Champagne without the bubbles would just be another wine. There are more than two million bubbles in a flute of champagne, and the composition and quality of these bubbles can make or break the tasting experience. Not only that, but the style of glass can also affect the quality of the bubbles. But let’s start…
champagne
You can’t put a price on memories
“I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes, I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it if I am; Otherwise I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty.” Madame Bollinger, one of the “grande dames” of French…
Keeping Mumm
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…
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…
Tasting Notes
After a short time living in France, I realised that there was more to Champagne than just quaffing it as an ‘aperitif’. I think this tasting epiphany happened while sitting down one day to a vintage something or other with some very close cousins who live just on the outskirts of the Champagne region. These…
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…
