Category Archives: Champagne

#ChampagneHarvest 13: Champagne Goutorbe, Philippe Gonet and UPR in Le Mesnil

The Goutorbe family is an institution in Ay. Not long after the first world war Emile Goutorbe, winemaker at that time for Perrier Jouet, decides to open a grape nursery. Over the next decades he will slowly expand his business … Continue reading

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#ChampagneHarvest13: Cumières & the Sézannais

Champagne Georges Laval Les Chenes is an iconic cuvée, a single vineyard or lieu dit of 0.4 hectares (40 Ares), on the lower part of the steep slope between Cumières and Hautvillers. The vineyard is south facing with a gorgeous … Continue reading

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#ChampagneHarvest13 – Kick Off in Cummière

It is that exciting time of the year again! This year no secateurs for me, but I have set myself as a goal to try and visit fifty to sixty Champagne producers during harvest and report my findings here in … Continue reading

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Grands jours de Champagne?

Whilst there are plenty of international wine fairs, a lot of winemakers prefer to show off their wines on home territory. It gives them the opportunity to really woe the diverse audience of national and international press, importers, distributors and … Continue reading

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Where I look for terroir and bubbles when I am not in Champagne

I am intrinsically attracted to quirky slightly off beat places and tend to look for them wherever I go. Today I want to talk about 2 of these places; I feel they belong in this blog as they have become … Continue reading

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Caroline’s Champagne – vins clairs, terroir & savoir faire

This last month I have been very lucky to have been invited to taste vins clairs (in plural!) in lots of different places. The term “vin clair” literally means clear wine – it dates from the time that the wine … Continue reading

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Caroline’s Champagne – the celebration of St Vincent

January 22nd is the name day of St Vincent – patron saint of the winegrowers in France as in some areas of Spain and Italy. In Champagne it is an important day as most of the 319 villages celebrate the … Continue reading

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My first Champagne anniversary – a time to reflect…

As I wandered through the snow dusted vineyards last weekend I was once again stuck for words by the landscape’s beauty. I am still amazed by the diversity of the local scenery and realized I am feeling very much at … Continue reading

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Caroline’s Champagne – more terroir, organic winegrowing and natural winemaking

The first thing I read this morning was “The latest stimulant to drag me out of natural wine commentary retirement was the ‘debate’ during the European Wine Blogger’s Conference in Turkey. Turns out this wasn’t a debate as much as … Continue reading

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Champagne vine rumours, bubbly tastings and rock and roll

This post is a little out of the ordinary as it is probably the most personal message I have ever written to be published in public. Then again sometimes honesty is the only way to make yourself heard… Last week … Continue reading

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