Dorothy Parker said a lot of quotable things, but one of my favorites is this: “Four be the things I’d been better without: Love, curiosity, freckles and doubt. Three be the things I shall never attain: Envy, content and sufficient champagne.” I am actually quite fond of freckles (on other people; I don’t have any of my own), but I am with her 100 percent on the “sufficient champagne” part. In fact, I am not entirely sure there is such a thing, although I’ve had a few headaches that can attest to the fact that there is definitely such a thing as “too much.”
Whether or not we ever have “sufficient” champagne, we in New Orleans certainly have ample opportunities to drink it. From holiday parties to New Year’s Eve to kicking off Carnival on Epiphany, it’s always a good time to raise a toast. And although I’m not holding out too much hope for this football season, I will always remember popping a bottle of Veuve Clicquot in my living room as the Saints won the Super Bowl. In the ensuing tears, hugs and general madness, two of my best champagne glasses got broken, and I didn’t even care.
In other parts of the country, they only drink champagne at New Year’s and at weddings. Here, we drink it year-round. And why not? Nothing says “celebration” quite like champagne, and nowhere knows how to celebrate quite like New Orleans. That might not make us the envy of everyone, everywhere, but it sure does make me content.
