On my first Christmas with my new French family, we were living in Japan, in a small village on the Chiba peninsular about 80km, and a thousand years away from Tokyo. My parents-in-law were coming to visit our dolls house apartment to take the opportunity to see a part of Japan that not many tourists…
Experiences
Collections
One of the less talked about side effects of drinking champagne is the amount of memorabilia that is accumulated. Collections of unforgettable moments that you just don’t want to throw away. There are the empty bottles, the caps, the beautiful presentation cases, even the corks. That Krug 1988 that we drank on our 10th wedding…
Visiting the Champagne Underground
Far below the astonishing beauty of the Champagne countryside lies an underground maze of equal beauty and history. There are hundreds of kilometers of the cellars running through champagne, which were originally built 30m below ground to keep the champagne at a constant temperature while it was fermenting. Ironically, the cold winter temperatures in the…
Perrier-Jouët and their seductive Belle Epoque
Visiting our friends in the small village of Chavot-Courcourt on the outskirts of Epernay, I was immediately enchanted by the sight of the most beautiful bottle of Champagne I had ever seen. It was a Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque and the drink of choice for our hosts. Not only was the bottle exquisite, beautifully painted with delicate…
Madame Salvatori’s Little Shop
In the quiet little rue Flodoard in Epernay, stands an unassuming ‘Epicerie’, which on first glance seems to be just that – a small corner store selling fruit, vegetables and all sorts of things for the pantry. One one of our first trips to Epernay our friends had sent us there to find some champagne…
Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!
So supposedly said Dom Perignon on realising the wine he had made was a sparkling marvel. It may have well have been my reaction when I first tasted ‘French Champagne’ on my 18th Birthday. It was a Bollinger N.V., given to my mother by a visiting American business man who told her it was for…
