Debate a Bubble - Champagne News and Reviews

Please Dont Let Kate Moss Choose Your Champagne

If you've read my last post you'll know that I was listening to Women's Hour on the radio today and heard a review of supermarket champagne bargains.

At the end of the programme they just sneaked in a reference to a much more expensive champagne made by one of the big name champagne houses that is apparently the favourite bubbly of Kate Moss and the reason it's so popular with the Queen of Fashion is because it contains very little sugar and consequently, according to the radio programme, has 1/3 fewer calories than other champagnes.

Sounds great, and if you enjoy Ultra Brut, that's great, but let's take another look at this before you go off to buy a case of the stuff thinking that it can be the latest addition to your calorie controlled diet.

I suspect that the brand in question was Laurent Perrier's Ultra Brut, although they're not allowed to mention any brand names on the BBC

LP Ultra Brut has become very popular in recent years. It is extremely dry having no sugar added to it at all, unlike most other champagnes on the market which are Brut meaning they contain between 6 - 14 grams of sugar per litre.

So, if you were to drink a full bottle of regular brut you'd take in... shall we say around 10 grams of sugar, that's  less than 2 grams per glass.

Now I'm not a nutritionist, but it seems to me that you'd have to drink a heck of a lot of champagne for the miniscule difference in sugar content between Ultra Brut and Brut to make any difference to your weight.

In fact if you were drinking that much champagne on a regular basis you'd have an alcohol problem, not a weight problem.

It all goes to shown that you really shouldn't listen to what the news or the celebs say, or do. Just make up your own mind what you like and what you don't like.

Stay Bubbly

Jiles

Fabulous champagnes at great prices - join now

http://bit.ly/champagneclub

Supermarket Champagne Bargains Are Rubbish- It's Official!

For those of you who don't live in the U.K. let me tell you that Women's Hour is a long running radio programme broadcast daily at around 10.00 a.m.

How come I know this? Well if I'm in the car at that time of day I'll often listen to whatever's on - Hey that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it - and today it turned out to be worth it.

To my suprise there was a feature on champagne and more specifically about the supposed champagne bargains on offer in British supermarkets at the moment.

The expert guest  was a well known wine writer and critic with one of the major newspapers and she was pretty scathing about the quality of the cut-price champagnes on offer in every supermarket at prices around £10 - £12 a bottle

'It's all rubbish; it's grim; I wouldn't clean my toilet  with some of this stuff ' and more in the same vein.

In fact the message of the review was loud and clear. If you only want to spend  £15 or less, you're far better off getting 2 bottles of cave or prosecco than one of the cheap supermarket champagnes.

They are not bargains at all, they're rubbish.  

In fact, according to the 'expert' the cheapest champagne that was worth drinking was priced at £18.99

Am I disturbed by this? Not a bit. I entirely agree. In fact it's what I've been saying for ages.

Apart from the fact that the quality of the cheap stuff is indeed grim and the taste acidic, I just can't see the point of buying cheap champagne.

Champagne is supposed to make you feel special for goodness sake - not like a cheapskate - and how can  spending only £10 on your champagne make you feel affluent and good about yourself?

Having said this, I  don't like to waste my money and I know that you don't  have to spend an absolute fortune on a bottle of champagne.

I'm convinced that the big brand names rarely offer you the best value for money and what I really love is to find some great champagnes from the smaller unknown makers, of which there are dozens.. You'll have to spend  somewhere in the mid £20s and perhaps a little more for some of their cuvées, but wow, are they worth it!

If you'd like to discover some of these 'hidden gems' why not join our new champagne club. Check it out here

http://bit.ly/champagneclub

Stay Bubbly,

Jiles

The Oldest Champagne in The World?

I was in Champagne a couple of weeks ago and organised a tasting  with Thierry Laherte and his son Aurélien.

The Lahertes practice bio-dynamic viticulture and they are about half way into an 11 years process that will see all their vineyards certified as bio-dynamic, but already the results are outstanding. To say their champagnes are superb would be an understatement - they are quite simply some of the best I've ever tasted. The non-vintage we started with was a revelation in terms of the power of the aromas and depth of flavour, but this was only the first of 8 champagnes we tasted that night.

The one I really wanted to tell you about is Le Clos...

Is it the oldest champagne in the world? Well in one sense NO, but in another YES

Many of you know that there are 3 grape varieties used in Champagne : Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier and most people believe that these are the only three varieties that can be used, but that's not quite right. You see there were originally several more grape varieties approved in Champagne, it's just that the others have fallen out of favour and  haven't been used to make champagne for decades, even centuries.

Back in 2003 Thierry  decided to see if he could replant some of these old varieties and make a champagne the way it used to taste 250 or more years ago .

The result is a stunning champagne called Le Clos the first bottles of which were released earlier this year- that in itself is an interesting insight into the time scales involved in making champagne: 3 years to produce a decent crop of grapes, then several more years to make the champagne and let it age before you can sell a single bottle. It's not a job for the impatient and those chasing a quick return.

Le Clos is named after a small plot of vineyard , a parcelle, near the village of Chavot where the Laherte family lives. The plot is planted with

14% Pinot Noir

18% Chardonnay

18% Pinot Meunier and

17% Pinot Blanc

15% Petit Meslier

10% Fromenteau

8% Arbanne

I brought home a single precious bottle which I'll be opening and sharing with friends very soon, so after a second tasting, I'll be able to tell you more about this exceptional champagne  and more about these old grapes varieties and lots more too.

I just love discovering people like the Laherte family and their superb champagnes - they don't have the glitz and glamour of the big international brands it's true, but they have something else : a quiet passion and a determination to produce champagnes that are the absolute best they they can achieve- it's real privilege to get to know them and their champagnes.

If this sort of thing gives you a buzz too then let me tell you that Laherte will be just one of the champagnes featured in the new Champagne Club that I will be launching in early 2010. If you'd like to discover this and more superb champagnes from small growers, then register your interest by going here.

http://bit.ly/champagneclub

There's no commitment involved in just registering, but places will be limited so, if this is for you, go there now.

That's it for now, so have a wonderful Christmas holiday and

Stay Bubbly

Jiles

'

The Latest Champagne Tasting Fair in Paris

I was in Champagne earlier this month visiting some of the wonderful small champagne houses that I'll be introducing you to in the coming weeks and months. One of them gave me an invitation to the inaugural event of the Salon des Vins de Champagne in Paris on December 12th & 13th.

Unfortunately I couldnt make it, but it's exciting to see these fabulous champagne makers organising themselves to make sure they get the attention they so richly deserve.

I certainly intend to put this event in my diary for next year and I suggest you do too - it could be the champagne tasting event of the year. The emphasis is very much on the small growers who produce such wonderful and, as yet, largely undiscovered champagnes. Some of them I know already :

Pascal Doquet,

Laherte Frères,

Franck Pascal,

René Geoffroy,

and Pierre Peters to name just a few, but there are many more intriguing names to discover :

Henri Billiot,

Olivier Horiot,

Georges Laval , the list goes on...

Hope to see you there next year, and in the meantime I plan to visit some of these great little champagne makers in the coming months. I'll tell you all about them after each visit, so watch this space.

Have a wonderful holiday season wherever you are and be sure to enjoy a few glasses of champagne.

Stay Bubbly,

Jiles

More Answers To Your Champagne Questions

First things first...

A Merry Christmas to you and may 2010 be a fabulous year for you all!

Next.

This is a long blog post for all those people who entered our recent competition and are waiting to answers to their champagne questions. Even if you didn't enter the  competition you're welcome to read on and see if you like what you read. If you want to be on our e-mail list just leave your first name and e-mail address at www.madaboutbubbly.com or in the box on the right.

Now, on to our news...

Beware of your tumble dryer! (We'll get around to champagne in a sec - promise) 

Sorry I haven’t been in touch for too long. Here’s what happened…

We had a fire at the end of September. It started when the tumble dryer in the kitchen caught fire and pretty much destroyed our home. We found out later from the fire brigade us that tumble dryers are the single biggest cause of home fires. I don’t want to panic you, but don’t leave your tumble dryer on when you go to bed or when you go out!

To begin with we thought that we could sort everything out in a couple of weeks and get back to normal, but were we ever wrong!!

First we had to find a new office – that was the easy part – but then...... our telephone lines were down and we had to get them back up fast.

We had a problem. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to get a telephone company to mocve fast, well …..it’s not what they normally do. In fact I don’t think it’s what they ever do. To cut a long story short, the whole thing took another 4 weeks. 4 weeks!!! Unbelievable!.

Anyway, once we got the lines back up we obviously needed broadband and on and on it went... Anyway, a good few glasses of champagne were needed to keep the spirits up and this worked wonders! Now I’m happy to tell you that we back to normal – as normal as we ever get, that is.

A New Year and A New Champagne Club

Now, I can finally catch up with answers to the many questions you submitted to our champagne competition a few weeks back. You asked questions from the USA, Canada, the U.K. and several other countries, so thank you to everyone for taking part.. We’ll get to the answers in a minute.

There were loads of great questions but what struck us most of all is that many of you are asking the same sort of thing – Here’s how Louisa put it:

My greatest challenge is ignorance! I am sure some of the lesser known labels would taste just as great as the better known brands and I would like to be able to select great champagne at a great price

Sarah wrote to say that her challenges is

Balancing price against quality, i.e. finding a good value champagne that still tastes fab!

Nick said

For me,it’s the decision between an established name I can trust, or trying the unknown

And Lynn said

Deciding between those I know and like, and others which ''look'' or ''sound'' good, but which I''ve never tried.

These are all great questions, and rather than just do a one-off answering session, we’ve been racking our brains to come up with something that will help all of you and others who are confused about champagne. And here’s where we’d like your help

In the New Year we’ll be launching The Grand Crew Club

and these are some of the ideas we’ve been playing around with.

• Every month we’ll introduce you to one or two wonderful champagnes from lesser-known makers that you’d never find yourself.

• We’ll tell you where you can buy them in the U.K. and elsewhere if there’s an importer.

• We’ll arrange a discount for you off the normal price.

• You can make your own decisions about whether or not to buy (no obligation)

• Plus we’ll send you lots more champagne offers and info. throughout the year.

We’d like this club to give you exactly what you are looking for, so what we’d like you to tell us now is

What other features and benefits would you like to have from the club? 

AND

What do you feel is the right price to join the club? Annually, monthly, quarterly?

We’re waiting to hear from you, so email me directly at jiles@madaboutbubbly.com

I promise to respond to all your feedback.

---

Now to the answers to more of your champagne questions – see if you can spot yours

Finding a champagne that doesn’t contain Chardonnay (John)

Most champagnes are made by blending together the three grapes used in the Champagne region - Chardonnay (a white grape) Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier (both black grapes), so most champagnes contain at least some Chardonnay. If you don’t like Chardonnay look for a bottle that says Blanc de Noirs on the label – made only with black grapes.

  

As an introduction to this style why not start with Sainsbury’s Blanc de Noirs? I tasted it last week in Champagne at the company that produces it for Sainsbury’s. It’s well worth trying.

 

 

 

 

Finding a champagne that appeals to both red and white wine drinkers (Lesley)

The Blanc de Noirs might do the trick – after all it is made with black grapes only

Am I paying too much for the ‘label’? (Craig)

Knowing what is good value for money (Jean)

Affording the good stuff (Jo)

Don’t be fooled into thinking that a high price necessarily means high quality. There are plenty of expensive champagnes that are, in my opinion, over-priced. On the other hand there are some fabulous champagnes that cost a lot less.

How do I know I’ll enjoy it? (Margaret)

Knowing the quality without tasting (Alison)

Identifying the flavour profile I like (Richard)

When you’re choosing wine 9 times out of 10 the type of grape is shown on the label so you’ve always got a good idea of the taste of what’s in the bottle.

The problem with champagne is that almost none of the makers tells you which grapes have been used and even when they do, they usually do so in such general terms that it‘s not very helpful, so what do you do?

There are sometimes a few clues on the label: Blanc de Blancs is 100 % Chardonnay and has a light style, Blanc de Noirs is all black grapes and has fuller, deeper flavours which are more obviously fruity than Chardonnay-based champagnes

The label will tell you how sweet it is. Champagnes range from ultra dry to fairly dry (brut) to fairly sweet (demi-sec) and on to very sweet (doux) although this is not common.

If your automatic reaction is to say you don’t like demi-sec champagnes, do think again; they can be fabulous with the right food.

Serve at the start of a meal or with dessert? (Lori)

Understanding what food it is best drunk with (Jakki)

You can serve champagne as an aperitif, with dessert and with all courses in between and I’m not saying that just because I’m a champagne fan.

Yes, I know that most people think of champagne as being an aperitif, and lovely though that is, there’s much more to it than just that.

You can find a champagne to match just about every type of food you can think of, with the possible exception of really rich meat dishes such as Boeuf Bourgignon.

Is vintage champagne all it’s cracked up to be and what vintage would you recommend? ( Sue )

There are two main differences between vintage champagne and non-vintage, which accounts for about 80% of all champagne that is made.

First vintage, champagne is made from grapes harvested in one single year, and non-vintage is a blend of wine made from grapes harvested in different years. The objective with non-vintage champagne is to produce the same tase and quality year in, year out – that’s why you need to use wines from several years because each year’s grapes used on their own will produce a slightly different result due to differences in the weather from year to year. You probably guessed then, that vintage champagne does vary slightly from year to year.

The second major difference is that vintage champagne has to be aged longer than non-vintage and this means that the flavours and aromas are richer, deeper and more powerful. So if you like this style of champagne, then Yes you can tell the difference between non-vintage and vintage.

Many people will tell you that such and such a year is the best vintage for decades, or that another year’s vintage is especially good and of course, they charge a higher price for those champagnes. BUT remember..... in Champagne, the makers don’t have to declare a vintage every year. Their main product is non-vintage. It follows that if they do decide to declare a vintage it’s because they believe they have made something special and, in this sense, every vintage is a good one, so once again, don’t take too much notice of the marketing hype about any particular year.

I’m never sure how long it keeps (Sue)

Finding champagne with enough bottle age (David)

Champagne is ready to drink when it leaves the maker’s cellars. After all, the maker has aged the champagne for years already so that you don’t have to. ( This is exactly the opposite aproach to most other good wines that you buy young and have to store until they are ready to drink).

Having said this, storing champagne for a few months will help the flavours and aromas develop, provided that the place where you store the champagne is suited to the job: a constant temperature, relatively humid and preferably, dark.. In short, a proper cellar. The period the champagne spends ageing, after it’s left the champagne cellars, is called ‘bottle age’.

So if you have a cellar do keep the champagne for a few weeks or months, but if you put your champagne in the kitchen, in the garage, under the stairs, or anywhere like that, drink it within a few weeks, so you won’t be disappointed when you do finally open it.

The choice is huge and despite many years trying, I still haven''t found THE ONE! (Al)

Keep trying Al – a tough job but someone’s got to do it

Limiting myself to just 1 case ( Martyn)

Spoken like a true champagne lover!

Buying a case at a time is a good way to buy any wine because you tend to get better prices than for single bottles and, unless champagne is a once in a blue moon type of enjoyment, you’ll drink all 6 bottles in a case anyway.

Knowing which of the ''non-big-brand'' champagnes are actually as nice, if not nicer, than the ''names'' when spending a modest amount on a bottle. (Grant)

Knowing what to pick - what is a good champagne and what is a ''bad'' champagne and knowing how to tell the difference!! (Chris)

How can a novice acquire a broad, but simple, understanding of the brands/purchasing options open to us? (Steve)

Here’s a quick guide to what you need to know before you buy the bottle

1) The quality of the grapes used

2) The blend of grapes used

3) The length of ageing

You need to start with good quality grapes. Look for the words Grand Cru or Premier Cru on the label. This is an indication that what is in the bottle will be good.

The proportion in which the grapes have been blended will dictate the style of the champagne.

The length of ageing has a major influence on the final result and allows the champagne to develop the biscuity, toasty and exotic aromas that many people adore.

If you can’t find this info on the label, (and the chances are you won’t) ask your wine merchant – he should know. If not, buy my e-book

http://www.maboffers.com/insiders-guide-to-champagne.html

(sorry, just had to get that plug in!)

Not knowing any specialist suppliers and having to rely on supermarkets (Matthew)

A fate worse than death Matthew, although as mentioned above, there are some good supermarket champagnes around - the trick is knowing which ones. Anyway Matthew, stay tuned for the launch of our new Grand Crew Club in the New Year

Finding the little bitty letters that specify whether or not it's a grower champagne. If it is a grower producer, I’m usually game to try! (Paul)

Paul, take a look at this blog post. I think you’ll find it helpful

http://bit.ly/Growerchampagnes

That’s it for this now. I think I’ve covered just about all the questions you sent in, but if not e-mail me and tell me.

Thanks for reading this far and don’t forget to let me have your thoughts about the Grand Crew Club and feel free to e-mail me about anything else as well. Looking forward to hearing from you soon

Stay Bubbly,

Jiles

Christmas Champagne Tips Part 1

Christmas and New Year wouldn’t be the same without a few bottles of champagne to share with your friends and family, but to add that little bit of extra sparkle and style to your celebrations here are a few tips taken from the famous Château de Saran, in the heart of Champagne, that are really simple and make you look and feel like a real connoisseur.

Part 1 - Putting on the style

Big is better

A bottle of champagne only contains about 6 glassfuls, so it doesn’t need many people to finish the bottle. If you’re throwing a party you’re going to need a lot more than 1 lonely bottle, so why not buy magnums instead?

A magnum is a double bottle and although it’s usually a little bit more expensive than buying 2 bottles, there are a couple of very good reasons to go for magnums:

First there’s the wine itself.

Part of the ageing process for champagne involves the interaction between the air in the neck of the bottle and the wine that fills most of the bottle.

In a magnum you have twice as much liquid as in a bottle but only a little bit more air, so the whole ageing process is slowed down.

That means magnums spend longer in the champagne-maker’s cellar and this extra ageing means the flavours and aromas are always that little bit richer, rounder and more complex – try it and I’m sure you’ll notice the difference.

Second, magnums look so much more impressive and will really add a bit of fun and elegance to your party. I guarantee that the slight extra cost of magnums is well worth it.  

Image courtesy of Michel Jolyot, the finest photographer in champagne

Which glasses?

There are two reasons for choosing champagne glasses:

A real wine fan might say you that you should have glasses that are the right size and shape to enhance the champagne.

If that’s you, then go for the tulip-shaped champagne glass called a flute: tall, tapering in at the top, but not too narrow (if it’s too narrow you can’t move the champagne around in the glass to release the aromas)

Not the pefect shape but they certainly look lovely

The other very good reason to choose a champagne glass is because you like the look of it, in which case

go for whatever you want, including perhaps the old-fashioned saucer-shaped glass called a coupe.

These are not so good for appreciating the finer points of the champagne, but for certain occasions and a bit of fun they’re great. They are also just right for champagne cocktails – one sugar cube with a drop of two of angostura bitters dripped into it, a good measure of brandy or cognac and topped up with champagne – a soft, sweet and silent killer of a cocktail and still hard to beat.

Next two more simple tips taken from the best soirées in Champagne.

Always hold your glass by the stem – why?

• That’s what the stem is for

• It looks more elegant

• The warmth of your hand doesn’t warm the champagne

• You don’t cover up the colour and the bubbles in the champagne

If you’re throwing a party, try to avoid pouring a tray of glasses and leaving it for your guests to take a glass as they arrive.

• The champagne will soon warm up

• The fizz will soon die down

• Part of the fun of champagne is seeing the bubbles rise up in the glass as it is poured in front of your eyes.

Serving

Last but not least, there’s lots of advice out there about the best temperature to serve wine, and champagne is no exception. The trouble is unless you happen to have a thermometer in your handbag or wallet – I don’t think so – simply knowing the ideal temperature is not much help. So here’s something a little more practical.

Put the bottle in an ice bucket with ice and half topped up with water, for about 20 minutes. This will get your bottle to the perfect temperature, which incidentally is 8⁰ – 10⁰ C for non vintage champagne. It’s a couple of degrees warmer for older vintage champagne, so 15 minutes in the ice bucket will be fine.

By the way, you can keep champagne in the fridge for weeks without harming it, but the fridge is at about 4⁰ C so take the bottle out 10 minutes before opening it.

Part 2 of your Christmas champagne tips will be along in a day or two so keep an eye on this blog.

To learn more of the secrets of champagne go to

www.madaboutbubbly.com

Jiles

Now That's What I Call A Champagne Bar

I was in London for a few meetings the other day and took the chance to pop in to the St. Pancras Grand Champagne Bar that I’d heard so much about.

For those readers who are not from the U.K., St. Pancras is one of London’s major railway stations. It’s a huge building dating from the Victorian era and the architecture is stunning in it’s own right, but the recent refurbishment has transformed the place into a shopping and tourist destination as well.

The selection of champagne was impressive to say the least, I counted 15 champagnes available by the glass ( not to mention one English sparkling wine ), 25 champagne houses and no less than 104 different champagnes available by the bottle and in many cases, by the magum, jeroboam (4 bottles) and even balthasar (16 bottles). Just reading the champagne list was a treat in itself.

Just about all the major champagne houses were represented and what I particularly liked is the fact that there isn’t just a single champagne from each house, but at least one other champagne to discover. The strange exception to this was Charles Heidsieck –just one champagne from this great maker - the Blancs des Millenaires 1995 - but none of the excellent non-vintage.

Still it would be  a bit mean to find fault with such a wonderfully comprehensive champagne list, although I wonder how many people actually take advantage of the chance to try something out of the ordinary instead of opting for the usual brut NV? Mind you that’s their loss, especially since the bar is running several offers that allow you to do just that:

•    how about Taittinger Nocturne by the glass as a change from the standard Brut Réserve ? If you haven’t tried Nocturne yet, this luscious, sec champagne is slightly sweeter than brut and it's one I heartily recommend.

•    if sec is not your style, then you could try a flute of Deutz Brut Classic served with a portion of smoked salmon for only £12.95

Deutz is a first class champagne house in all respects. Taken over by Louis Roederer in 1993 it received a lot of investment and now it’s one of those houses that doesn’t immediately spring to mind, but once tried, will always impress

•    there again you might go for a tasting tray of 4 different champagnes from Pommery for only £16. A great way to sample champagnes you may not have tasted before without spending a lot of money.

•    and if you still haven’t found what you are looking for then there’s always Gosset, Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, Dom Pérignon 2000 and Laurent Perrier Grand Siècle , all available by the glass, to name a few

Prices are not bad either I thought. There’s Jean Paul Deville at only £8 a glass and quite a number of champagnes at between £10 - £14, even a flute of the Dom Pérignon 2000 is only £26.50  That’s a lot for one drink I know, but not disproportionly expensive compared with the other champagnes on offer.

If you are with a party and buying by the bottle, or something even larger, then obviously you’ll be forking out a much larger sum, but the prices are still not exorbitant:

£150 for Belle Epoque 1996, £197 for Krug Grand Cuvée, £300 for Cristal 2002  - not exactly cheap, but I’ve seen higher prices elsewhere many a time.

At the top of the range in price you have Bollinger Vielles Vignes Françaises 1999 and Dom Pérignon Oenothèque 1985, both at at £750 and Krug Clos du Mesnil 1996 at £880 bottle but there’s no doubt in my mind which is the best value....

If you have a spare £450 then I’d go for a magnum of Moët & Chandon 1964.
This is a fabulous champagne that will really open your eyes, and taste buds, to the amazing depth and power that champagnes can reveal. It’s the oldest champagne on the list at the St. Pancras Grand Champagne Bar and will be a memorable experience

Will I be going back to the bar? Well, not soon I don’t think....

 it’s not exactly a cosy venue being in the open concourse next to the platforms. The waitresses are smartly dressed in coats and scarves to keep them warm, but if they need to keep warm then you can imagine that it’s not a place where I can imagine settling down with a bunch of friends and whiling away a couple of hours.

In fact it reminded me of an airport waiting lounge in both style and atmosphere: sharp and modern but a little austere.

I imagine that the typical clients for The St. Pancras Grand Champagne Bar are business people who grab a glass or two before catching their train and if they’ve just sealed a lucrative deal, perhaps they’ll splash out on one of the undoubtedbly fabulous champagnes.

I do hope that lots of these people do just that because the bar is doing a great job in bringing champagne lovers the chance to discover a whole range of super champagnes they might not otherwise find.

 The bar deserves to succeed and I’ll certainly pop in again, it just won’t be until the next time I happen to be catching a train from St. Pancras.

Bad (Good?) News From The Banque de France

I guess everyone in Great Britain knows about the huge losses two of our banks, RBS and HBOS, made recently. Things were so bad that many people, both politicians and the general public, thought that instead of bailing them out to the tune of around £100 billion, the government should have just let them go bust.

Well, from what I saw on a champagne tasting trip to Epernay last week, that's exactly the line that the French government seems to be taking........

To Let. Call 06 80 61 12 45