Champagne Jacquesson Cuvee No. 728 Brut

Founded in 1798, the venerable Champagne house Jacquesson is heading into the 21st century with a new brut, Cuvee No. 728, and it’s something revolutionary. Traditionally, nonvintage bruts have been blended from reserve and vintage wines to create a consistent taste and style. But with this new Cuvee No. 728, Jacquesson intends to make the best possible blend each year from the vintage and reserve wines available. No. 728, for example, is made up of 68% wines from the 2000 vintage and 32% reserve wines, all from premier and grand cru vineyards, in roughly equal parts Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier grapes with a smaller proportion of Pinot Noir.

The result is a beautifully complex Champagne, one of the best I’ve ever tasted as this price level. It’s nice and toasty on the nose, has lots of fine bubbles and a lovely, drawn-out finish.

Pop the cork for a festive aperitif with a nugget of aged Parmigiano-Reggiano. Champagne is tremendously food friendly, so bring a bottle along to the table too. It will drink nicely with the usual suspects -- oysters, caviar, smoked trout and salmon, but also fish in beurre blanc, seared scallops, etc.

-- S. Irene Virbila

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Quick swirl

Region: Champagne

Price: About $40

Style: Toasty and complex

Food it goes with: Caviar, oysters, smoked salmon, fish in beurre blanc sauce

Where you find it: Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, (949) 650-8463; Liquid Party Works in Chatsworth, (818) 709-5019 ; Mission Wines in South Pasadena, (626) 403-9463; the Wine Cask in Santa Barbara, (805) 966-9463; the Wine House in Los Angeles, (310) 479-3731; Woodland Hills Wine Company in Woodland Hills, (818) 222-1111