Christopher Walkey
Toast Toppings and Champagne
Though we primarily think of toast at breakfast time, in fact it is quite a popular food throughout the day and regularly partnering dishes from canapés to main dishes. Surprisingly, toast sits in second place for the most popular breakfast choice with us Brits thus seeing cereal taking the top spot, nonetheless 12 million loaves…
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Champagne: Vintage vs Non-Vintage
Firstly, let us understand the difference between vintage Champagne and non-vintage Champagne. When it comes to Champagne there are five important things to understand and each of them you will find on the label! Sugar Level – Sweetness Style – Grapes Age – Structure / Depth Cru – Quality Producer – Identity / Terroir From…
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What is Prosecco DOCG Rive?
Many will assume, and rightly so I guess, that the quality of wines depends on the prices they are set at. If you have ever visited a restaurant and looked at the wine list, they are usually in price order which dictates the order of quality, right? A glass of Prosecco is a glass of…
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Sparkling Sake
Wine is made from grapes right? Well yes, that is most certainly correct, but we must also add that not all wines are made from grapes! 24,535 in 1,000 metric tonnes is the annual global grape production as stated by statista in 2021 with China being the leading country by over four times its nearest…
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Champagne Lallier Réflexion R.019 Brut
The Champagne house of ‘Lallier’ dates back to 1906 with the founding gentleman being Réne Lallier. Today the winery is split in to two magnificent Champagne locations with the cellars in Aÿ and the Maison’s contemporary production facilities are held in Oger, Côte des Blancs. Cellar master Dominique Demarville leads today’s history for Lallier, alongside…
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Book Review: Champagne ‘The Future Uncorked’
I first saw this book in question whilst I spent a leisurely afternoon back in 2018 with renowned Champagne connoisseur Michael Edwards as we enjoyed a bottle of 2010 Deutz Blanc de Blancs (a previous winner of The World’s Finest Trophy). Though a Champagne author himself, Michael was keen to let me know of a…
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Champagne Gardet advises on Vintage Rosé / Saignée Rosé
Many lovers of Champagne will be particularly interested in vintage labels and there are certainly many options to choose from. ‘How about rosé Champagne though?‘ we ask, surely we are preferring a more fresh (red berry) fruity expression over any deep, complex, toasty character? Though there might be a commonly used phrase in the wine…
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Blind Champagne / Sparkling Wine Tasting Explained
Tasting and reviewing wine will most times take place without the need of a blind format in that you get to study the label, the colour in the glass, aromas and flavours. All these attributes are what are reviewed thus ultimately allowing for scoring / tasting notes. Next we approach judging of wines and this…
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Luxury Accommodation: Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa
The Champagne region is one of the world’s finest wine tourism destinations, and importantly it is very well set up to facilitate visitor experiences. 34,000 hectares of vineyards bless this wine region with scattered cities, towns and small villages to be explored via an easy to use road network, relatively reliable public transport and well…
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