It all started with the discussion with my waiter on “what wine can stand up to horseradish, specifically St. Elmo’s infamous shrimp cocktail appetizer with freshly grated horseradish?”. He said “nothing” and suggested a Pinot Noir; I deferred, browsed the limited wine-by-the-glass menu and selected champagne – Moet & Chandon Imperial NV.
Founded in 1743, Moet & Chandon is called the “best-selling Champagne in the world” by Wine Enthusiast and one of the world’s largest champagne producers at 26 million bottles per year, some of which are their prestige cuvee - Dom Perignon, named after Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Perignon.
According to Wikipedia: various mispronunciations of Moët are known, including "mo-way" and "mow-ee". The correct pronunciation is "mo-wett" or "m-wet" (IPA: [moɛt]), as the word is pronounced in Dutch, not French.[8] The company itself is quite firm on this and takes pains to point it out on factory tours.
Dining alone, I chose the Quarter size which is ¼ the size of the standard .75 litres bottle @ $19. Wine-searcher.com shows it available in Indiana retail stores at $11.99 Quarter bottle, $36.99 bottle, $89.99 Magnum equivalent to 2 bottles. St. Elmo’s had it available in a Methuselah but I neglected to note the price. Good, I needed an excuse to go back for another shrimp cocktail!
FYI – Alton Brown suggests pairing his shrimp cocktail recipe with a buttery Chardonnay, the bloggers at wineenabler.com paired their New Year’s Eve shrimp cocktail with Toffoli Prosecco, and Joe Neir, Orlando Wine Pairing Examiner, went with a Pinot Grigio such as Santa Margherita to balance the high fat content of the shrimp with the acidic lemon, tomato, and horseradish base.
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