If you order a glass of champagne in France, you often ask for “une coupe de champagne”. A coupe is – in principle – the big champagne glass, shaped like a flat bowl and pretty hopeless to drink from. It was popular in the old days but actually it has made a small comeback. But […]

There are around 3000 small champagne producers, growers and similar, but only about 300 so-called “houses”. The “houses” are the big, well-known brands but it is mainly among the others, the small producers that you today find the most exciting champagnes. The market is of course dominated by the marketing-driven big and famous brands but […]

Champagne is not just the famous “houses”. Champagne is above all the small producers who make wine with passion and enthusiasm. The two largest (world famous) producers make 30 and 12 million bottles annually. Large-scale. That is one of the reasons why, on our travel program, we mainly have producers that you might not be […]

People all over the world drink more and more sparkling wine. Everything is not champagne, far from it. Champagne accounts for 15% of the volume but 40% of the value. Champagne is prestige, champagne has a special aura, and why it is so you will understand better when you are there. We will taste many […]

You want to buy a bottle of champagne from a small grower? Look for the letters RM on the bottle, often in small print, very small. RM means récoltant-manipulant in French and this indicates that the producer has used only his own grapes and has produced the champagne in his own winery. We like to […]

Starting a brand new champagne house is probably not easy. The process to make champagne is very outdrawn, with substantial capital costs, and there’s a fierce competition with high-budget marketing. But the brothers Guillaume, Rodolphe and Richard Frerejean took the challenge. In 2005 they founded the house Champagne Frerejean Frères and they have managed to […]

We will have a new wine tour to Champagne this autumn. The dates are September 11 to 15, at the very beginning of autumn. It’s a tour that the champagne lover really should not miss. Filled with delicious wines and luxurious food. There are many ways to do a wine tour of Champagne. You can […]

Some myths or mistakes are more persistent than others. One of these is how much sugar champagne and other sparkling wines contain. Time and again, incorrect numbers are repeated, in articles, on the internet, and even in books (even the newest ones). It is hardly a life-changing issue, but if you really want to explain […]

When you produce champagne you always start by making a still wine without bubbles. This “base wine” is bottled with some yeast and sugar, and thus the bubbles are made. Few people get the chance to taste these still base wines, for good reasons. They can be difficult to understand and appreciate because they usually […]

“A lot of champagnes are drunk at occasions when all that matters are the bubbles. But if you open a high quality champagne with a strong character it deserves more attention. It should actually be drunk as a “normal” wine. And why not with food? When you meet Alexandre Penet at Champagne Penet-Chardonnet in Verzy […]