A bit of breakfast, a bit of lunch and a lot of fun

As the calendar marches on through, well, March, and eventually into April, the weather turns fairer, Easter arrives, and Mother’s Day isn’t far behind. One of Chandon’s favorite parts of this transition? Brunch season!

Kristen Brott - Chandon Brand Ambassador

Back to brunch basics.
The tenets of a proper brunch are simple: A weekend morning, friends and family, sumptuous, sweet and savory fare, and—if you’re of the same entertaining ilk as those of us at Chandon—a daytime drink or two. (It only seems fitting, as, legend has it, the term “brunch” was coined in British publication Hunter’s Weekly in 1895, describing a Sunday meal for “Saturday-night carousers.”)

When it comes to throwing a chic, invitingly casual brunch, one of our go-to experts is Brand Ambassador Kristen Brott. When not spending nearly half the year on airplanes and in hotels, singing the praises of our wines, she calls Napa Valley home. There, she’s been fine-tuning the Brunch Arts since she was a kid, when her family would often get together on Sunday mornings for fine food and bubbly.

Kristen recently sat down with us to talk about her favorite way to host a brunch and, especially, how to build one around our newly-released 2006 Mt. Veeder Vintage Brut.

Come for the bubbly. Stay for the company.
“Growing up, for brunch, my family always used to do a savory crêpe bar, and just let people help themselves,” Kristen reminisces. “I still love that idea of keeping everything very leisurely. People can get up whenever they like, help themselves, that kind of thing.”

In Kristen’s mind, a nice springtime brunch is all about a simple, yet fresh and delicious, spread of rustic local foods. Sitting outside, enjoying some pleasant decompression time with loved ones—literally stopping to smell the roses. After a long work week, it offers a chance to catch your breath while filling up your belly—and a flute or three of bubbly, of course.

Bites need bubbles.
Any good brunch should feature some sparkling wine on ice and—just in time for brunch season—Chandon recently released our 2006 Mt. Veeder Vintage Brut. The second of three in our Vintage Appellation series, highlighting the unique qualities of each growing season in our vineyard appellations, it’s also a dynamite combination with typical brunch food.

“We recently did a tasting, and immediately thought it was a natural to serve at brunch,” recalls Brott. “It has some nice fruit elements to it, and a lot of honey on the nose, so it’d go well with fig compote and a variety of cheeses. It’s so creamy, too, so you could combine it with an artisan plate of charcuterie to combine with those salty flavors.”

According to Brott, the 2006 Mt. Veeder Blanc de Blanc is also a natural complement to egg dishes and pastries—poached eggs with prosciutto and brioche, quiches or frittatas, a variety of savory Danishes and croissants, or classic eggs benedict. It’s delightful with seafood as well, so a salmon mousse, crabs benedict, or even simply seared scallops would be crowd-pleasers.

Don’t forget to take advantages of all the incredible seasonal flavors available at your local market right now, as well. “If you want to go the ‘fresh spring’ route, something like a fresh corn chowder or polenta would be outstanding,” recommends Brott. “The wine has aromas of stone fruit, too, so fresh white peaches with a bit of cream on top works well.”

No matter what your brunch menu, you can’t go wrong simply getting a good group together with some bubbly and enjoying the day. “Brunch is such a great excuse to spend a whole day enjoying life, eating and drinking,” says Brott.

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.