Champagne Day 2025, Bureau Italia: “Pair it with cured meats”

Just days before Champagne Day 2025, Bureau du Champagne Italia organized an exclusive preview for a select group of journalists in central Milan. After last year’s focus on Italian cheeses, this year’s attention turned to cured meats, chosen to highlight the characteristics of different types of Champagne. Anything but niche products.

“We want people to enjoy Champagne with products easily found in delicatessens or supermarkets – began Domenico Avolio, director of Bureau du Champagne Italia – without having to search for difficult pairings, but rather appreciating it with cured meats available everywhere.” Simplicity on the plate and in the glasses, but not only. The venue setup was also minimalist elegance, at Spazio Pio XI in Piazza Pio XI 5, steps from the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. Welcoming participants was a long table with small cutting boards for each cured meat.

Lardo, mortadella, coppa, salami, aged prosciutto crudo, and ‘nduja, ready for pairing with as many Champagnes; from zero dosage to demi-sec, not forgetting rosé. Leading the tastings is Marco Chiesa, European Champagne ambassador, who invites attendees to follow the sensory journey he designed, not without some provocation. “Champagne has a unique ability to enhance fats and balance saltiness and spiciness. It’s not just about bubbles and it’s absolutely reductive to say that Champagne goes well with cured meats ‘because it cuts the fat’.”

The tasting begins with lardo di Arnad, characterized by a soft texture and delicate aroma of hazelnut and butter. The pairing is with Pommery Grand Apanage 1874 Blanc de Blancs. Freshness and acidity cleanse the palate, inviting the next sip, while amplifying the buttery notes of the lardo. Next comes mortadella Bologna IGP, with a sweeter and more aromatic profile, paired with Cattier Brut Icône. The creaminess of the cured meat meets the roundness of the wine. A delicious harmony between sweetness and acidity.

With coppa piacentina, aromatic and slightly spiced, Chiesa proposes a Lanson Le Black Reserve, Brut with predominant Pinot Noir that ends up slightly covering the delicacy of the unaged cured meat. Salami is the next protagonist, paired with the Champagne that is in some ways the most controversial of the entire tasting: Gustave Goussard Purnoir, another 100% Pinot Noir from Côte des Bar, zero dosage. It’s the most provocative pairing and, perhaps, the least successful.

Then comes the turn of a non-vintage rosé: Castelnau Rosé Brut, with predominant Pinot Meunier, divinely paired with 24-month prosciutto crudo. The tasting closes magnificently with spicy ‘nduja from Calabria paired with the sweetness of Champagne Delavenne L’Île, Demi-Sec with 32 g/l dosage; pure harmony, synthesizing the meaning of the entire tasting and yet another “non-elitist” proposal from Bureau Champagne Italia.

After all, participation in Champagne Day 2025 on October 24 is simple and open to everyone and, as confirmed by Domenico Avolio, grows in popularity year after year. Anyone can make their toast special, at home or out, with friends or family. Throughout Italy, restaurants, wine bars, and venues will organize events dedicated to tasting and food pairings with Champagne.

All details and the list of events can be found on the official website champagneday.champagne.fr/it, where you can also register your own initiative. The platform also offers a communication kit with ready-made materials for social networks. The official hashtag #ChampagneDay will be the common thread for sharing images and moments online, from both public and private events.

The learning journey continues beyond Champagne Day with the return of the Académie du Champagne, an educational event organized by Bureau du Champagne and dedicated entirely to the appellation. The 2025 edition will be held in Milan on November 3 and will offer three different learning paths – beginners, experts, and connoisseurs – calibrated to participants’ level of preparation. Each course includes three 45-minute lessons, with guided tastings of 12-15 cuvées and focus on different production and sensory aspects of Champagne. Registration, with limited capacity, is available on Eventbrite until sold out.

For those wishing to explore the subject free of charge throughout the year, the Comité Champagne provides Champagne Education, an e-learning platform. The program, also available in Italian, allows you to follow a complete online training course, tailored to your level of knowledge. The website www.champagne.education/it offers interactive content, educational materials, and tests to consolidate skills and improve communication about Champagne to consumers.