Chilled Sparkling Wine

Serve sparkling wine very cold -- colder than other white or pink wines. Opinions vary, but the preferred temperatures span 40 to 52 degrees, hovering around 45 degrees.

Mumm winemaker Didier Mariotti told us at a lunch that his goal had been to create a "gastronomic" champagne. That became evident when we tasted the 1998 Cuvee R. Lalou ($160) at two different temperatures and found that it tasted like two different wines. Served well chilled to 42 degrees, it was crisply acidic and refreshed our palates by cutting through our dishes. Served noticeably less cool, at 52 degrees, the same wine showed heightened creaminess, enveloping the food with which we sampled it.