With Christmas over (insert 30 emoji sad faces here), the Holidays are nearing their end; all that’s left is New Years Eve!  As far as this New Years Eve goes, I am quite sure that I will be floating around on a yacht party, hoping that I took enough Dramamine.  Regardless, there is no way that I will be ringing in the new year without a glass of my very favorite champagne: Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin (VCP).

VCP, hailing from France, has been around for hundreds of years; it was a fixture on royal tables back in the day and has maintained its esteem in current times.  Featuring complex taste, with the majority of its blend composed of Pinot Noir (my favorite!), and unique labeling, Veuve Clicquot stands out from the competition.  I have had a love affair with VCP for quite some time now, regardless of the fact that lately it has sky-rocketed into an unlimited number of reality shows (Kardashians, all of the Housewives franchises), losing a bit of its class along the way.

Like many firsts, mine sipping Veuve was unforgettable.  This was a few years ago and I was about a dozen dates in with a new guy.  We had just finished yet another charming dinner (isn’t it always that way in the beginning?) and decided to grab a bottle at the local wine store for a movie and a nightcap.

He happened to have already known and loved Veuve Clicquot and suggested that I must try it; I think this was a strategic move on his part.  Once we brought it back to my apartment, we settled on the movie Casablanca (again, strategic move) and popped our bottle.  Like any true romantic, I immediately fell in love with the sweeping drama and the punctuated, glamorous dialogue between the old movie stars.  What made this first occurence truly special, though, was the fact that throughout the whole movie, the characters’ champagne of choice was VCP.  Here I was, sitting on my couch in modern times drinking the same champagne that the beautiful stars in the movie were sipping on as they contemplated their troubles.  It blended generations together; all of a sudden, my suitor sitting awkwardly next to me was the dashing Humphrey Bogart and I was the beautiful and cunning Norwegian woman stirring him up.  This made the entire evening incredibly romantic and, thus, was the beginning of a relationship.

Over time, my love affair with Veuve Clicquot has far outlived what I had with my faux Humphrey Bogart, but I will forever be grateful to him for the stellar introduction.

And so, without a doubt, at the stroke of midnight, my New Year will ring in with a perfect champagne kiss,

TLV