Pairing: Classic Champagne with French cheese puffs

Our Wine of the Week, Veuve Clicquot Non-Vintage Brut Champagne ($49), is a classic, its deep golden label recognizable and full of promise, which it always keeps. It is a beautifully integrated sparkler, with three varietals -- chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meuniere - adding layers of flavor from deep earthy bass notes to a high, bright melody. The effervescence is delicate and rather thrilling, with tiny little bubbles that tease, tickle and delight the palate. You’ll notice a wide array of flavors that appear and vanish quickly, little starbursts of pear, fig, peach, nectarine, apple, pomegranate, lemon zest, pomelo, river rocks, and even a bit of sweet butter. Now and then there’s a suggestion of smoke, just enough to make you notice before it is gone, only to emerge again a few sips later.

This is a celebratory quaffer, in part because of its price, of course, and in part because its very nature is festive. It’s a great wine for New Year’s Eve and equally welcome on New Year’s Day. You might add a few pomegranate arils to each glass to make it even more gorgeous to the eye.

You can enjoy this wine with almost anything. It’s lovely with Dungeness crab and equally delicious with smoked salmon, seared scallops, steak tartare, carrot fritters and kale salad. Garlic bread? Sure. Pork sliders? Yep. Poached eggs? Definitely. Oyster on the half-shell? A marriage made in heaven.

For today’s recipe, I’m returning to a classic appetizer, the little French cheese puffs known as gougére. If you stumble over the name, think “cream puffs.” It’s a similar recipe and technique, much simpler than you might think. You can serve the gougére neat, without the filling, though for a special occasion, I think it is worth it to take the extra few minutes it takes to fill them.

Gougére with Caviar Cream

Makes about 24

4 tablespoons créme fraiche

1 tablespoon fresh snipped chives

1 teaspoon lemon juice, plus more to taste

2 ounces American Golden Whitefish Caviar or other caviar of choice

- Kosher salt, as needed

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

½ stick (2 ounces) butter, preferably organic

¾ cup all-purpose flour

4 pastured eggs, at room temperature

2 cups Gruyere cheese, room temperature

Put the créme fraiche into a small bowl, add the chives and lemon juice and stir. Add half the caviar, stir again, taste and correct for acid and salt if needed. Cover and refrigerate.

Pour 1 cup of water into a medium saucepan set over medium heat, add the sugar, butter and 1 teaspoon salt. When the butter has melted, add the flour and stir or whisk until thick and pulling away from the sides of the pan.

Remove from the heat and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing between additions until uniform and smooth. Let cool briefly and mix in the Gruyere cheese. Scoop the mixture into a large pastry bag fitted with a round metal tip with a half-inch hole. Chill for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment.

Pipe the dough onto the parchment, making balls a bit smaller than a ping-pong ball and leaving an inch between them. If the dough seems to have warmed up, chill for 30 minutes.

Set the baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the gougeres have puffed up and turned golden brown. Remove from the oven, cool slightly, cut in half crosswise, top the bottom of each with a dollop of caviar cream and a bit of caviar, add the top half and serve right away.

Michele Anna Jordan has written 18 books to date, including the new “More Than Meatballs.” Email Jordan at michele@saladdresser.com. You’ll find her blog, “Eat This Now,” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.