I popped open a bottle of champagne after the Cava we had just enjoyed. I noticed from the smiling face of my famous friend, winemaker Heidi Starr, that she’d had a few too many; she looked very playful and silly.

I smiled and kept on pouring, knowing I would have to drive her home. I poured Charles Ellner Champagne, a small producer of excellent bubbly.

I first poured the brut reserve for Heidi. “This champagne is produced without any pinot meunier, which is commonly blended with pinot noir and chardonnay to make champagne,” I said. “The reason pinot meunier is blended with chard and pinot noir is that it creates a fruity style which allows the bubbly to be released early. However, it doesn’t age well, and one of the landmarks of this champagne house is that it ages its wines four to six years, which is a great deal longer than some of the more famous champagne houses.”

Heidi took a long sip. “This brut has a delicate nose, frothy mousse and great body,” she said.

I nodded my head and exclaimed, “Their house style is based on elegance and finesse, which is due to the longer cellar time and greater use of chardonnay.”

“Very good,” she declared, pointing a long index finger at the another Charles Ellner Champagne. “I would like to try the blanc de blanc.”

I obliged by opening another bottle. After I loosened the cage, there was an enormous pop and the cork came flying out like a rocket, hitting the ceiling and then crashing down on my head. I laughed and so did Heidi.

I was surprised that only a little of the champagne frothed out of the bottle. I quickly poured Heidi’s hungry glass. She gave me her biggest smile showing all the ivory. “I love bubbly that is 100 percent chardonnay,” she said.

Pouring myself a glass, I agreed with her. “You take out the flavor elements of the pinots and you discover the subtle charm of chardonnay, without all the distractions of too much oak like most California still-wine chardonnays.”

She let out a little laugh. “I just love champagne, but it is such the opposite of what I do with wine,” she said. “I want to create as much richness as I possibly can by letting the grapes ripen as long as they can on the vine, amassing as much flavor and sugars as they can. I have a barrel program that extracts even more flavor from the oak.”

“You are looking to create a large flavor profile, a richness on the palate,” I interjected. “Champagne wants body but is always striving for elegance. Carbon dioxide, a natural byproduct of fermentation, adds another dimension to wine. And when CO2 is captured in the bottle and the wine becomes carbonated, there is a party in the bottle and all you are doing is letting that party out and joining in.”

“That’s a fun way of looking at it,” Heidi said, grabbing a bottle of Charles Ellner 1996 Seduction. “I have had this wine before and it is full of citrus and honey, with kisses of minerality and slight hints of a French bakery nose.”

She popped the bottle open like a master sommelier. I took a sip and it was as exactly as she described.

Heidi flopped down on a large fluffy chair in the wine bar. “This is a blend of 75 percent chardonnay and 25 percent pinot noir and has been cellared seven years, which allows the flavors to develop,” she said.

After finishing her glass, Heidi fell asleep. I fixed some coffee, drank a few cups and then drove her home in my orange truck.