Champagnes, Lallier isn’t usually paired with sweeter dishes. While we don’t have a Demi-Sec style of Champagne in our range, this wine, with its higher sweetness level, pairs well with desserts that offer a balance of sweetness and acidity. Consider pairing it with desserts that are not overly sweet, such as fresh berries, shortbread, pound cake, angel food cake or tartlets, lemony desserts, or bittersweet creations. The sweetness of the Champagne complements these desserts without overwhelming their delicate flavors.
