­ the best customer care in the business Here at FINE, we believe that not only do our customers appreciate the best service in the field, but that they also need to be looked after in a very personal way. So, instead of selling only magazine subscriptions, we want to offer you more. A lot more. To be caring and supportive in all matters concerning top wines: that is our promise to you. When you become a FINE client by choosing a service package most suited to your needs from the subscription list, we will make sure that your knowledge and know-how in fine wines will quickly increase. You will stay ahead of the pack in terms of fine wines and be well informed as to how the best wines fare on the market and in the glass, as well as where to get them and how to tell fakes from the real ones. FINE WINE SUBSCRIPTION FINE WINE Subscriptions FINE CHAMPAGNE SUBSCRIPTION This package includes everything you will ever want to know about champagne and the effervescent lifestyle that surrounds it. It keeps you abreast of the world of champagne with the world's only champagne magazine, current newsletters, books and other services that are included in the package. When you want to gain access to the world of top wines and be among the first to learn about wine happenings, the most recent tasting experiences and vintage analyses, but you don't collect or invest heavily in wines, this is made just for you. This package reveals the fascinating stories behind the world's finest wines and makes sure that you stay up to date regarding top wines through the leading FINE Wine Magazine, newsletters, books and other services that are included in the package. For more information click here For more information click here FINE RARE SUBSCRIPTION If you are wine enthusiast, FINE RARE includes everything you need and more. We will make sure that you will be the first to hear about what happens in the world of fine wines, as well as telling you every week which wines are at their best right now and how their prices are developing. In addition, we will also warn you about the fakes on the market. The package consists of the leading magazines concerning fine wine: FINE the Wine Magazine and FINE Champagne Magazine, all our wine guides, The 1000 Finest Wines Ever Made book ­ which is considered to be the Michelin Guide of the wine world ­ and a unique array of other services. FINEst SUBSCRIPTION We have designed this package for wine collectors, investors and professionals. It offers the most current knowledge of the world's best wines, their drinkability today, price developments and the handling of the wines ­ all on a daily basis. The package includes everything you can imagine, including the world's only Wine Investing Magazine, FINE Champagne and Wine Magazines, books and guides, a professional tasting tool and community, the world's only FINE Wine Auction Index, and invitations to events around the world. This is a package that only the world's leading FINE Wine Media can offer you. We will ensure that you stay immersed in everything related to the top wines of the world on every single day of the week. For more information click here For more information click here W O R L D ' S O N L Y C H A M P A G N E No. 5 ­ 6 £ 2 5 · 3 0 · U S $ 3 5 · C a n $ 3 5 · A u s $ 3 5 M A G A Z I N E Champagne in the sky · Jacquesson · Vintage 2002 · Veuve Clicquot · Lanson 250 years · Hong Kong 1 0 0 BEST CHAMPAGNES IN 2 0 1 1

Page 32 Our Top Selection from over 1000 Champagnes Tasted Page 102 One-Man Show 2 Page 20 The Best Champagne Airlines Page 148 The Village of Unrivalled Harmony Page 186 The Favourite Timepiece of Churchill, Napoleon and Bugatti Page 194 Bruno Paillard's Labels Paint Vintages in Two Words

Page 82 Vinotherapy Revitalises in Bordeaux Page 72 A Glorious Weekend in Champagne 15 19 20 28 32 72 Page 92 Champagne Blogger Lands in Dizy Fine Avellan Editorial Fine Nuikki A Badge of Honour Fine Airline Up in the Air Fine Experiment Comtes de Champagne Fine 100 Best Fine Weekend Fine Lifestyle Fine Personality Fine City Fine Larsson Fine Rarity Fine Science Fine Celebration Fine Novelty Fine Grower Fine Cellar Master Fine Vintage Fine Village Fine Experience Fine Event Fine Tastings Fine Lifestyle Fine Gallery 82 92 96 100 102 110 116 120 122 130 140 148 164 169 180 186 194 Page 122 A Grower on the Rise Reaches New Heights 100 Best Champagnes for 2011 Fine Champagne Weekend A Dip in Wine Literally Peter Liem - The Outsider Inside Spotlight Hong Kong Champagne and Food from a to z Cédric Bouchard's Personal Touch Champagne High-Flyers Dom Pérignon Rosé 1959 Champagne Barons de Rothschild Jacquesson Dominique Demarville of Veuve Clicquot Vintage 2002 Avize Champagne in Versailles Veuve Clicquot Polo Gold Cup The Great Dozen Breguet - the Mona Lisa of Timepieces Champagne in Art Fi n e C o n t e n t s 3 Fo ni t nn tes C e

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WRITERS CHAMPAGNE MAGAZINE Editor-in-Chief Pekka Nuikki pekka.nuikki@fine-magazines.com Editor Essi Avellan MW essi.avellan@fine-magazines.com Publisher Anne Lepola anne.lepola@fine-magazines.com Publishing Editor Meri Kukkavaara meri@fine-magazines.com Copy Editor Craig Houston craig.houston@fine-magazines.com Creative Director Teemu Timperi Art Director Jouna Stern Pekka Nuikki Editor-in-Chief Pekka Nuikki, founder and editor-in-chief of FINE Magazines, is an author and one of the leading experts on fine wines in Europe. He has published over twenty international wine and art books, among them In Vino Veritas, a book on investing in wines, Drinking History on fine wines and their vintages between 1870­1970, a book about the Château Mouton-Rothschild ­ Wine and Art 1924­2003 and most recently a book about the best German white wines. His next book will be about the 100 Most Important Champagnes. Mr Nuikki is also an award-winning photographer, who has exhibited his artwork all over the world and he has worked as creative director of advertising agency group. He is also the luckiest man in the world, having hit seven hole-in-ones. Essi Avellan MW Editor Essi Avellan is the first Master of Wine from Finland and second ever from the Nordic countries. She was awarded the Lily Bollinger Medal as the best taster and the Tim Derouet Memorial Award as the best overall student in the Master of Wine examination. In addition to writing champagne books and wine buying guides, Ms Avellan contributes to several newspapers and wine magazines internationally. She judges at several wine competitions, such as the Decanter World Wine Awards and the Wines of Argentina Awards. Ms Avellan has been awarded the title of Dame Chevalier of the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne. Juha Lihtonen Editorial Adviser Juha Lihtonen is the editor of FINE ­ The Wine Magazine and its American & Scandinavian editions and manyfold Finnish sommelier champion. He was selected as the best sommelier in the Nordic countries in 2003. Mr Lihtonen has worked as a wine educator, a wine host on a radio programme, as well as the wine buyer of a major cruise line. He has written books on combining wine and food. Andreas Larsson Contributor Andreas Larsson is the editor of FINEst Wines Magazine and a regular FINE columnist. The 2007 Best Sommelier of the World, the best sommelier in Europe in 2004 and the best sommelier in the Nordic countries in 2002, Mr Larsson has worked as a sommelier in the best restaurants in Stockholm and won the Wine International Sommelier Challenge in 2005. He is a member of the Grand Jury Européen and has occupied many wine juror positions around the world. Martin Williams MW Contributor Martin Williams is a Yarra Valley-based winemaker and consultant. Originally from Sydney's northern beaches, Martin studied chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Sydney before embarking on an extended journey into the world of wine. In 1999, Martin became a Master of Wine, and in 2008 he won the Vin de Champagne Award, sponsored in Australia by the CIVC. He is currently continuing his wine consultancy, education and writing activities, while exploring his passions for flying, motorcycle touring, experimental music and the Australian landscape. Philip Tuck MW Contributor Philip Tuck MW claims his life has been "sheltered and boring". British irony is apparent in this statement, as Tuck, who passed his Master of Wine examinations in 1999 and held the position of Chairman of the Education Committee at the Institute of Masters of Wine, remains a significant presence in the organisation, whilst also working as Wine Director of the British wine importer Hatch Mansfield. A business graduate of Sussex University, Tuck has worked with wine in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, California, Chile and Italy. He is happily married and a proud and doting father of Felix. Debra Meiburg MW Contributor A long-time resident of Hong Kong, Debra Meiburg MW is a celebrated wine journalist, TV personality, wine educator and in-demand speaker who is pleasing palates across Asia with her fresh take on the world of wine. Through her numerous wine-related pursuits, she is determined to take the everyday wine lover beyond the bottle to discover the intricacies of their own tastebuds and allow them to thoroughly enjoy the pleasures of wine. Meri Kukkavaara Contributor Meri is an interior designer by trade, who has a wide range of interests in the field of art, as well as education. Since completing her art studies in Florence, Italy she has worked extensively with art exhibitions and antiques, while occasionally contributing to art exhibitions as a free artist. She is also an art therapist, with more than ten years of experience. Meri is a keen student of life and in her free time enjoys taking up courses such as drumming, Indian cooking and tango. International Distribution ­ Pineapple Media Limited · shcirculation@ntlworld.com · www.pineapplemediauk.com teemu.timperi@fine-magazines.com jouna.stern@fine-magazines.com Graphic Design Assistant Pipsa Salolammi pipsa.salolammi@fine-magazines.com Cover art & illustrations Minna Liukkonen 10 Senior Adviser Charles A. Banks Contributors Oumy Diaw, Andreas Larsson, Peter Liem, Debra Meiburg MW, David Passarello, Jan-Erik Paulson, Amanda Regan, Philip Tuck MW, Martin Williams MW Photographers Michael Boudot, Pekka Nuikki Marketing Director Juha Lihtonen juha.lihtonen@fine-magazines.com Communications Director Markku Vartiainen markku.vartiainen@fine-magazines.com Sales Assistant Tore Holmgren tore.holmgren@fine-magazines.com Marketing Assistant Sanna Vihervaara sanna.vihervaara@fine-magazines.com Financial Manager Noora Mähönen noora.mahonen@fine-magazines.com Printing House Edita Prima Subscriptions and queries www.fine-magazines.com subs@fine-magazines.com +358 (0)10 289 1000 Publisher Oy Fine Publishing Ltd, 100 Pall Mall, St James London SW1Y 5HP, UK © Copyright: FINE Champagne Magazine Ltd ISSN: 1797-433X FINE Magazines does not keep nor return illustrations or other materials that have been sent in without request. The opinions of contributors or interviewees presented in this magazine do not necessarily correspond to the opinions of the publisher or editorial staff. We withhold the right to make any modifications in texts and pictures published in FINE Champagne Magazine. We reserve the right to refuse or suspend advertisements.

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W Photo : Hervé Chevron pour Cochet Concept m Enjoy FINE Champagne, Essi Avellan Essi Avellan MW Editor ww.champag elcome to the second anniversary of FINE Champagne Magazine! Champagne is a magical wine that allures beyond borders, sexes and social groups. It is an affordable luxury whose stature is not diminished by its wide availability nor one's frequency of consumption. It is one of the most elegant, harmonious and complex of all wines. Its image is seemingly simple but its reality is incredibly complex. Two years ago we decided this divine drink deserved a tribute: a magazine that would aim to enhance both appreciation and understanding of this wonderful beverage whilst at the same time bring champagne lovers together. Looking back, we created the world's only champagne magazine at a most challenging time, as the financial crisis hit the markets. Perhaps due to its tough beginnings the magazine has been able to build such a solid foundation and an ever-increasing following of dedicated fans and supporters. We are still young and, in accordance with that, we like to do things a bit differently. We are embracing the countless opportunities of technology and social media to bring our message to all the people that share our passion for champagne. In addition to the printed magazine, we reach hundreds of thousands of people with our interactive digital magazine. FINE Champagne Magazine also provides its 100 Best Champagnes selection as an iPhone application, enabling you to carry our top tips with you always. Additionally, we invite all champagne lovers to join us on Facebook, where our fans interact and share experiences on a daily basis. This year gives all champagne enthusiasts yet more to celebrate. Despite the challenging harvest of 2010, the prospects for Champagne look good once again. In the first half of the year champagne exports increased by almost 40 per cent as many markets begin to show signs of recovery and increasing consumption. The Champenois can toast with particular vigour to the growth in the United States and Japan, where the sales have increased by 73 and 67 per cent respectively. Celebration is where champagne excels. We invite you to party with us throughout this double issue of FINE Champagne Magazine. To get in the festive mood we shoot to the sky, enjoying and assessing champagne in the air. We ponder what altitude does to the taste of champagne and also reveal the airlines that serve you the best bubbles. We join Champagne Lanson at the house's 250th anniversary at Versailles held this September, and accompany Dom Pérignon Rosé 1959 in a journey back through history to the 2500th anniversary of the Persian Empire in October 1971. At our party we serve you the 100 Best Champagnes of 2011! ne-bollinge r.co Fi n e E d i t o r i a l 15

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n today's society there seems to be a prevalent need to rank and rate things. The published rankings in any media tend to always gain the greatest attention, be it the fanciest cars or the finest restaurants, the most beautiful women or the most powerful people. Rankings based on ratings also form an essential part of the wine business ­ no matter where you look, you will always come across ratings. These ratings play a crucial role for consumers and wine sellers alike. The annual TOP 100 issue of Wine Spectator, the world's largest wine publication, is predominantly the most read and referred issue of the year. A Badge of Honour I drive modern society, where nothing stays the same. There is no longer enough time to personally look up and process information; expert advice is needed, and fast. Quick access to information has become a necessity, the attainment of which requires no justification. Properly done, lists and ratings can indeed be useful. Ideally, they tell us the condition of a wine at any given time. Is the wine's lifecycle still on the rise, is it on its way down, or is it precisely at the pinnacle of its maturity and drinkability? However, the rating of a wine given is all too often misleading to the consumer. This is because few people know that the ratings given to a wine by nearly all wine critics apply to the wine's potential, not its present drinkability. This especially concerns more recent vintages. Up-to-date information on the current condition and drinkability of fine mature wines is, regrettably, lacking. Fortunately, we at FINE have already come up with a small, positive change to remedy this oversight. Even though our magazines are written with the needs of today's busy person in mind, they are also a tribute to a slower pace of life. A fine wine demands time, peace and tranquility to achieve its full potential. In order for the characteristics developed over decades, or even centuries, to be enjoyed to the full, it must be done leisurely and sedately. Even though being busy has become a badge of honour for the modern person, taking it easy with a good wine certainly won't diminish anyone. Here at FINE we believe in the need for appropriate ratings, and due to this we have created a one-of-a-kind rating of the world's best champagnes, which is an impartial ranking of the top 100 champagnes for the year. First released in 2009, 100 Best Champagnes is unique in the sense There is no longer enough time to per- that wines are listed in order of how much pleasure they will give now. Our wine sonally look up and reviews are also more comprehensive than process information; the standard fare. We explain how a wine expert advice is should be treated, so that it will be able to yield its optimal character when you needed, and fast. decide to drink it. The rating of wineries and giving points to wines speaks to people because rush and efficiency have become the prevailing forces that Pekka Nuikki Editor-in-Chief Fi n e N u i k k i 19

20 Text: Essi Avellan MW Illustrations: Minna Liukkonen Being up in the air with nothing but time on our hands we cherish the in-flight entertainment. Serving at altitude is an important showcase position for champagne houses; the wine selection has become an issue of pride, as well as a tool for brand building on the part of the airlines. We take a look at a selection of wine panels and, having reviewed their purchasing processes, discover which airline to choose for the best bubbles. T he selection of champagne is important, as the unit cost is high and the volumes that are consumed at great height are massive despite their decreasing trend. For instance, Lufthansa pours some 24 000 bottles of champagne in first class and 74 000 in business class each month. With these volumes it is no surprise that many producers are willing to cut their margin to get in. "The airline champagne market is fiercely competitive and price has become a major negotiation tool," confirms Clovis Taittinger, export manager of Champagne Taittinger, before continuing: "That is why we are not particularly strong in the air."

Th e B e s t C h a m p a g n e Airlines N a t i o n a l Tr i o I n t e r n a t i o n a l Tr i o nother airline that invests in a top quality wine panel is Singapore Airlines, whose selections are trusted to the palates of Stephen Spurrier, Michael Hill Smith MW and Jeannie Cho Lee MW. Michael Hill Smith, the first non-British Master of Wine, explains the policies behind the selections at Singapore Airlines: "In first class we serve Krug and Dom Pérignon exclusively. However, there is a tender for business class champagnes that can either be vintage or non-vintage. Currently we are serving Charles Heidseick NV, although we have served Duval-Leroy, Piper-Heidsieck Rare and Lanson Vintage in recent years." All submitted champagnes are blind tasted separately by each of the consultants. After the tasting a discussion takes place. All the wines rated 17/20 or above are placed on a short list and re-tasted against each other. "Genuinely, we are not looking for a particular style, although we tend to avoid wines with high dosage or wines that are chunky or coarse," Hill Smith insists. Qantas selects its in-flight wines by using a combination of tasting sessions, constant monitoring of trends and market research. Qantas' corporate communication adviser Thomas Woodward clarifies the selection process: "A request for proposal is issued to champagne suppliers or their distributors in Australia, before the Qantas Wine Panel assesses short-listed wines. Commercial discussion will take place for the wines that rise to the top of the tasting session before the final decision is made. And finally the wines have to be assessed on not only how they might appear in front of the Panel in a tasting room but also how they are going to look when poured for Qantas customers at 30 000 feet." Qantas also runs progressive levels of the Qantas Sommeliers in the Sky training programme for its cabin crew to ensure that flight attendants' wine knowledge reaches acceptable levels. This programme, which has been developed in association with Wine Australia's online education programme, rewards the top-level graduates with a badge of silver grapes, which is then worn on the uniform's lapel. M One-man show aster of Wine and Master Sommelier Markus del Monego is the long-term sommelier for Lufthansa. He takes the aeroplane environment carefully into consideration when selecting the wines: "In an aeroplane the wine's aroma, sugar and alcohol are less expressive; however, its acidity and tannins are accentuated. Therefore we look for products that have a certain flavour potential. The cuvées can have a slightly higher dosage but wellintegrated and fine carbon dioxide is a necessity." Fi n e A i r l i n e 21 Q antas stood out as one of the best champagne airlines with Comtes de Champagne 1999 being poured in first class and Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV served in business class. These champagnes were chosen by the highly qualified Qantas Wine Panel that was originally formed by the legendary Australian winemaker and authority, Len Evans. Today it comprises three of the most respected winemakers and wine show judges in the country ­ Tom Carson, Steve Pannell and Vanya Cullen. In addition to their knowledge of Australian wine, all three are also recognised lovers of world wines, meaning they were more than qualified to cherry-pick the benchmark champagnes, too. A

Qa n t a s Leap Text: Essi Avellan MW I n recent years one's in-flight experiences of fine wine have become fewer and fewer. The airlines' continuous cost cutting long ago removed champagne from the glasses of economy class passengers. However, my globetrotting has allowed me to witness a great deal of variability in policies ­ some have led to disappointment but there have also been a number of happy surprises along the way. In economy class no champagne is the rule of thumb these days. As most airlines are seeking to increase profit through in-flight sales, it comes as a surprise to me how few airlines offer champagne for sale. It is only the low cost airlines such as Ryanair and EasyJet that offer us the opportunity to combine champagne with inexpensive airfare. I was delighted to notice the French still have class when I travelled to Chile with Air France last year. Even us passengers in "cattle class" were served one glass of champagne each as an aperitif. Full points to Air France for this stylish gesture; the positive impact was way beyond its probable cost. A less pleasant surprise hit me when I travelled to Argentina with Iberia, this time in business class. When ordering champagne the stewardess nodded but started to pour me cava. I repeated my request but she said: "Yes, it is champagne." It is understandable that Iberia has chosen to stick with wines of its native Spain, however their staff should have been educated to proudly tell recipients that rather than pour cava as champagne. Needless to say, I had to make a point and skip the sparkling wine. Truthfully, I don't think champagne tastes quite as good in the air as it does on the ground. There are many reasons for this, with one being the special environment within the aircraft, explained more thoroughly in this magazine by Martin Williams MW. But the glassware and temperature are also often far from ideal in the cabin, and the latter should be the easiest problem to fix. Be it a piccolo bottle or a full-sized one, it is more a rule than an exception that the champagne is served too warm. Plastic cups are the worse case scenario but the tiny wine glasses are no great improvement. Our columnist and world's best sommelier Andreas Larsson suffers from this so much that he has given thought to carrying a proper glass with him when travelling. This makes me wonder why top glass manufacturer Riedel, which has dedicated stemware for seemingly every purpose, has not yet designed functionally and organoleptically ideal glasses for aeroplanes. Both piccolo bottles and full-sized bottles are utilised in the planes. The piccolo serves you two glasses, which is a good standard. However, the variety of champagne available in piccolos is much more limited than in bottles. Due to their short lifespan, there are more unhappy surprises when it comes to the quality of the piccolos. Generally, the rotation of champagne is fast in the planes, so a full-sized bottle should taste fresh every time and be much more cost efficient for the airline. It is a well-recognised fact that word on bad service spreads much wider than on good service. Here I must make an exception, however, as I think my journey to Australia with Qantas last year serves as a great example of what a difference great service can make. It was late at night and I was exhausted and frustrated after all the queuing at the airport. I kept my calm by visualising the glass of Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve, which I knew was waiting for me in Qantas business class. Once on the plane, I placed my order for a glass to the flight attendant passing by. He said: "Of course, I also have here a bottle of Comtes de Champagne 1998 from first class. Would you like to have that?" I gratefully accepted, with a big smile conquering my face. I guess my appreciation was so obvious that when I asked for the second glass (of course), he replied: "Certainly, I just opened a bottle of 1999 Comtes, perhaps you would like to taste that for comparison?" The silver grape badge of the Qantas Sommeliers was shining on the steward's lapels as he was conducting a private vertical tasting of prestige cuvée champagne at 33 000 feet. This memorable tasting gave me a permanent soft spot for Qantas. Fi n e A i r l i n e 23

Del Monego works in cooperation with Lufthansa wine buyer Claudia Huber, who organises the tenders, prepares the blind tastings and conducts the negotiations. "For national and European business class we follow the concept of regional wines. Therefore, sparkling wines from all European areas are selected, such as German sekt, Spanish cava, Italian spumante and French crémant or champagne. For intercontinental business class there is always a Brut quality champagne and for first class it is either a special vintage selection, a Grand Cru of a smaller producer or the prestige cuvée of a larger Maison. At the moment we serve Champagne de Sacy Grand Cru, which has been proceeded by Laurent-Perrier Vintage and Piper-Heidsieck Cuvée Rare." partnership no doubt works for both of them and we imagine the passengers are more than a little pleased, too; sometimes it is nice to know which champagne to look forward to while planning the trip. In North America United Airlines invests in champagnes from top class brands; for example, first class passengers might encounter Henriot's Vintage champagnes or Dom Pérignon 2002. For its business class the company relies on highly popular brands such as Pommery Brut Royal NV or Nicolas Feuillatte Réserve Particulière NV. Out of the South American operators, Lan Chile stands out with it's offering, where business class passengers get to enjoy, amongst others, Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV. Middle Eastern and Asian companies commonly have particularly lavish champagne selections. Emirates first class pampers its passengers with Dom Pérignon 2002 and business class passengers with Taittinger Brut Réserve NV and Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label NV. Oman Airlines even serves the showy Armand de Brignac in first class. The Japanese operator All Nippon Airlines gives good reason to upgrade from business to first class, as Krug Grande Cuvée is routinely poured. Another Japanese carrier, Japan Airlines, relies on Salon-Delamotte champagnes, with Salon 1997 crowning the first class selection. The likes of Pommery Cuvée Louise 1999 or Drappier Grande Sendrée 2004 may also be served. Singapore Airlines is also inclined to rely on a delicious list of top names such as Dom Pérignon 2002, Krug Grande Cuvée NV or Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV. At ground level, few of us start our weekdays or complement workday lunches with champagne. However, up in the air it is a different world. Champagne at any time of the day is the norm and a luxury one is willing to pay for. In many cases, an airfare means holiday, which is the perfect reason to indulge in champagne. For those who travel for business, a glass of champagne brings an element of luxury to the working day. One hopes the days of saving on catering would soon be over and the airlines would start competing with the quality of their offerings instead. Whether it is at the expense of reasonable increases in flight prices or shifting into in-flight sales, it would be a welcome change for the quality-oriented traveller. I 22 Bubbles around the world t is no surprise France's national airline Air France invests in its wine selection, and they serve an alternating selection of champagnes from reputable champagne houses. The airline's selection changes every two months, so the choice of champagne remains largely a surprise to the passenger. Olivier Poussier, Best Sommelier of the World 2000, is their respected wine consult, and recent first class offerings include Louis Roederer Vintage 2003 and Gosset Célébris 1998. Business class travellers are gratified by the likes of Henriot Brut Souverain NV, Nicolas Feuillatte Blanc de Blancs 2004 and Deutz Brut Classic NV. Surprised, happy smiles will be put on long-haul flights' economy class passengers' faces when the company pours Heidsieck & Co Monopole Blue Top NV or Jacquart Brut Mosaique NV. In Europe British Airways is also reputed for its champagne selection and they certainly do deliver with their imaginative, high-quality choices. Taittinger prestige cuvée Comtes de Champagne 1999 and Cattier's single-vineyard cuvée Clos du Moulin NV flow in first class. The business class passengers enjoy Taittinger Vintage 2004, Cattier Brut Premier Cru or Pommery Brut Royal NV. Finnair, a Nordic operator, is one of the rare companies who rely on and partner with one single Champagne House. Their choice is Joseph Perrier, with Cuvée Royale NV being served in piccolos in business class during European flights and Cuvée Royale Brut Vintage 2003 on intercontinental flights. On long-haul charter flights Cuvée Royale NV piccolos can also be purchased in the economy class. The long-term

Champagne in Text: Pekka Nuikki I Spa c e sit safely nestled in a blue-grey leather armchair at an altitude of sixty thousand feet ­ twice as high as the flying altitude of a Boeing Jumbo Jet. Through the window I can see reflections of blue and white, the colours of my home planet. The textures of the Earth's surface below change quickly, as we travel at twice the speed of sound. One could easily imagine being in a space ship on the way to a distant planet, but my destination is more commonplace: New York. The best reminder of this is probably the glass of Krug Grande Cuvée in my hand; it would be an unlikely drink on a journey into space, but in the Concorde it is an everyday choice. with its wine cellar, which at the time was under the leadership of Master of Wine Jancis Robinson. There was a particular emphasis on the best wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux. The abovementioned Krugs were two of the pearls of the Concorde champagne list over the years, while the topical vintages of Pol Roger's Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill and Pommery's Cuvée Louise were also represented. Other, less common names on the list were Alfred Gratien and Jacquart. Concorde provided not only a unique flying experience but also a unique wine list. Such a selection can no longer be found at any flying altitude. The only thing I recall as a negative aspect of the flight was the flying time: three and a half hours. It felt much too short. Time has never flown by as quickly in an aeroplane since, and probably never will, as Concorde took off into "space" for the last time seven years ago. 24 I am on my way to the Big Apple and it is 1985. The take-off run in Heathrow was an experience in itself, but as the reading on the Mach meter approaches double the speed of sound, Mach 2, the quiet, expectant atmosphere in the passenger cabin turns to delighted squeals and then into a happy babble of voices. Once we have achieved the standard flying altitude, the champagne service continues with the first vintage of Krug's Clos du Mesnil, 1979, and the voices become even more excited. The British Airways Concorde champagne list, just as the wine list as a whole, was remarkable. BA really made an effort 91p Cattier Clos du Moulin NV 2010/2018 Pale lemon-yellow colour. Complex, ripe apple, pepper and stonefruit nose. Compact on the palate with sweet fruitiness, but very dry finish. Lots of character in this youthful wine. Benefits from 5+ years of storage. British Airways First Class 90p 90p 90p Louis Roederer Vintage 2003 2010/2016 Medium-deep lemon yellow colour. Soft, ripe fruit nose with red apples, cinnamon, nuts, sweet vanilla and a touch of gun powder smokiness. The palate is round but has pleasant muscularity and balancing freshness. Straightforward yet pleasantly mouthfilling and smooth. Drinking well from now until 2016. Air France First Class Jet Airways 92p Dom Pérignon 2002 See tasting note on page 47 Emirates First Class Malaysia Airlines First Class Singapore Airlines First Class Henriot Vintage 1998 92p Veuve Clicquot Vintage 2002 See tasting note on page 47 Etihad First Class 91p Piper-Heidsieck Brut NV See tasting note on page 48 Dragon Air Business Class Thai Airways Business Class 90p Deutz Amour de Deutz 1999 See tasting note on page 49 Cathaway Pacific First Class 2010/2015 Deep golden colour. Evolving nose of soft coffee notes as well as spice and brioche. Nonassertive, round nose. Fruity palate with pastry notes and good degree of vivacity. Fresh, medium long finish. Drinking well now but no great keeping potential. United Airlines 90p Henriot Millésime 1996 See tasting note on page 50 Japan Airlines First Class United Airlines 91p Armand de Brignac Brut Gold NV See tasting note on page 49 Oman Airlines First Class Nicolas Feuillatte Palmes d'Or 1998 2010/2016 Medium deep lemony colour. Sweet patiessierie and herbacious nose with plenty of personality. Dusty notes and bruised apple. Full and round with medium length. Lacks refinement and some spine. Open and enjoyable now with mid-term ageing capacity. Air France First Class 91p Salon 1997 See tasting note on page 49 Japan Airlines First Class 90p 90p Krug Grande Cuvée NV See tasting note on page 50 All Nippon Airways First Class Cathaway Pacific First Class Netjets First Class Singapore Airlines First Class 91p Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV See tasting note on page 49 Qantas Business Class Singapore Airlines First Class Pommery Cuvée Louise 1999 See tasting note on page 51 Japan Airlines First Class

87p Nicolas Feuillatte Blanc de Blancs 2004 See tasting note on page 51 Air France Business Class United Airlines First Class 86p 86p Taittinger Brut Réserve NV Delamotte Blanc de Blancs 1999 2010/2016 Pale lemony colour. Smooth and harmonious ripe apple and stone fruit nose. Wide, round and gentle, yet stylish, on the palate. Medium length and a nice integration of small-sized bubbles. Charming today and for the next 5­7 years. Japan Airlines Business Class Drappier Grande Sendrée 2004 2010/2018 Deep lemony colour. Stylishly restrained nose with some lifted aromas. Cinnamon, baked apple and honey. Packed and concentrated with a full-body, firm structure and long length. A somewhat coarse mousse but good ageing potential due to the fruitiness and structure. TAM First Class Emirates Business Class 2010/2014 Medium deep lemon yellow colour. Soft, perfumy white flower and white fruit nose. Apple, honey and gentle toastiness. Balanced and light-bodied with good intensity, elegance and a refreshing spine. Emirates Business Class Netjets 90p 87p Lanson Noble Cuvée 2000 89p Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 1999 See tasting note on page 51 British Airways First Class Qantas First Class 87p Lanson Black Label NV 89p Henriot Blanc de Blancs NV See tasting note on page 53 Etihad Business Class 89p Delamotte Brut NV 2010/2015 Medium-intense lemony colour. Toasty, evolving, nutty and lemony nose. Fresh and linear on the palate with some elegance and intensity but no great complexity or depth. Stylish and long. Japan Airlines Business Class Air France Business Class British Airways Club World Oman Air 86p Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label NV 87p Ayala Brut Majeur NV 88p 87p See tasting note on page 54 Air France Business Class Cathaway Pacific First Class Tarlant Prestige 1998 86p Deutz Brut Classic NV 2010/2017 Medium-deep lemony colour. Toasty and nutty nose with oriental spices, cream and red apple. Fruity palate with a fluffy and gentle mousse. Straightforward and easy-going. Air France Business Class 2010/2016 Pale lemony colour. Smooth and toasty. A stone fruit and floral nose with a lemony edge. Burnt sugar and liquorice complexity. Nice cleanliness and focus on the wide, voluminious mouthfeel. Soft acidity with a noticeable dosage that rounds the wine. Emirates Business Class Billecart-Salmon Brut Millésime 2004 2010/2018 Medium-deep lemon yellow colour. Fresh, ripe and tropical nose with butter and cream. Fruity and elegant with citric acidity. Linear with a somewhat coarse mousse. The medium-length fruity taste is missing elements of charm and complexity. Air France First Class 88p Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royale 2003 See tasting note on page 54 Finnair Long-Haul Business Qantas First Class 88p 86p Heidsieck & Co Monopole Blue Top NV See tasting note on page 55 Air France Business Class Air France Long-Haul Economy Continental Airlines Business Class Swiss Airlines Business Class 2010/2017 Deep golden colour with a peachy hue. Powerful, earthy nose with yeast, red fruit, butter, ash and spice aromatics. A mouthfilling and rich palate with apple pie and lemon nuances. Accentuated tart acidity and phenolic notes but evolving autolytic flavours. Long taste with a huge concentration. United Airlines Henriot Brut Souverain NV 2010/2016 Deep lemon yellow colour. Clean, fresh and intense nose of lemon, yellow apple and subtle toasty notes. Fresh, linear but concentrated with pure, bright fruitiness. All parts at place and a nice ageing potential ahead. Air France Business Class 87p Jacquart Brut Mosaïque NV 88p Taittinger Vintage 2004 See tasting note on page 56 British Airways Business Class 2010/2015 Deep lemony colour. Spicy nose of cardamom, red apple, allspice and pastry. Lot's of layers on the nose, some dusty notes. Fruity and juicy on the concentrated and mouthfilling palate. Refreshing and powerful mouthfeel with a soft fluffy mousse. Gosset Célébris 1998 86p Air France Long-Haul Economy Lanson Noble Cuvée Blanc de Blancs 1998 2010/2020 Medium-deep lemon yellow colour. Very creamy, even lactic nose with green apple and white flowers. Pungent nose with a lemony bite on the palate. Not completely clean, with some dusty notes. Small-sized bubbles and a tight structure. Fine complexity in the elegantly long, lean taste. Air France First Class 2010/2020 Medium-deep colour with a peachy hue. Ripe and round, straight-forward Pinot nose with red fruit, bruised apple and gentle spicy notes. Full and round on the palate with a piercing acidity. Medium-long with a drying finish. Simple and fruity but lacking finesse. Air France First Class 88p 87p Lanson Gold Label 1999 2010/2018 Pale lemon-green colour. Fresh, mild yet clean nose with vanilla and floral notes. Creamy, smooth and spicy and fresh on the palate. Fine mousse and medium length. Fresh, elegant and easy to drink. Qatar Airways Business Class Fi n e A i r l i n e 25 2010/2017 Pale lemon-green colour. Fragrant and elegant nose of white flowers, peach and green apple. Beginnings of autolytic complexity. Bright and refreshing palate with a lemony twist. Linear, focused and long. 2010/2020 Pale lemon-green colour. Restrained, fairly complex nose with lemon, apple and pear fruit. Good complexity on the fine, structured and fresh palate. Medium-sized bubbles and long length. British Airways First Class Jet Airways First Class

83p 85p Joseph Perrier Brut Royale NV Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Réserve Particulière NV 86p Pommery Brut Royal NV 2010/2013 Pale lemon-green colour. Delicate, soft and elegant nose with melon, gentle citric tones, finetuned and tight-packed. Straightforward, light and enjoyable. No longterm keeping potential. Aeromar Business Class All Nippon Airways Business Class British Airways Business Class Japan Airlines Business Class United Airlines Business Class 2010/2017 Pale lemony colour. A mild nose of peach and pear. Fine-tuned, with good minerality. Crisp and spicy on the firm palate. Medium length with a smooth elegant mousse Finnair Business Class 2010/2012 Pale lemon yellow colour. Smooth with hazelnuts and ripe apples. Tropical and smooth with pineapple and dusty notes. Hollow palate and foamy mousse. Lacks refinement. No improvement potential. Air Austral Business Class Corsairfly (sold) Easy Jet (sold) United Airlines Business Class 85p Drappier Grande Sendrée 2002 2010/2020 Medium-deep lemon colour. Ripe apple nose with straw, spice and herbs. Complex nose with some restraint. Very tight and youthful still, with a lemony acidic bite. Long length and medium-sized bubbles on the mousse. Japan Airlines First Class 85p Drappier Carte d'Or NV 2010/2013 Pale lemony colour. An overt and clean, round nose of ripe red apples, soft spiciness, vanilla, marzipan and peach. Mouthfilling with largesized bubbles. Weighty and fruity with a crisp acidity and medium length. Approachable and easy to drink. Air Canada Business Class Air Malta Business Class China Airlines Business Malaysia Airlines Business Class TAM Business Class 85p Billecart-Salmon Brut Réserve NV Every day, the FINE Wine Bar in Terminal 2 indulges travellers with some of the rarest and finest wines ever made. Since its opening in 2008, the bar has served hundreds of bottles of the most coveted wine rarities. Wines like Château Latour 1982, Pétrus 1947, Cheval Blanc 1947, DRC Richebourg 1982, Château Lafite 1962 and Mouton Rothschild 1975 have graced the bar's wine list and, as all can be ordered by the glass, tasting these wines of one's dreams need not break the bank. The eldest wines served thus far are Madeiras and Ports from the mid-19th century. Two of the FINE Magazines founders, Pekka Nuikki and Juha Lihtonen, are behind the concept of the bar and the wine sourcing. They wanted to create a place where people have a chance to experience the wines FINE writes about. The selection of fine and rare wines changes weekly, and comes directly from private cellars and reliable merchant channels. With a short supply chain the cost of the wines remain moderate and the sales prices are very competitive. Besides its extraordinary still wine offering, the bar has a commendable supply of bubbly. Around ten different champagnes are on offer daily, with at least one of them a prestige cuvée ­ Krug Grande Cuvée, Roederer Cristal or Dom Pérignon. Beside these current champagne releases, mature champagnes also frequent the list. Recent examples include Mumm Cuvée Réne Lalou 1982 and Dom Ruinart Rosé 1973 ­ served by the glass, naturally. > F F I N E Wi n e i n He l s i n k i or a wine lover the best airport in the world is Helsinki Airport in Finland. 2010/2016 Pale lemon-green colour. Fruity and overt nose of spices and bruised apples, with some dusty notes. Mid-weight palate with good freshness but a somewhat coarse mousse. KLM Business Class 84p 84p 84p 84p 26 Cattier Brut NV De Venoge Blanc de Blancs 2002 2010/2016 Medium-deep lemony colour. Fresh and lively creamy sweet, white fruit nose. Lactic notes but in pleasant form. Less clean on the palate with some sweetness coming through. Rich but quite short with a dusty finish. Good, but not great. Starting to drink but will improve. Asian Airlines First Class 2010/2015 Pale straw yellow colour. Restrained woody and spicy nose with apple, pear and vanilla aromas. Dry palate of accentuated acidity. Linear structure and long length. Slightly aggressive on the palate. Air China Business Class Asiana Airlines Business Class British Airways Business Class 85p Drappier Carte Blanche NV 85p Gosset Grand Réserve NV 2010/2015 Deep lemon yellow colour. Overt and fresh nose of toast, honey and red apples. High acidity on the lifted, linear palate. Smooth, foamy mousse and medium-long finish. Starting to drink well but will improve with mid-term cellaring. Turkish Airlines 2010/2014 Medium-deep yellow colour. Smooth, sweet nose of vanilla, pastry, pecan and cinnamon. Fruitdriven and straight-forward. Round on the palate with a soft mousse and good length. All Nippon Airways Business Class Louis de Sacy Brut Grand Cru NV Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV 2010/2018 Medium-deep lemony colour. Overt and soft, sweet tropical nose of confectionary, vanilla and white flowers. A dry, round and silky palate with a fluffy mousse that has medium-sized bubbles. Easy-going and approachable, straightforward and clean palate. Seductive with bright fruit and medium length. Drinking well now, with mediumterm ageing capacity. Lan Chile 2010/2013 Medium-deep lemony colour. Powerful, overt, round and sweet nose. Lifted notes of apricot and melon. Dusty, drying palate with a slightly austere, foamy mousse. Lufthansa First Class 85p Louis de Sacy Brut Originel NV 2010/2013 Medium-deep lemony colour. An overt and slightly volatile nose with straw, spice and red apple. Long acidic length on the palate, with midsized bubbles. Lufthansa

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28 Comtes de New Heights REACHES Champagne

When Philip Tuck MW, wine director at Hatch Mansfield and importer of Taittinger in the UK, learnt that Comtes de Champagne excelled in FINE's Airline Champagne tasting, he organised an impromptu experiment high above the English countryside to judge the merits of Comtes at altitude. Text: Philip Tuck MW Picture the scene: three Masters of Wine (myself, FINE Champagne editor Essi Avellan and Simon Field, the Champagne buyer for prestigious London based wine merchant Berry Brothers and Rudd) have gathered on a glorious summer's afternoon at the Bibury Court Hotel, a marvellous Jacobean mansion in the picturesque region of the Cotswolds in England. We are here to conduct an experiment. We need to understand the impact of altitude on the taste of Taittinger's Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 1998, so we decide to take a flight in the Taittinger hot air balloon to do just that. While our pilot and his ground level confederate inflate the balloon, we need to have our first tasting in order to establish the "control", that is to say the taste at ground level, although we are already at 255 feet (69 metres) above sea level (ASL). TasTing noTe aT ground LeveL: Very pale lemon colour with a reasonably strong mousse of tiny bubbles. The nose is rich and open with expressive ripe melony fruit and a touch of nutty brioche complexity. It is quite fully flavoured and gently toasty, yet very elegant and complex with a very long, subtle and lingering finish. A wine of tremendous finesse and sophistication. Perhaps not quite as lean as expected. This wine seems to be developing a little faster than both the 1995 and 1996. TasTing noTe aT 1500 feeT: Same colour. Slightly less aggressive mousse and the bubbles appear somewhat larger. Similar lift to the aroma although the element of minerality is very slightly more pronounced and the feeling of the acidity slightly higher. The wine feels that much more taut and austere but there is still lovely ripe fruit coming through on the palate. By now the gentle breeze has taken us a couple of kilometres west of Bibury and we are drifting silently, serenely over the gently rolling hills of the Cotswolds. The fire from the gas blaster keeps the temperature up and the balloon continues to gain effortlessly in altitude and before we know it we are at 3000 feet (914 metres). We take off with a beautiful smoothness and calm, apart from the intermittent blast of the gas burner just above our heads, and yet find ourselves at 1500 feet (457 metres) in a matter of moments. We have hardly had time to appreciate the breathtaking countryside below when it is time for the second tasting. In the slightly cramped surroundings, we scrabble around for the bottle. The cork flies out of the basket and falls away to the sheep below. TasTing noTe aT 3000 feeT: As one might expect, the changes noted at 1500 feet are somewhat more apparent. The nose is more muted and the minerality more pronounced, although the class and complexity are still very apparent. The palate richness is now decidedly reduced in line with the perception of higher acidity. The bubbles of the mousse are also that tiny bit larger. All three tasters appear to be in broad agreement as to what is happening to the wine as we continue to head upwards. Fi n e E x p e r i m e n t 29

Simon Field MW, Philip Tuck MW and Essi Avellan MW tasting at ground level 30 Meanwhile, our pilot is becoming increasingly frustrated at not being able to partake in our little piece of research. We couldn't possibly let him join in despite the distinct improbability of him being breathalysed at such an altitude! He needs all his concentration as we approach our highest altitude, and top speed of 25kph (16mph), for our final tasting at 4500 feet (1372 metres). As the debate raged in the basket, we continued to drift higher, eventually reaching a chilly 5576 feet (1700 metres) TasTing noTe aT 4500 feeT: The trend continues to the general detriment of the perceived quality of the wine. The aroma is very muted now despite the opportunity to open out over time. The acidity is marked to the point of giving the wine a definite angularity and leanness, becoming a little bitter on the finish. Those bubbles are getting bigger and the general feeling amongst the three of us is that we need go no higher. The creaminess and charm that Comtes has in such abundance at ground level has virtually disappeared. The wine is clearly suffering from altitude sickness, so we need to descend. As the debate raged in the basket, we continued to drift higher, eventually reaching a chilly 5576 feet (1700 metres) where the views were truly magnificent. For the next ten minutes we drifted lower and lower as we searched for a suitable landing spot. A family enjoying a BBQ in their garden shout out for a bottle but the temptation to drop some champagne is resisted! A farmer is out late on his combine harvester. Deer scatter in panic as the huge balloon eventually comes to a perfect rest in an empty field. A tacit sense of relief comes upon us that the flight has ended safely. It has been a fabulous, if somewhat frivolous, experience. With the balloon safely tucked away again and the three tasters in broad agreement that there is in fact no need to fly high to enjoy Comtes de Champagne, the decision is taken to celebrate the successful trip in the time-honoured fashion. We pop open the last bottle of Comtes and agree that despite Comtes' capability to take altitude very well, it is at its best at ground level. >

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32 100

2011 Text: Pekka Nuikki & Essi Avellan MW Photography: Pekka Nuikki Champagne is not the world's largest wine district, but it is the best-known, and for good reason. Its wines are indisputably some of the most desirable luxury products in the world, especially when measured quantitatively; more than 300 million bottles of champagne are enjoyed each year. They are created by more than 2500 champagne producers and myriad champagne brands. For the consumer, this has a dual effect: on the one hand the endless selection and wide price range mean that there is something for everyone, but on the other, how is a consumer to pick out from the packed shelves of the wine merchant a champagne that is truly high in quality, worth its price and at its best on that particular day? Fi n e 1 0 0 B e s t 33 ham pagnes in

100 Champagnes 34 In France many champagne producers have spent centuries fine-tuning and refining their wines and winemaking methods to their peaks, which has unquestionably resulted in excellent fine wines that are known to all consumers. The optimum situation, in which a new generation proudly applies the skills obtained from its predecessors and then passes them on to the next is fine, classic and admirable. Particularly in Champagne where the best wines are made by blending dozens of wines and vintages into a single cuvée, the experience and know-how of earlier generations are essential to ensure consistency of taste. The wines of the Champagne region have a unique combination of two elements: not only are almost all the wines ready for enjoyment as soon as they become available, but they also maintain their drinkability for decades. Most champagnes are uncorked straight after purchase, and few consumers have the patience to age them to their peak condition. Therefore producers from Champagne earn their praises and reprimands based on the products that are on sale at each time. Like many other wines, champagnes improve with years of ageing. The added quality awarded by further ageing is rarely remembered as the cork pops during a memorable event, however. Thus it is very useful for consumers to know which of the thousands of champagnes that can be found on the market are in their prime today. Our aim was to identify for our readers' benefit the champagnes that are at their best right now. This is always a rather extensive endeavour, as it means spending almost a year tasting and assessing more than one thousand champagnes that are currently available internationally ­ from prestige cuvée and vintage champagnes to non-vintages. When making our top 100 list, the most important criteria without question were the quality of the wine and its accessibility today. In fact, we believe these to be the only characteristics that really matter to the consumer. Contrary to many other wine rankings, this list of the 100 best champagnes is not based on a single tasting; instead, we wanted to take into account all of the tastings of Champagne wines that we had been privy to during the year. At best we have tasted individual champagnes more than ten times, and even at worst, at least twice. This gave us a comprehensive view of the quality and The world's best champagne ­ today

enjoyability of the wines and allowed us to eliminate the odd "bad" bottle from our ratings. Before our final decision, we conducted two more large-scale tastings this autumn. For the shortlist we had chosen the two hundred champagnes that we had rated highest during the year, and carried out a blind tasting. After that we cut them down to a short-short list for a final tasting conducted in Reims, the capital of Champagne. The list comprised the top thirty champagnes from the previous tasting, which we tasted blind once more. This means that we have tasted the wines ranked in the top thirty at least three times. We ranked the 100 best champagnes using the 100-point scale. Although wines were not awarded points for having good ageing potential, this is mentioned in the verbal evaluation, with an estimate of when the wine should be at its best. The wines we tasted included many young vintages that had not yet reached their prime. Often, champagnes such as Roederer Cristal, Philipponnat Clos des Goisses, Krug Vintage and Dom Pérignon are ones whose excellent quality when young can easily go unnoticed, although this time Dom Pérignon did surprise us with its enjoyability despite its youthful state. Not included in the evaluation were longaged champagnes such as the Dom Pérignon Oenothèques, which are difficult to come by and which are much more expensive than the ones included here. Fi n e 1 0 0 B e s t 35

Generally speaking we were satisfied with the quality of the wines. However, there were very few clear disappointments. The average score of the wines chosen for the list was 89­91 points, which is a great achievement for young wines that have only recently become available. As one would expect, prestige cuvées occupy a majority of the top spots, and make up around 40 per cent of the whole list. Another Results positive finding is that non-vintage wines take up a further 40 per cent, with the first of them ­ De Saint Gall Grand Cru Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs ­ achieving an excellent eighth position. The vintage category is fairly poorly represented in this list, partly due to the fact that it had fewer entries. There are two vintage champagnes in the top 10: Charles Heidsieck 2000 in an impressive fourth place, and Veuve Clicquot 2002 in ninth. Vintage wines make up around 20 per cent of the top 100. All in all, the oldest champagne vintages stood out as attractive wines with their generous, developed character. The ripe and generous 1995 Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires is charming right now and requires no further ageing. We rewarded it with third place. There were numerous champagnes from the monumental, intensely fruity yet steely acidic vintage of 1996. Of those, the highest Top vintage champagnes 36

rankings went to the heavenly Dom Ruinart Rosé (sixth place) and Krug's legendary singlevineyard champagne Clos d'Ambonnay (11). One of the top names in the vintage category was the sophisticatedly baked and impressively structured Henriot 1996 (33). From the lesser vintage of 1997, only one champagne made it onto the list: the refined but still very tight Salon (24). Three champagnes from the varied vintage of 1998 can be found on the list: the elegant and characterful Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle Alexandra Rosé (13), the Krug Vintage, which has an emphasis on Chardonnay that is unusual for the house (30), and the developed and powerful Blanc de Blancs De Saint Gall Orpale (55). Due to their lower acidity, champagnes from 1999 are now beginning to be very enjoyable and several of them can be found on the list; the most successful of these was Deutz's Amour de Deutz at 26th. Pol Roger's Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill displayed significant differences between bottles, whereby some had developed a rich, toasty quality while others left us cold with their restraint. The cause may lie in different recorking times, but we were confounded by the diversity. After four tastings, it ended up in 54th place. Just in time for our tasting, the new vintage 1999 G. H. Mumm Cuvée R. Lalou was launched. Probably due to recent recorking, however, it could not climb past 100th position. The ripe and fruity 2000 vintage, which produced some broad champagnes, is well represented. The above-mentioned vintage of Charles Heidsieck did very well, as did De Venoge and Pol Roger (17). That year's rosés also impressed our jury. The Dom Pérignon Rosé was awarded second place, and the Pommery Cuvée Louise Rosé, 12th. 2002 was one of the best vintages of all time: its champagnes combine power, poise, fruitiness and vigour. There are as many as four representatives of that vintage in the top ten. Our winner, the Piper-Heidsieck Rare is a perfect representation of that year's wines: a magnificent champagne with excellent ageing potential. The same applies to the Louis Roederer Cristal Rosé and to Dom Pérignon. Despite its recent launch, the Dom Pérignon did well, and coming years will only increase its enjoyability and multidimensionality. The Veuve Clicquot Vintage also made it into the top ten (9). The hot summer of 2003 produced rather unusual wines, and many houses skipped the vintage altogether. There is only one 2003 on Fi n e 1 0 0 B e s t 37

100 Champagnes 38 our list: the maturely fruity, straightforward but currently enjoyable Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royale (70). Champagnes from the elegant and lively vintage 2004 are still being released. Of the many wines from that year that were included in our tastings, the most success was had by the Louis Roederer Blanc de Blancs, which came in at 16. Of the prestige cuvées, the recently launched Cristal (30) is still affected by its young age, but will become more impressive with time. Because most champagne houses are still maturing the 2005 vintage in their cellars, the top spots for that year went to growerproducers. Doyard's charmingly distinctive rosé Collection de l'An 1 Oeil de Perdrix can be found in 63rd place, Lamiable's streamlined Brut Grand Cru in 90th and Pierre Peters' elegant L'Esprit in 99th. Last year there were only four non-vintages in the top 50, whereas this year there are 15. This is probably due to the longer ageing periods following the slow-down in the champagne trade. The winner of the series, the De Saint Gall Grand Cru Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs (8th place overall) is the pearl of the famous cooperative's diverse non-vintage production; a vigorous and refined champagne. The PiperHeidsieck Brut (18) overtook for the first time in our tastings its "brother", the Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve (25). We were surprised by how the Piper has started increasingly to resemble the Charles, offering more breadth and toastiness than usual. Taittinger's nonvintage specialities, the Prelude Grands Crus (28) and the single-vineyard Les Folies de la Marquetterie (34) both did very well. Also close to the top of the list are Pol Roger's Extra Brut Pure champagne (36) and Pommery's eco-friendly POP Earth (44). Of the growerproducers' standard champagnes, the most distinctive were the Veuve Fourny & Fils 'R' (22) and the Penet-Chardonnet Grand Réserve (29), while the number one sweet champagne was Henriot's new toasty and harmonious Demi-Sec (49). Pleasant surprises in non-vintages

The annual list of the 100 best champagnes is based on tastings and ratings of the top wines from the Champagne region made during the year by FINE Champagne Magazine's three wine connoisseurs, Editor Essi Avellan MW, Editor-inChief Pekka Nuikki and Editorial Adviser Juha Lihtonen. Each champagne on the top 100 list has been tasted at least two times by each taster. This means that each product has been rated at least six times. The final point score of each wine consists of the average of all the tastings. Fi n e 1 0 0 B e s t 39

Rare surprise This time the title of the World's Best Champagne is awarded to the Piper-Heidsieck Rare 2002. Perhaps in anticipation of its future success, the label of the bottle is a golden crown. The PiperHeidsieck Rare 2002 was unanimously voted as the best in view of all of its qualities, and was the number one wine of both the final and semi-final blind tastings. Piper-Heidsieck is known as a highly communicative, marketing-oriented champagne that caters to the tastes of the Hollywood élite. Its most renowned champion, Marilyn Monroe, famously claimed to start all her mornings with Piper. Champagne designs from acclaimed artists have always been a part of the Piper selection. The legendary goldsmith Carl Fabergé designed a bottle decorated with diamonds, gold and lapis lazuli to celebrate the house's 100th anniversary as far back as 1885. Since then, Piper bottles have been clad for instance by Van Cleef & Arpels, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Victor & Rolf. In 2009, Piper-Heidsieck rekindled the decadent Russian-Parisian ritual of drinking champagne from a shoe ­ this time from a crystal stiletto designed by Christian Louboutin. Such marketing tricks often reveal deficiencies in the quality of the wine, but that is certainly not true of Piper. At least not anymore, as the quality has consistently increased since Rémy Martin (now Rémy Cointreau) bought the house in 1990. Today, Piper-Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck are one company, but to distinguish between the two houses' brands, they each have their own styles and marketing approaches. They are like a pair of brothers; the serious, mature, and charming gentleman Charles Heidsieck, and the silly, boyish and lively party animal Piper-Heidsieck. These differences are maintained even in the houses' basic selections, for which Piper selects open, fruity and light champagnes. The Piper style charms the most inexperienced of champagne lovers but will not bore even a seasoned palate. Despite its easily approachable style, Piper has a depth that develops during ageing. The Heidsieck name is undeniably confusing, as Champagne also contains a third representative: Heidsieck Co. & Monopole. All three houses stem from Florens-Louis Heidsieck. When he died, his nephew Christian Heidsieck took over the firm established in 1785, while another nephew, Henri-Louis Walbaum, started up Walbaum, Heidsieck & Co. in 1834. The son of Florens-Louis's third nephew, Charles-Camille, went on to establish Charles Heidsieck. When Christian Heidsieck's widow married HenriGuillaume Piper in 1937, the estate was renamed Piper & Co, although it still sold champagne under the Heidsieck name. The name Piper-Heidsieck was settled on in 1845. Although the Rare champagne was first produced in 1976, it has never found a place as a luxury champagne for the masses. It has not even been produced very often, as the only prior vintages are 1979, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1998 and 1999. The champagne changed course around the turn of the millennium, as for a few years it became the non-vintage blend Cuvée Rare. Even though the Cuvée Rare was charming, it is significantly easier to market luxury vintage champagnes, and their ageing process is more practical to follow. Having spent a while in a dark suit, the Rare is again clothed in a very chic golden bottle. We hope that the gala dress, the top vintage of 2002 and its success in FINE Champagne Magazine's Best Champagne for 2011 will bring the Rare Millésime to the lips of more and more champagne lovers. 40

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Champagnes Ranking 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 42 100 1 - 25 Piper-Heidsieck Rare 2002 Dom Pérignon Rosé 2000 Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires 1995 Charles Heidsieck Vintage 2000 Louis Roederer Cristal Rosé 2002 Ruinart Dom Ruinart Rosé 1996 Dom Pérignon 2002 De Saint Gall Grand Cru Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs NV Veuve Clicquot Vintage 2002 Chartogne-Taillet Fiacre NV Krug Clos d'Ambonnay 1996 Pommery Cuvée Louise Rosé 2000 Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle Alexandra Rosé 1998 De Venoge Brut Millésime 2000 Krug Rosé NV Louis Roederer Blanc de Blancs 2004 Pol Roger Millésime 2000 Piper-Heidsieck Brut NV Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque Rosé 2002 Armand de Brignac Blanc de Blancs NV Armand de Brignac Rosé NV Veuve Fourny & Fils "R" NV Armand de Brignac Brut Gold NV Salon 1997 Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV Points 95 95 93 93 93 93 92 92 92 92 92 92 92 91 91 91 91 91 91 91 91 91 91 91 91 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Ranking 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 26 - 50 Deutz Amour de Deutz 1999 Pol Roger Rosé 2002 Taittinger Prelude Grands Crus NV Penet-Chardonnet Grand Réserve NV Louis Roederer Cristal 2004 Krug Vintage 1998 Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon Rosé 2000 Henriot Millésime 1996 Taittinger Les Folies de la Marquetterie NV Charles Heidsieck Brut Rosé NV Pol Roger Pure NV Krug Grande Cuvée NV Cattier Brut Rosé NV Nicolas Feuillatte Palmes d'Or 1999 Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart 2000 Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle NV Pommery Cuvée Louise 1999 Charles Lafitte Brut Millésime Cuvée Speciale 1999 Pommery POP Earth NV Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 1999 Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque Blanc de Blancs 2000 Drappier Rosé Brut NV Laurent-Perrier Brut L-P NV Henriot Demi-Sec NV Jacquesson Cuvée 734 NV Points 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 Fi n e 1 0 0 B e s t 43 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 89 89 89 89 89 89

Champagnes Ranking 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 44 100 51 - 75 Besserat de Bellefon Cuvée des Moines NV Veuve Clicquot Brut Rosé NV Pannier Vintage 2002 Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 1999 De Saint Gall Orpale 1998 De Venoge Vin du Paradis NV Gonet Belemnita 2004 Laurent-Perrier Brut Rosé NV Boizel Joyau de France 1996 Henriot Blanc de Blancs NV Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage 2002 Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé NV Doyard Collection de l'An Oeil de Perdrix 2005 Veuve Clicquot Vintage Rosé 2004 Laurent-Perrier Ultra Brut NV Deutz Brut Classic NV G.H. Mumm Mumm de Verzenay NV A. Robert Cuvée Le Sablon Brut NV Besserat de Bellefon Cuvée des Moines Millésime 2002 Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royale 2003 Pierre Gimonnet Special Club Millésime de Exception 2002 De Venoge Brut Rosé NV Duval-Leroy Brut Bio NV Heidsieck & Co Monopole Blue Top NV Chanoine Tsarine 2002 Points 89 89 89 89 89 89 89 89 89 89 89 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75

Ranking 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 76 - 100 Mailly Grand Cru Les Echansons 1996 Gosset Grand Rosé NV Chanoine Tsarine Cuvée Premium NV Pannier Selection Brut NV Boizel Brut Chardonnay NV Chartogne-Taillet Cuvée Sainte-Anne NV Billecart-Salmon Vintage 2004 Mailly Grand Cru Brut Rosé NV Deutz Blanc de Blancs 2004 De Saint Gall Brut Rosé NV De Saint Gall Premier Cru Brut NV Besserat de Bellefon Cuvée des Moines Rosé NV Taittinger Vintage 2004 Pannier Egérie de Pannier 2000 Lamiable Brut Grand Cru 2005 Alfred Gratien Brut NV Nicolas Feuillatte Blanc de Blancs 2004 Philipponnat Cuvée 1522 2002 Henriot Rosé NV Déhu Brut Tradition NV Moët & Chandon Brut Impérial NV Besserat de Bellefon Cuvée des Moines Blanc de Blancs NV Henri Chauvet Blanc de Noirs NV Pierre Peters L'Esprit de 2005 G.H. Mumm Cuvée R. Lalou 1999 Points 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 87 87 87 87 87 87 87 87 87 87 Fi n e 1 0 0 B e s t 45

100 Champagnes Piper-Heidsieck Rare 2002 Dom Pérignon Rosé 2000 95 p 2010/2025 95 p 2010/2020 Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires 1995 93 p 2010/2020 46 Charles Heidsieck Vintage 2000 Louis Roederer Cristal Rosé 2002 93 p 2010/2020 93 p 2010/2025

Ruinart Dom Ruinart Rosé 1996 Dom Pérignon 2002 93 p 92 p 2010/2030 2010/2020 De Saint Gall Grand Cru Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs NV 92 p 2010/2025 Veuve Clicquot Vintage 2002 ChartogneTaillet Fiacre NV 92 p 2010/2025 92 p 2010/2022 Fi n e 1 0 0 B e s t 47

100 Champagnes Krug Clos d'Ambonnay 1996 2010/2030 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Pommery Cuvée Louise Rosé 2000 Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle Alexandra Rosé 1998 92 p 92 p 2010/2018 92 p 2010/2020 De Venoge Brut Millésime 2000 Krug Rosé NV 91 p 48 2010/2017 91 p 2010/2020 Louis Roederer Blanc de Blancs 2004 91 p 2010/2020 10 Pol Roger Millésime 2000 Piper-Heidsieck Brut NV 91 p 2010/2020 91 p 2010/2017 Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque Rosé 2002 91 p 2010/2025

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Armand de Brignac Blanc de Blancs NV Armand de Brignac Rosé NV Veuve Fourny & Fils 'R' NV 91 p 91 p 2010/2017 91 p 2010/2018 2010/2020 Armand de Brignac Brut Gold NV Salon 1997 91 p 2010/2025 Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV 91 p 2010/2020 91 p 2010/2020 Deutz Amour de Deutz 1999 Pol Roger Rosé 2002 90 p 2010/2022 90 p 2010/2020 Taittinger Prelude Grands Crus NV 90 p 2010/2020 Fi n e 1 0 0 B e s t 49

100 Champagnes PenetChardonnet Grand Réserve NV 2010/2018 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Louis Roederer Cristal 2004 Krug Vintage 1998 90 2010/2030 90 p 2010/2025 90 p 6 8 Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon Rosé 2000 50 Henriot Millésime 1996 90 p 2010/2018 Taittinger Les Folies de la Marquetterie NV 90 p 90 p 2010/2020 2010/2023 Charles Heidsieck Brut Rosé NV Pol Roger Pure NV 90 p 90 p Krug Grande Cuvée NV 2010/2017 2010/2015 90 p 2010/2025

38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 Cattier Brut Rosé NV Nicolas Feuillatte Palmes d'Or 1999 BillecartSalmon Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart 2000 90 p 2010/2015 90 p 2010/2020 90 p 2010/2020 Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle NV Pommery Cuvée Louise 1999 90 p 2010/2025 90 p 2010/2025 Charles Lafitte Brut Millésime Cuvée Speciale 1999 90 p 2010/2016 10 Pommery POP Earth NV 90 p 2010/2015 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 1999 Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque Blanc de Blancs 2000 89 p 2010/2020 89 p 2010/2020 Fi n e 1 0 0 B e s t 51

100 Champagnes Drappier Rosé Brut NV 2010/2012 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 Laurent-Perrier Brut L-P NV Henriot DemiSec NV 89 p 89 p 2010/2014 89 p 2010/2015 Jacquesson Cuvée 734 NV 89 p 52 2010/2018 Besserat de Bellefon Cuvée des Moines NV Veuve Clicquot Brut Rosé NV 89 p 89 p 2010/2015 2010/2020 Pannier Vintage 2002 89 p 2010/2017 Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 1999 De Saint Gall Orpale 1998 89 p 89 p 2010/2015 2010/2025

56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 De Venoge Vin du Paradis NV Gonet Belemnita 2004 Laurent-Perrier Brut Rosé NV 89 p 2010/2015 89 p 2010/2020 89 p 2010/2015 Boizel Joyau de France 1996 Henriot Blanc de Blancs NV 89 p 2010/2022 89 p 2010/2015 Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage 2002 89 p 2010/2025 BillecartSalmon Brut Rosé NV 88 p 2010/2015 Doyard Collection de l'An 1 Oeil de Perdrix 2005 Veuve Clicquot Vintage Rosé 2004 88 p 88 p 2010/2020 2010/2016 5 10 Fi n e 1 0 0 B e s t 53

100 Champagnes Laurent-Perrier Ultra Brut NV 2010/2017 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 Deutz Brut Classic NV 88 p 88 2010/2015 G.H. Mumm Mumm de Verzenay NV 88 p 2010/2016 A. Robert Cuvée Le Sablon Brut NV 88 p 54 2010/2020 Besserat de Bellefon Cuvée des Moines Millésime 2002 Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royale 2003 88 p 88 p 2010/2014 2010/2023 Pierre Gimonnet Special Club Millésime de Exception 2002 De Venoge Brut Rosé NV Duval-Leroy Brut Bio NV 88 p 2010/2013 88 p 2010/2016 88 p 2010/2020

74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 Heidsieck & Co Monopole Blue Top NV Chanoine Tsarine 2002 88 p 88 p 2010/2015 Mailly Grand Cru Les Echansons 1996 2010/2013 88 p 2010/2018 6 8 Gosset Grand Rosé NV 88 p 2010/2015 Chanoine Tsarine Cuvée Premium NV Pannier Selection Brut NV 88 p 2010/2015 88 p 2010/2013 Boizel Brut Chardonnay NV 88 p 2010/2017 ChartogneTaillet Cuvée Sainte-Anne NV BillecartSalmon Vintage 2004 88 p 2010/2016 88 p 2010/2018 7 Fi n e 1 0 0 B e s t 55

100 Champagnes Mailly Grand Cru Brut Rosé NV 2010/2014 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 Deutz Blanc de Blancs 2004 De Saint Gall Brut Rosé NV 88 p 88 p 2010/2020 88 p 2010/2014 De Saint Gall Premier Cru Brut NV 88 p 56 2010/2013 Besserat de Bellefon Cuvée des Moines Rosé NV Taittinger Vintage 2004 88 p 2010/2020 88 p 2010/2018 Pannier Egérie de Pannier 2000 Lamiable Brut Grand Cru 2005 Alfred Gratien Brut NV 88 p 2010/2017 88 p 2010/2015 87 p 2010/2014

92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 Nicolas Feuillatte Blanc de Blancs 2004 Philipponnat Cuvée 1522 2002 Henriot Rosé NV 87 p 2010/2014 87 p 87 p 2010/2014 2010/2023 13 Déhu Brut Tradition NV 87 p 2010/2013 Moët & Chandon Brut Impérial NV 87 p 2010/2015 Besserat de Bellefon Cuvée des Moines Blanc de Blancs NV 87 p 2010/2020 Henri Chauvet Blanc de Noirs NV Pierre Peters L'Esprit de 2005 2005 G.H. Mumm Cuvée R. Lalou 1999 87 p 2010/2025 87 p 2010/2018 87 p 2010/2020 Fi n e 1 0 0 B e s t 57

vintage champagne Non-vintage (NV, sans année) champagne is the backbone of every champagne house's production, typically accounting for 80­90 per cent of the total volume. Hence, it is also their most important product, taking up the most time and effort. Maintaining the style and quality of the house's non-vintage champagne consistently year after year is a challenge. Yet this is paramount, because the very idea of non-vintage champagne is that no vintage-related variation can be detected in the taste, thus allowing the consumer to select his or her favourite cuvée with confidence. In the varying climatic conditions of the Champagne region, consistent quality is achieved by using reserve wines from previous years. Moreover, non-vintage champagne must be ready to drink as soon as it has been released ­ the majority of champagnes are consumed immediately after purchase. Therefore, non-vintage champagnes usually consist of all three grape varieties sourced extensively throughout the region. The cellar masters of major champagne houses may blend more than 400 base wines into their classic champagne in order to create a balanced, subtle champagne in high volumes. The minimum maturing time of non-vintage champagne after bottling is 15 months, but most prestigious champagne houses mature their non-vintage for 2­3 years or longer in order to achieve the autolytic, toasty aromas typical of champagne. on- 58 Overall placement 1 NV Blanc Top 10 De Saint Gall Grand Cru Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs NV Piper-Heidsieck Brut NV Veuve Fourny & Fils 'R' NV Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV Taittinger Prelude Grands Crus NV Penet-Chardonnet Grand Réserve NV Taittinger Les Folies de la Marquetterie NV Pol Roger Pure NV Pommery POP Earth NV Laurent-Perrier Brut L-P NV 92p 91p 91p 91p 90p 90p 90p 90p 90p 89p (8) (18) (22) (25) (28) (29) (34) (36) (44) (48) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

intage champagne Vintage champagne (millésime) is made in better-thanaverage years and cellared longer than non-vintage champagnes. In other words, it resembles the reserve wine category that is familiar in other styles of wine. Unlike non-vintage champagnes, vintage champagnes are not meant to be consistent year after year. On the contrary, the cellar master composes vintage champagnes from the base wines that best reflect the particular year's characteristics. Despite the variation between different vintages, champagnes of this category are quite easy for consumers to buy: whenever a champagne house releases a vintage champagne, theoretically it indicates that the year is a good one and, consequently, so is the champagne. Moreover, vintage champagnes contain longer-life base wines, and while they are quite enjoyable immediately upon release, they still have significant development potential. The wines feature certain intellectualism because they provide us with information about the differences between certain years. Vintage champagne also entails a promise of greater tasting pleasure in the years to come; it improves with ageing. Vintage champagnes have been cellared over fur for a minimum of 36 months, and usually for much longer. In spite of this, they are much less expensive than prestige cuvées. Overall placement 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (4) (9) (14) (16) (17) (27) (33) (43) (53) (57) Vintage Top 10 Charles Heidsieck Vintage 2000 Veuve Clicquot Vintage 2002 De Venoge Brut Millésime 2000 Louis Roederer Blanc de Blancs 2004 Pol Roger Millésime 2000 Pol Roger Rosé 2002 Henriot Millésime 1996 Charles Lafitte Brut Millésime Cuvée Speciale 1999 Pannier Vintage 2002 Gonet Belemnita 2004 93p 92p 91p 91p 91p 90p 90p 90p 89p 89p Fi n e 1 0 0 B e s t 59

restige cuvées Every bottle of champagne is a luxury product, but not everyone wants to settle for the classic non-vintage. The topmost category in the champagne pyramid consists of prestige cuvée (Cuvée Prestige) champagnes. This category originated in 1873, when Czar Alexander II of Russia found no ordinary champagne to be good enough for him and ordered his own special blend in a crystal bottle from his trusted supplier, Champagne Louis Roederer. Nevertheless, Moët & Chandon was the first champagne house to release a commercial prestige champagne, the Dom Pérignon vintage 1921 that was released in 1936. The Cristal champagne by Louis Roederer as we know it today was launched after World War II. The category started as a niche branch but rose to its current status in the 1950s and 1960s, and is continuously increasing in significance. In many markets, especially in the Far East, the current demand for luxury champagne clearly exceeds supply. Prestige champagnes are made from grapes harvested from the highest-rating Grand Cru villages, often exclusively from Pinot Noir or Chardonnay. These two grapes have the longest maturation potential. In addition to the premium ingredients, the rich variety of aromas, as well as the intensive structure with small bubbles associated with prestige champagnes, can be attributed to the prolonged ageing in bottles on the lees. Due to its superb acid structure, champagne ages beautifully, and prestige champagnes in particular are at their peak long after release. Nearly all prestige champagnes, especially Cristal, Dom Pérignon, Philipponnat Clos des Goisses and Salon, require long cellaring before they reveal their true, rich, subtle, aristocratically stylish essence. Tasting soon after release may leave questions on the taster's palate: the champagnes are often very tight and vacuously mineral, with only slight references to their future potential. It is a shame that such champagnes are released and consumed much too young ­ every year of patient cellaring is like putting money in the bank. 60 Overall placement 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (1) (3) (7) (10) (11) (20) (23) (24) (26) (30) Prestige Cuvée Blanc Top10 Piper-Heidsieck Rare 2002 Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires 1995 Dom Pérignon 2002 Chartogne-Taillet Fiacre NV Krug Clos d'Ambonnay 1996 Armand de Brignac Blanc de Blancs NV Armand de Brignac Brut Gold NV Salon 1997 Deutz Amour de Deutz 1999 Louis Roederer Cristal 2004 95p 93p 92p 92p 92p 91p 91p 91p 90p 90p

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osé champagne Even though rosé champagne has allegedly been manufactured in the Champagne region since at least 1775, it has never been as popular as it is today. No more than ten years ago, rosé champagne accounted for approximately five per cent of many houses' total production, although today 15 is a more common percentage. It seems that rosé champagne is here to stay. Pink champagne has a rather girly image, but this does not reflect its actual style. As a matter of fact, rosé champagne is the most masculine champagne because of its wine-like and often stronger character. Many rosé champagnes go well with meals, and even red meat. Rosé champagne can be made in two alternative ways: by macerating dark grapes in the juice (rosé de saignée) or by blending in some red wine from the Champagne region to a white base wine (rosé d'assemblage). Most rosé champagnes are products of the latter method, which allows better control over the outcome, but neither of these methods can be raised above the other. It is often impossible to determine the manufacturing method when tasting the wine, although sometimes a saignée wine can be recognised due to its more tannic nature. Laurent-Perrier is one of the few Grande Marque houses using the saignée method in rosé champagne production. Rosé champagne is often approximately 20 per cent more expensive than white champagne, due not only to its trendy popularity but also to higher manufacturing costs. The production of mature, high quality red wines for rosé champagne is difficult and expensive in Champagne. In addition, the arrangements required for the extra vinification and smaller batch sizes are costly. Whether rosé champagne is worth the extra price is a question of style rather than of quality. Along with the increased popularity, the quality of rosé champagnes has risen significantly over the past few years. Rosé champagnes are available in a wide variety, ranging from fresh berry flavoured to highly developed, champagne-like wines. The colours may vary from pale pink to nearly as dark as red wine. The rosé champagnes belonging to the luxury category are the best of the best in the world of champagne. Cristal Rosé, Dom Pérignon Rosé, Laurent-Perrier Alexandra, Dom Ruinart Rosé and Pommery Cuvée Louise Rosé are wonderful examples of the ageing potential, depth and multidimensionality of rosé champagne. These champagnes are true rarities; for example, the production of Cuvée Louise in vintage years is 200 000 bottles but that of the corresponding rosé only 5000. Due to the low volumes, these wines may not even be mentioned on the producer's website. Their prices are often twice or three times as high as those of white champagne. Overall placement (35) (38) (47) (52) (58) (62) (72) (77) (83) (85) Overall placement 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (2) (5) (6) (12) (13) (15) (19) (21) (32) (87) NV Rosé Top 10 Charles Heidsieck Brut Rosé NV Cattier Brut Rosé NV Drappier Rosé Brut NV Veuve Clicquot Brut Rosé NV Laurent-Perrier Brut Rosé NV Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé NV De Venoge Brut Rosé NV Gosset Grand Rosé NV Mailly Grand Cru Brut Rosé NV De Saint Gall Brut Rosé NV 90p 90p 89p 89p 89p 88p 88p 88p 88p 88p 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 62 Prestige Cuvée Rosé Top 10 Dom Pérignon Rosé 2000 Louis Roederer Cristal Rosé 2002 Ruinart Dom Ruinart Rosé 1996 Pommery Cuvée Louise Rosé 2000 Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle Alexandra Rosé 1998 Krug Rosé NV 94p 93p 93p 92p 92p 91p Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque Rosé 2002 91p Armand de Brignac Rosé NV Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon Rosé 2000 91p 90p 10 Besserat de Bellefon Cuvée des Moines 89p Rosé NV

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lanc de blancs The term blanc de blancs refers to wines made exclusively from white grapes, so in champagnes the grape is in most cases Chardonnay. This is a very common style; for example, the Côte des Blancs region is almost entirely dedicated to this grape and, consequently, local grower-producers automatically concentrate solely on blanc de blancs. Being an elegant and fruity grape, Chardonnay works very well by itself. At a young age, the wines may be highlightedly acidic and feature a linear, even bony structure. With ageing, Chardonnay soon develops a lovely, toasty and creamy aroma. The young wines can be aggressive, and therefore many producers, such as G. H. Mumm and VarnierFannière, keep the pressure of Chardonnay champagnes slightly lower. These wines used to be called Crémant ­ for example, Mumm de Cramant was previously named Crémant de Cramant ­ but nowadays this term is reserved for sparkling wines made in other wine regions of France using the traditional method. 64 Overall placement 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (3) (8) (16) (20) (24) (26) (45) (46) (55) (60) Blanc de Blancs Top 10 Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires 1995 De Saint Gall Grand Cru Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs NV Louis Roederer Blanc de Blancs 2004 Armand de Brignac Blanc de Blancs NV Salon 1997 Deutz Amour de Deutz 1999 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 1999 Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque Blanc de Blancs 2000 De Saint Gall Orpale 1998 Henriot Blanc de Blancs NV 93p 92p 91p 91p 91p 90p 89p 89p 89p 89p

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ono-terroir champagne While blending creates the soul of a champagne, the downside of this method is loss of the characteristics of individual vineyards as they blend into the subtle harmony. As is the case with any premium wine, champagne also reflects the typical features of its growing location. Wine lovers are also interested in this aspect of champagnes, and single-village (monocru) and single-vineyard (monoparcelle) wines have gained great popularity and appreciation, particularly among sommeliers and wine enthusiasts. Monocru wines introduce us to the characteristics and typical features of the Champagne region's villages; Salon, made exclusively from grapes grown in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, is probably the most widely known monocru wine. However, many small producers source their grapes from vineyards located in one village only, which means that their products are monocru champagnes de facto. Monoparcelle wines are very trendy nowadays, and display the produce of single vineyards. As the pioneer of this trend, Philipponnat started making monoparcelle wine from the grapes of its unique, 5.5-hectare vineyard Clos des Goisse, in 1935. Other famous single-vineyard wines include Krug's Clos du Mesnil and Clos d'Ambonnay. Also representing Grande Marque producers in this segment are Billecart-Salmon with its Clos Saint Hilaire, Duval Leroy with the Leroy Clos des Bouveries, and Taittinger with its Les Folies de la Marquetterie. Despite the increasing popularity, monoparcelle and monocru wines still remain, first and foremost, the products of grower-producers. As they lack the blending possibilities of large champagne houses, showcasing the character of individual vineyards is a natural choice for them. With pedant vineyard work they can manufacture magnificent wines even at vineyards that may not achieve top ratings in the Echelles des Crus classification. Monoparcelle wines can never have the multidimensionality or harmony of blends; they are singular top wines and are presented as such. A key element in the philosophy of these wines is producing them in a manner that emphasises the terroir-specific qualities. This is why they typically feature low sweetening or no sweetening at all. 66 Overall placement 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (11) (24) (34) (57) (67) (109) (110) (123) (139) (159) Mono-terroir Top 10 Krug Clos d'Ambonnay 1996 Salon 1997 Taittinger Les Folies de la Marquetterie NV Gonet Belemnita 2004 G.H. Mumm Mumm de Verzenay NV Drappier Grande Sendrée 2004 Pierre Péters Cuvée Spéciale Les Chetillons 2002 G.H. Mumm Mumm de Cramant NV Duval-Leroy Clos de Bouveries 2004 Chartogne-Taillet Les Barres 2006 92p 91p 90p 89p 88p 87p 87p 87p 86p 86p

Drappier Grande Sendrée 2004 87 p 2010/2018 Pierre Péters Cuvée Spéciale Les Chetillons 2002 87 p 2010/2020 G.H. Mumm Mumm de Cramant NV Duval-Leroy Clos de Bouveries 2004 ChartogneTaillet Les Barres 2006 87 p 2010/2020 86 p 2010/2020 86 p 2010/2020 Fi n e 1 0 0 B e s t 67

rower champagnes As a counterforce to the champagne houses, a number of smaller grower-producers are making and selling their own products. From an international perspective, growerproducers' champagnes appear to be a secret closely guarded by the French ­ judging from the fact that only 12 per cent of these wines are exported. Compared to the champagne houses, the growerproducers' philosophy of winemaking is very different. Their wines are made from their own grapes, often grown in a small area, making the extensive blending practised by the champagne houses impossible. Grower champagnes typically represent the taste profile of the wines from a particular vineyard, village or sub-region in the area. It goes without saying that not all grower champagnes are excellent ­ nor are all champagnes from champagne houses ­ but in recent years with the new generation of growers taking over the reins, a positive trend has emerged towards top-quality grower champagnes. Names like Jacques Selosse have paved the way to fame for other growerproducers. Many of the up-and-coming grower-producers have adapted a very natural approach to champagne-making, working intensely in their vineyards in order to maximise the quality of their products. Organic or biodynamic production is not unheard of, even if most growers practice viticulture according to the sustainable principles of lutté raisonnée. Grower-producers concentrate largely on producing terroir wines, i.e. denoting the special characteristics that the habitat has bestowed upon the champagne, often by sticking to natural yeasts and by minimising the sulphur dioxide content and the sweetening dosage. The grower community in the Champagne area is undergoing constant changes, and there are still a number of "undiscovered" quality growers in the region. Wine connoisseurs visiting with their eyes open will have a great opportunity to make interesting acquaintances. 68 Overall placement 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (10) (22) (29) (57) (63) (68) (71) (81) (90) (95) Grower champagnes Top 10 Chartogne-Taillet Fiacre NV Veuve Fourny & Fils 'R' NV Penet-Chardonnet Grand Réserve NV Gonet Belemnita 2004 92p 91p 90p 89p 2005 A. Robert Cuvée Le Sablon Brut NV Pierre Gimonnet Special Club Millésime de Exception 2002 Chartogne-Taillet Cuvée Sainte-Anne NV Lamiable Brut Grand Cru 2005 Déhu Brut Tradition NV 88p 88p 88p 88p 88p 87p

Michelin Guide Three Stars San Francisco Chronicle Four Stars The Restaurant at Meadowoood Worth a Special Journey The Restaurant at Meadowood Chef Christopher Kostow

Relationships are core to life in Napa Valley. or the last half century, Napa Valley the original gathering place for the Valley's has provided the panorama for a burgeoning wine community, Meadowood unique way of life--directed by the has now become an international wine industry and acted out by a host of destination and boasts membership within local players. Wine is the thread weaving the the exclusive ranks of Relais & Chateaux. art of man with the Come for a visit. bounty of nature in Walk the fairways a complex pattern on which Auction of relationships-- Napa Valley has relationships that go raised more than $90 to the core of the million since the Valley's legendary first gavel was raised. way of life and set Mingle with the the stage for a story vintners and growers like no other. as they enjoy their The community club through sport that is Napa Valley activities, recreation, contributes to local and the pursuit of enterprise through lifelong wellness. its vast experience Dine on the private and deep-seated terrace of your relationships. In adguestroom or spend dition to grape growthe evening enjoying Master Sommelier Gilles de Chambure ers and wine makers, a meal prepared it includes agriculturalists, great chefs, som- by Michelin Three-Star chef Christopher meliers, maître d's, gallery owners, innkeep- Kostow in The Restaurant at Meadowood. ers and shop proprietors. All depend upon Spend a day exploring the wineries you've each other for their unique livelihood and longed to visit with Gilles de Chambure, lifestyle. Master Sommelier, whose sole role at For the past 46 years Meadowood Meadowood is to enhance guests' knowledge has served as the heart and soul of the and enjoyment of wine. winegrowing community--as a center for A stay at Meadowood offers you entry social and family life and as a second home into an extraordinary way of life. Capture for travelers from around the world wishing the magic of Napa Valley and develop your to immerse themselves in the region, its own relationship with the people that define wines, and its people. Founded in 1964 as this unparalleled experience. F the sporting life at meadowood The forested hillsides of Meadowood's two hundred fifty-acre valley slope to the cool green of the estate's nine-hole, walking golf course. Presiding over the tranquil fairways and the golf teaching facility is Resident Golf Professional Doug Pike. Meadowood's Resident Tennis Professional, Doug King, is one of the country's leading tennis teaching innovators. The founder of Acceleration Tennis, a revolutionary teaching system, King is leading the way in reinterpreting the traditional tennis model, working with players of all skill levels from beginner to professional. Between dining and wine experiences we invite you to stretch your legs with a game of golf or tennis. 900 Meadowood Lane, St. Helena, California 94574 Tel (707) 968-3153 www.meadowood.com

C 72 rayères u Les C hâtea nen a Lihto ikki Text: Juh kka Nu raphy: Pe Photog

weekend trip in Champagne, arranged at harvest time by FINE Champagne Magazine, brought together champagne lovers from all around the world ­ from India to the United States, from France to Finland. The weekend passed quickly ­ too quickly, for some ­ amid interesting visits, gourmet dinners and splendid champagnes. It is midday on Friday. A group of guests sits in the champagne bar of the most renowned hotel in Reims, the Château Les Crayères, in a joyful and expectant mood. Essi Avellan MW, editor of FINE Champagne Magazine, raises her glass to mark the start of the weekend and to welcome the group to the FINE Champagne Weekend. Fi n e We e k e n d 73

74 At the first stage of the weekend we head to one of the most highly esteemed champagne producers, Krug. The guests are treated to a private tour of the cellars and a tasting led by winemaker Julie Cavil. The tour is very instructive. Winemaking is a meticulous process requiring close attention to detail. Small batches of wine, skilful blending of said batches and long ageing of the blends are some of the factors that give the Krug wines their characteristic, recognisable style. After the cellar tour it is time for a tasting, for which Cavil has selected three different types of champagne in order to illustrate the great contrasts you can achieve through blending. The first to be served is currently the world's most expensive champagne, the Krug Clos d'Ambonnay 1996; a small-production champagne that involves no blending at all. It is produced from a single grape variety ­ Pinot Noir ­ grown in a single vineyard in a single year. The Clos d'Ambonnay is followed by the Krug Vintage 1996, which is a vintage champagne blended from three varieties grown in different parts of Champagne. The wines differ significantly from each other, the Clos d'Ambonnay being more temperamental and characterful, although somewhat more one-dimensional than the Krug Vintage. Into the last glass, Cavil pours the Grande Cuvée, Krug's masterpiece of blending. The Grande Cuvée is a blend of several vintages of three grapes grown around Champagne. Out of the three champagnes, the Grande Cuvée is the most balanced at the moment. It is lacking in the vintage champagnes' intensity and concentration, but it offers a nuanced aromaticness and mouthfeel. Julie Cavil is a sociable and gregarious winemaker who makes a tasting enjoyable and rewarding. After spending a couple of hours here, it is time to move on to the address where they make a champagne that was chosen as the best in the world last year: Armand de Brignac. Julie Cavil

In the goldmine We arrive in the sleepy town of Chigny Les Roses, which is home to the headquarters of the Cattier family business, the producers of Armand de Brignac. We are welcomed Château de la Marquetterie Fi n e We e k e n d 75 by the estate's hosts, Philippe Bienvenu and Jean-Jacques Cattier. In the lobby there is an eye-catching and brilliant white lounge with a champagne bar, which features sparkling gold, silver and pink bottles of Armand de Brignac. The story behind the meteoric rise of the Armand de Brignac Brut Gold "Ace of Spades" champagne, stored in ostentatious golden bottles, is short and happy. Bienvenu tells us that the springboard for the champagne, launched in 2006, was a music video by the American rap artist Jay-Z. Naturally the bottle was chosen for the video thanks to its luxurious looks, but Jay-Z also had a liking for the champagne's taste. Having tasted Armand de Brignac champagnes, it is easy to understand their allure. Their style stands out from the mainstream with a temptingly fruity, roundly mellow and refreshing character; our group typifies them as perfect champagnes for clubs and parties. Our conversation then turns to food and champagne. We are agree that, with the exception of the Demi-Sec, the Armand de Brignac champagnes are most suitable for light and fresh dishes, such as seafood and sushi. The Demi-Sec is complementary to spicy Asian flavours on the one hand, and classic duck liver dishes on the other. It is also excellent for refreshing desserts. As our appetites begin to awaken and time marches on, it is time to move on to a dinner party in the Château de la Marquetterie, the Taittinger manor on the outskirts of Épernay. Taittinger crystals Owned by Taittinger, the picturesque manor dating from 1734 provides a fabulous setting for our dinner in Pierry. Taittinger's Marketing Director, Dominique Garreta, has created a champagne menu in collaboration with the Les Grains d'Argent restaurant in Dizy. We begin with a fresh and toasty Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 1999, together with appetizers. The next course, a delicious creamy porcini risotto, proves to be the perfect accompaniment to the fruity, well-balanced Taittinger Brut Millèsime 2004. The Limousine veal served

Richard Geoffr ey Dom Périgno & n 76 as the main dish is complemented by the non-vintage single vineyard wine Les Folies de la Marquetterie, produced from grapes grown in the vineyard around the manor. It is surprising how well the champagne sets off the rich meat. One of the most wonderful champagne encounters of the evening, and the trip as a whole, comes later with the cheeses: the Comtes de Champagne Rosé 1979, dug out from the depths of the cellar, charms us with its subtlety and character. The Comtes de Champagne Rosé 1982, served with the mango pie that wraps up the dinner, may not be quite as celebrated by the diners as the 1979, but proves all the same to be a brilliant wine that complements the very lightly sweetened pie surprisingly well. The evening is unforgettable ­ not just due to the wines, the food and the beautiful setting, but also thanks to the happy and relaxed atmosphere. On the way back to Reims, our palates are still reminded of the memorable taste of the Comtes de Champagne Rosés. Orangery of Moët & Chandon In Napoleon's footsteps On Saturday morning it is time to visit Moët & Chandon, where we are expected for a tour of some of the 28-kilometre-long tunnels that make up the estate's cellars. At the end of the tour we move on to the Moët reception premises and gardens, which were originally built by JeanRemy Moët for Napoleon in the style of the Palace of Versailles. The lunch, served in the Orangery located at the back of the gardens is accompanied by a cavalcade of Dom Pérignons, including the fresh and crisp 2002, the complex and toasty Oenothèque 1996 and the alluring Dom Pérignon Rosé 2000. Our host is the world-renowned and charismatic cellar master Richard Geoffroy, whose views and passionate approach towards gastronomy generate an interesting discussion concerning champagnes, their use and their production among the lunch guests. After a three-hour visit at Moët & Chandon, we set our sights on one of the most famous landmarks of Champagne, the steep vineyard of Clos des Goisses.

A Champagne speciality After just twenty minutes or so, we stand at the top of the steepest hill of Champagne in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. Our jovial host, Charles Philipponnat, has decided to answer the question of what makes his prestige Charle s Philip ponna t Fi n e We e k e n d 77 tasting of numerous vintages of Clos des Goisses. The youngest vintages, 2000 and 1998, still feel fairly closed. 1992 is only just opening, being exceptionally robust, rich and aromatic for a wine from such a modest vintage. 1982 is very well developed, whereas the 1952 Clos des Goisses confounds us with its youthfulness and freshness. In addition to the Clos des Goisses vintages, we taste Philipponnat's 1976 Blanc de Blancs, which he uncorks flamboyantly à la volée. Before we leave we still have time for the rare Clos des Goisses Juste Rosé from 1999, of which less than 2000 bottles were made. The wine is in surprisingly enjoyable condition taking into account its young age. at Clos des Goisses The whole group is enchanted by the Charles Philipponnat visit to Philipponnat. The easy-going and champagne, Clos des Goisses, so unique. To unaffected Charles keeps surprising us by do this, he has brought us to the vineyard offering champagnes that are each more that climbs up this steep hill to a point from intriguing than the next, all filled with which there is a fabulous view over Épernay, character and charisma ­ just like the man all the way to the Côte des Blancs. The himself. We leave Philipponnat vineyard's warm microclimate and generous and our vineyard visits to sunshine cause the grapes to ripen more prepare for the weekend's than usual, which makes Clos des Goisses highly awaited gala dinner at champagnes more robust than their rivals. the Château Les Crayères. Moments later, we are treated in Philipponnat's tasting rooms to a blind

Gala dinner at Les Crayères 78 In the hotel's restaurant, Le Parc, awaits a four-hour champagne dinner put together by the hotel's head sommelier Philippe Jamesse and head chef Philippe Mille. The seven-course champagne menu is formulated to complement diverse Veuve Clicquot champagnes. The combinations are fascinating and apt. Mille's cooking style, based on high-quality raw materials and clean, honest flavours, provides a lot of room for combinations with champagne. Jamesse still faces a challenge in choosing the right champagne out of Veuve Clicquot's wellbalanced, Pinot Noir-based wines for Mille's dishes, however. The result is a success. The finest experiences come with the main course and the cheeses, with which we are treated to Veuve Clicquot's late disgorged Cave Privées from 1988 and 1980. To conclude the dinner we settle down to enjoy a magnum of Perrier- yères Château Les Cra d sommelier at Hea Philippe Jamesse Jouët Belle Epoque Rosé from 1982. The perfect end to a delight-filled day, before the final and most gruelling stage of the weekend.

It is a sunny Sunday morning. The cabinet at Château Les Crayères is splendidly set using champagne glasses designed by Philippe Jamesse. At 11 a.m. thirty foil-wrapped, numbered champagne bottles are carried in on ice. For FINE's champagne experts, this will be the most challenging part of the weekend. It is the grand final tasting for the World's Best Champagnes 2011 ranking. The top thirty champagnes out of more than one thousand tasted by FINE Champagne Magazine's experts over the year are included. Essi Avellan MW at Les Crayères All of these champagnes, which will be tasted blind, are superb in quality and the differences between them are very subtle. Although the participants of the weekend trip are invited to take part in the tasting, only the ratings given by the FINE experts will be used in the ranking. After two hours, the winner has been decided. Although the results will not be published until later, the guests will have plenty to tell their folks at home. > The next FINE Champagne Weekend will be organised next autumn, around harvest time. Fi n e We e k e n d 79 World's Best Champagne 2011

82 Caudalie Vinothérapie Spas Spa Vinothérapie Aux Sources De Caudalie Chemin de Smith Haut Lafitte Bordeaux-Martillac, France vino@caudalie.com Spa Vinothérapie Caudalie Les Étangs De Corot Ville d'Avray, France spa@etangs-corot.com Caudalie Vinothérapie Spa At Marques De Riscal Elciego, Spain reservations.marquesderiscal@luxurycollection.com Caudalie Vinothérapie Spa At Hôtel Les Ottomans Istanbul, Turkey spa@lesottomans.com.tr Caudalie Vinothérapie Spa At The Plaza New York, USA plazavinotherapie@caudalie.com Hotel & Spa Do Vinho Caudalie Bento Gonçalves, Brazil reservas@spadovinho.com.br

literally text: Meri Kukkavaara photography: Pekka Nuikki, Les Sources de Caudalie in wine ­ How about a glass of red Bordeaux? Or a highquality white wine? How about a full barrel or, in fact, taking a bath in it? Having arrived in Bordeaux for a spa holiday I intend to do just that. The seeds of gold Caudalie Vinothérapie Spa, twenty minutes from the city of Bordeaux and in the middle of the top wine-producing region of Graves, has found the source of youth and beauty in vine cultivations, or more precisely in the seeds of grapes. It all started in 1993 when a professor of pharmacy visiting Château Smith Haut Lafitte found that grape seeds are worth their weight in gold. The capability of the polyphenols contained in grape seeds to bind free radicals is unparalleled in the vegetable world. The secret of the hot spring The wine therapy spa is on the grounds of the Château Smith Haut Lafitte estate, on a spot where part of the estate's vines used to stretch in straight rows. The owners of the estate, Florence and Daniel Cathiard, had noticed that the grapes did not grow as well on that stretch of land as they did elsewhere. The matter was investigated, and it turned out that there was a hot spring with a high mineral content some 500 metres under the ground. When the Cathiards' daughter Mathilde and her husband Fi n e C au d a l i e S pa 83

84 Ile aux Oiseaux suite at Les Sources de Caudalie To celebrate Les Sources de Caudalie's 10th anniversary, the Ile aux Oiseaux suite was newly decorated by Maison Martin Margiela. The Ile aux Oiseaux suite is reminiscent of the cabanes tchanquées (cabins on stilts) in Arcachon Bay. Maison Martin Margiela's interior architects relied on contrasting materials and furniture as well as the dissonant interplay between indoors and outdoors. Today, the Ile aux Oiseaux suite has an unexpectedly avant-garde atmosphere combining elegance and minimalism. The suite now features a blend of white, black, and grey colours, as well as trompe l'oeil visuals, second-hand furniture and multiple influences. Bertrand Thomas had ­ after two years of research ­ developed and patented the Caudalie series of skin care products based on seed oil, the components for a vineyard spa were all in place. The vines were uprooted from the area surrounding the hot spring, and a spa building was constructed on the spot; its outdoor pool is now full of steaming hot water from the spring. The unique treatments at the spa use this mineral water and various types of extracts from grapes and vines, as well as the Caudalie products. I have booked only a few days at the spa. I hope that the tranquillity and beauty of the place and its location in the middle of the endless rows of vines will offer a generous dose of pampering for both my body and soul, even in this short amount of time. I know that it has worked for guests before me, as it recently won first place in Condé Nast Traveller 2010 Readers' Spa Awards, where it was the favourite overseas spa retreat. Manor romance My accommodation is at the Hotel Les Sources de Caudalie, a luxurious five-star hotel on the grounds of the estate next to the spa. Its two

Cabernet Sauvignon scrub Despite the delightful surrounding, it is the spa itself I have really come to see. It offers wet body treatments, dry body treatments and the more traditional facial treatments. I am fascinated by treatments that have a connection with wine and grapes and, being in Bordeaux, I intend to savour these during my stay. On the first day, I have booked a body scrub with crushed Cabernet seeds, a facial treatment and a bath in a wine vat. The spa and the hotel are next to each other, so at nine in the morning I walk through the hotel's garden and past a misty pond. In the spa I am led to a dressing room, and in a plush white bathrobe I move on to the recreation area. Here the guests find a Turkish hammam, a steam bath and a large warm-water pool with underwater nozzles for muscle massage. There are many sofas for resting in the well-lit and beautiful room, and tea made from vine leaves is available in flasks on the tables. I am told that it is good to drink this between treatments as it cleanses the body. Sliding glass doors open on three sides and if I want, I can wander through them to three different terraces with deck chairs and admire the beautiful rows of vines or the hotel's minimalistic garden, where the warm and steaming pool is accompanied by an even warmer jacuzzi. Soon a young beauty therapist invites me to my first treatment ­ a dry body scrub called Crushed Cabernet Scrub. We descend the stairs to the basement and into a dimly lit, modern treatment room. The therapist asks me to lie down on the treatment table and discreetly leaves the room for a moment. I slip out of the bathrobe while soft, relaxing music starts to play in the room. I am ready and the therapist returns with a bowl containing a mixture of Fi n e C au d a l i e S pa 85 restaurants make the trip even more pleasant and unnecessary to leave the estate at all, unless I wish to visit Bordeaux. The hotel is an experience in itself. The buildings look as if they have stood there for at least a couple of centuries, despite the fact they were built just ten years ago. The main building is a beautiful manor, while the others are all different but imitate the traditional architectural style of the French countryside. Their aged look comes from using old materials from carefully demolished country houses. Inside, every room has a unique interior, including the suite in a separate cottage-like building by a pond. Although the interiors partly imitate those of countryside houses, there is no question that this is a luxury hotel. No expense has been spared in their stylish creation; to find authentic items such as the antique fireplaces, old tapestries and paintings has been a hard task. The hotel is run by Cathiard's other daughter Alice Cathiard-Tourbier, together with her husband Jérôme Tourbier.

86 honey, grape seeds, sugar and seed oil. She then proceeds to give me a manual body scrub and massage. The experience is rather unusual, but pleasant and peaceful. After the treatment I rinse the seeds off my skin in a shower and lie down again. This time the therapist applies aromatic oil on my body and massages lightly. Almost an hour has passed in the care of these skilful hands and we are finished. I nestle back into my soft robe and return to the waiting area to be called to my next treatment. Wine bath and more After a short while I am called again. This time I enjoy a luxurious facial treatment designed to moisturise and revitalise the skin: a perfect choice after the skin-drying summer. My face is cleansed, gently scrubbed, massaged with oil and finally given a special treatment: facial massage with grape halves. The treatment also includes menthol-eucalyptus facial spray, which is a moisturising treatment under a warm paraffin wax mask. In the meantime, my legs, feet, shoulders and scalp are massaged, and a

hot towel placed on my face. The final touch is serum and a light moisturising cream. The skin on my face feels silky smooth, almost as if it had received at least six months' special therapy at once. The last treatment of the day is the bath in a wine vat that I have been waiting for. I am taken to a nice, simple room with a large vat on a platform in the middle. Closer observation reveals that inside the vat there is a spacious jacuzzi, perhaps a little less rustic or traditional than I had imagined, but inviting nevertheless. Instead of bathing in wine I now enjoy a long bath in warm mineral water, into which grape seed oil and geranium-cypress oil are poured. The gauze curtains are opened and I am left to enjoy the tranquillising bath that clears my mind. I give in and just stare out of the window, where I can see sky, clouds and row upon row of vines. Even if I cannot say I bathed in wine, this bath in the ascetic room was an enjoyable experience. On my second day in the spa I experiment with body wraps and ayurvedic massage. First I Fi n e C au d a l i e S pa 87

88 Caudalie products "I created Caudalie because I believe that it is possible to formulate ultra effective and natural beauty products with refined, luxurious textures inspired by the vine. I strive to meet a standard of excellence for both my skin and my products everyday. I formulate my products for all women who, like me, don't want to choose between effectiveness and naturalness, between luxury and ecology. Today, our commitments to the environment are at the heart of our development. We owe everything to the Earth, the vine and everything that grows from it. It is only right that we try to give back one hundred times what it gives us each day." Mathilde Thomas Creator of Caudalie

Caudalie is French and means the "length" of wine, that is, the feeling and taste of the wine's aroma in the mouth after tasting. One second of length is one caudalie ­ the greater the wine, the larger the number of caudalies. Fi n e C au d a l i e S pa 89

get a mixture of honey, wine yeast and seed oil on my skin, before my whole body is carefully wrapped in soft cloth. My next treatment is based on an old Indian veda tradition and differs from ordinary massage through special movements, slaps and treatment of the meridian energy channels. The nicely scented geraniumcypress oil is used again, and this time my scalp is also massaged with the oil ­ so no lunch date right after this treatment. In search of perfection Completely enveloped in the relaxing spa mood, I wander between the garden and the spa building on both days, wearing a bathrobe and with a cup of herbal tea in my hand. Following my whims, I dip into various pools. I enjoy the fact that there is no need to talk to anyone and I spend a lot of time looking for the perfect divan that would give me the best view over the vineyards. The treatments here are also perfect for men; in fact, about one-third of the spa's customers are men. The most favoured treatments are the same for both women and men: grape seed scrub and honey-wine wraps. Between the spa sessions there is no chance to get bored. The hotel has a gym, a three-hole golf course, tennis courts, mountain bikes for guests' use and a jogging trail through the nearby woods. The heated swimming pool and outdoor jacuzzi can be used by guests all day. The hotel also arranges on request cooking lessons and wine tastings throughout the year at the Château Smith Haut Lafitte Grand Cru estate and the hotel. The hotel restaurants, La Grand'Vigne and La Table du Lavoir, are led by Michelin-starred chef Franck Salein, and food enthusiasts often arrive here to enjoy their culinary treats. On the last evening, as I enjoy the offerings of La Table du Lavoir, hotel manager Alice CathiardTourbier tells me about the expansion of the Caudalie Spa outside France. The same concept now pampers guests in Spain, Portugal, the US, Brazil and Turkey. All destinations offer similar spa experiences, but are different in both setting and ambiance. Something to look forward to on my next holiday she suggests. On the whole, this spa delivered what it promised. Two days in their capable hands in breathtakingly beautiful surroundings worked wonders ­ the good feelings and relaxed mindset stayed with me for a long time. Not to mention my new, velvety smooth skin. > More information on the spa and hotel www.sources-caudalie.com Les Sources de Caudalie, Chemin de Smith Haut-Lafitte 33650 Bordeaux-Martillac , France 90 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Grand Cru Classé de Graves Château Smith Haut Lafitte's philosophy can be summarised in one sentence: to do the utmost so that every vintage of their red and white wines reflects the full potential of the terroir. The 67 hectares of vineyards are managed increasingly organically, and the grapes undergo natural fermentation and ageing in superb underground cellars. The owners, Daniel and Florence Cathiard, purchased the estate in 1990. "The reason we chose Château Smith Haut Lafitte is quite simple: it was love at first sight when we visited the château's magnificent underground cellar, which fits in perfectly with our desire to make one of the world's best wines," says Daniel Cathiard. The Cathiards combined the most modern winemaking techniques and age-old methods, using organic compost, small wooden vats and ageing on the lees in barrel. A special feature in the grounds of this Bordeaux estate is the art, which is spread throughout the landscape. The enormous hare sculpted by the British artist Barry Flanagan has become a friendly symbol that watches over the old Cabernet Franc vines. Château Smith Haut Lafitte's elegant red and white wines can be tasted by wine lovers on the estate. Visits and tastings seven days a week, by appointment only. Château Smith Haut Lafitte 33650 Bordeaux-Martillac Tel. +33 (0)5 5783 1122 www.smith-haut-lafitte.com

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LIEM PETER THE OUTSIDER INSIDE Text: Essi Avellan MW Photography: Michael Boudot 92 Used to seeing the big picture, American wine journalist Peter Liem wanted to get a close-up of a European wine region. He chose Champagne and the quiet village of Dizy, moved in and started to explore the region as an outsider on the inside. His experiences have resulted in perhaps the world's best and most comprehensive champagne blog, champagneguide.net. A few years ago a likeminded champagne fanatic introduced Peter Liem's blog to me. Then called "Besotted Ramblings and Other Drivel", it immediately struck me as the insider's guide to Champagne. And local viewpoint was exactly what Liem was after in 2006 when he exchanged his life in hectic Manhattan for the countryside calmness of Dizy, Champagne. "Moving from a city that is home to 8 million people to a village of 1000 has certainly required some adjusting. But Dizy is situated right in the centre of Champagne, which makes my life much easier," Peter Liem explains as we sit on the spacious courtyard terrace of Hotel de la Paix in Reims. Peter Liem is foremost a big city person, having landed in New York via Los Angeles and San Francisco. He was born in California but his roots are quite complicated; his family calls themselves Chinese, however one of his grand mothers was Indonesian and the other Malaysian. With such a mixed background does he feel himself without roots in Champagne? "In America one's identity is not formed by a region, and it is common to move around. I believe you can create roots anywhere." But the French are known for their reservation when it comes to letting new ­ and especially foreign ­ people into their lives. "It certainly takes time and effort. But once you have made friendships, they are of the lasting kind. General interaction with the French is pleasant," Liem reasons.

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"The reader ultimately decides what is valuable and interesting. They can always read something else". 94 Peter Liem · Born 1973. Owner of ChampagneGuide.net · Staff writer and columnist for the Wine & Spirit magazine · Contributor for FINE Champagne Magazine and the World of Fine Wine · Member of the Decanter World Wine Awards tasting panel

Umbrella of Experience As we sit and discuss, glasses of Jacquesson Cuvée 734 in our hands, Peter Liem comes across as a pleasant, humble and serious-minded person. In line with this impression, his work seems to be particularly thorough, detailed and up-to-date, with his intellect and education shining through. I am not at all surprised when he tells me one of his passions is books. "I have always loved books ­ feeling them, looking at them and buying them. I admire the care that goes into constructing them. Paperbacks are so disposable!" Did you decide early on that you wanted to pursue a career in the wine business? "Not at all. I value education for education's sake, not because it gets me a job. I studied fine arts, English language and Chinese philosophy, but at the time I graduated I had no idea of what I wanted to do. Peter Liem resides in Champagne but he works in a multitude of regions, regularly reporting on Alsace, Loire Valley, Austria and Germany. However, he still appreciates a wider spectrum of wine styles: "I am looking for identity of place in wines and Burgundy is the ultimate region for that. I also adore Piemonte wines, all of northern France as well as Austria and Germany. Sherry is also another favourite of mine. Champagne is an ideal place for me to live, with all these regions being relatively close and easily accessible." Liem sees himself very much as a spokesperson for the grower champagnes: "I am pro single-vineyard and mono-cru champagnes, but that does not mean I don't appreciate the big producers." In order to gain an understanding of his taste in champagne, I ask him for some names which interest him. "Roederer certainly are on the top of their game; Philipponnat is one of the most undervalued producers, who just keep on getting better. I am wondering why Gosset is not more famous, while I also appreciate Jacquesson's boldness and innovation." With these appetising thoughts our time together comes to an end. It is time for Liem to leave the visitor's world of the hotel and join the residents at home in Dizy. > Peter Liem joins FINE Champagne Magazine as a contributor to the FINE Vintage article series. In this issue, the vintage 2002 is under perusal. Fi n e P e r s o na l i t y 95 Liem had been visiting Europe and Champagne since 1998 but he felt that coming and going was not enough: "I wanted to enhance my knowledge by living here. There is a difference between being a visitor and a resident. You relate with the people on a daily basis and gain a deeper understanding of the relationships and forces in the region." In such a close interaction you unavoidably make friends. However, with regards to journalism and objectivity, is it dangerous to become close friends with the people? "I don't find it problematic. Quite the contrary in fact: to me it is necessary. How could you understand the wine without knowing the producer? I think that the producers realise this, too. I disagree with the traditional American way of just tasting what is in the glass without deeper knowledge." Liem is also more focused on the positive sides of wines rather than trying to find the negatives: "The reader ultimately decides what is valuable and interesting. They can always read something else," he sums up. Peter Liem is certainly finding his followers. In addition to being a staff writer and columnist for Wine & Spirit magazine in the United States, he has built such a following for his free blog that he decided to substitute it last autumn for ChampagneGuide.net, which works on an annual subscription basis. Afterwards I applied for the Culinary School of San Francisco. Before the term started, however, I needed a job and ended up working in a wine store. I decided to stay with the job and to skip the Culinary School." Liem spent the next ten years in the wine trade in various fields, ranging from retailing to importing and owning a wine bar. "I believe understanding all aspects of the business makes you a better wine writer. But I don't have any formal education in wine." A broad palate and an open mind

96 H KONG N G Spotlight Text: Debra Meiburg MW Debra Meiburg MW takes us on a gastronomic tour of her beloved Hong Kong, unearthing hidden gems and renewing our acquaintances with classic eateries in the Asian wine capital. The people of Hong Kong are not noted for athletic prowess, but we do have two important national sports: shopping and eating. Food is so integral to our culture that instead of `good day' we greet one another with the Cantonese expression `leih sihk-jo faan mei ah', which means `have you eaten your rice yet?' With more than 8000 eateries in Hong Kong, narrowing the selection to a few favourites can prove an almost impossible task. When visitors ask for a restaurant recommendation, our first reaction is usually to query `which style?' or `which dish?' On any city street you are likely to find Cantonese, Pekingese, Chiu Chau and Sichuan restaurants alongside a sushi bar, a Vietnamese noodle shop and a pizzeria ­ sometimes all in the same highrise building.

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of chillies to espy the fiery-hot crab pieces, and the trick to eating this dish is not to let the crab touch your lips. Round off the dinner with an old standard: string beans with chillies and minced pork, with a small bowl of rice to calm the palate. Truly a spectacular experience, I always look forward to hosting visitors to Hong Kong, as they are my excuse to venture over to Hutong. 28th Floor, One Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon www.aqua.com.hk 98 Bo Innovation Bo Innovation's self-styled `demon-chef ' Alvin Leung pushes the Hong Kong envelope, and the restaurant may well be the first in the world with a sunglass-donned chef and tattoo-laden servers to win two Michelin stars. Typical Asian fusion cuisine begins with a European concept altered by Asian seasonings. Not so with Bo Innovation. The demon-chef deconstructs classic Chinese concepts and slips in a western surprise. A few of my favourites include braised eel with red wine jelly, fresh steamed clams with cream and stinky tofu (an acquired taste, `stinky tofu' or chautao-fu is sometimes described as the Asian bluecheese) and `mac `n' yak' (Chinese rice-pasta with yak cheese derived from the Tibetan plateau). The degustation menus can be a mind-boggling sixteen courses, but most courses are sub-tapassized. Bo Innovation is a stimulating, exciting assault on the senses. Be sure to request a seat at the chef 's bar to see the demon in action. Bo Innovation Shop 13, 2/F J Residence, 60 Johnston Road, Wan Chai www.boinnovation.com In our city, restaurants are famed for their specialties, not their chefs, so most people on the street would be able to tell you immediately which restaurant serves the best braised abalone, Peking duck, roasted goose, chau siu bau (pork buns), hairy crab or bird's nest soup. Hong Kong people typically dine out several nights a week, which means most of our restaurants are busy, noisy, fast-paced and need an advance booking. As Chinese dinners typically comprise tables of 10­12 persons, all sizeable restaurants offer private dining rooms for cozy exclusivity. Keeping up on the latest restaurant openings is one of our most popular topics of conversation, typically spoken of after "where did you just fly-in from?" Recent popular openings include The Commander, Mirror and Bloom. New restaurants open monthly, and part of the sport is to get to the table before they fold. Below are some of my tried-and-true favourites. Hutong Offering one of the most spectacular views in Asia, Hutong is a dazzling juxtaposition of Chinese antiques and breathtaking modernity, as evidenced by the weathered temple doors encasing a `private' glass dining room overlooking the Hong Kong harbourfront. Hutong is the perfect vantage point from which to watch the nightly Hong Kong laser show, where multicoloured beams of light are radiated in fantastical patterns from the city's iconic high-rises. Hutong's menu is Sichuan inspired, so do not expect shy flavours. Start the meal with a glass of bubbly and the simple and refreshing sesame cucumber salad to cool your palate before the chilli onslaught. Grilled eggplant topped with garlic and scallions should follow and then an order of prawns with salty egg yolk. To make this dish, fresh duck eggs are dry-packed in salt for a number of weeks and then boiled. The prawns are lightly deep-fried with a soft coating of this mashed salty yolk. If the pungency of salty duck eggs puts you off, then go with the gentler prawns in tangerine sauce. Hutong's signature crispy lamb ribs are a must (even if you do not have a penchant for lamb), where the ribs are deboned and slow cooked and the skin crisply fried, with the two then being reassembled. My favourite dish is the deep-fried soft-shell crab served in a voluminous basket of cherry-red chillies: half the fun is ransacking the mountains Cépage Serving some of the city's most sophisticated French-Mediterranean cuisine, Michelinstarred Cépage was recently opened by Singapore's Les Amis group and features one of the finest wine lists in Hong Kong, with more than 2000 well-aged labels of excellent provenance (Les Amis is the owner of Vinum Cellars). Classic French décor is combined with post-Modern Chinese art, resulting in an elegant, stylish and quiet dining experience suited for a sophisticated business luncheon or an intimate evening for two. Toast the evening on the rooftop terrace with a glass of Bruno Paillard overlooking the Starstreet Precinct, one of Hong Kong's latest bar and dining districts. The chef 's work is skilful, delicate, understated and accented with Japanese touches. Some of my favourite dishes include silky organic Japanese egg with oxtail consume jelly and strips of black truffle; marinated black cod in Hooba leaf and ginger; shellfish bouillon with lobster

and many of these `incubator' restaurants later became above-board fully-fledged eateries once they had developed a sufficient following. The Yellow Door was one of the first such private kitchens and it still operates on the fifth floor of a dodgy old building next to the world's longest escalator, on the cusp of Hong Kong's most celebrated bar and dining districts, SOHO and Lan Kwai Fong's Hollywood Road. In this casual restaurant, the walls are decorated with now-collectible calligraphy brushed by an artist whose works both confounded and pleased the Hong Kong community for decades until he earned the affectionate sobriquet `Uncle Graffiti'. The Yellow Door serves delicious and no-holds barred authentic Sichuan and Shanghai cuisine. This is one of the few restaurants where it is 99 possible to enjoy a full Chinese banquet-length meal (16 courses) at a table for two. Keep an eye out for the Eight Treasures Duck and a few local Cantonese pop-stars. 6/F, Cheung Hing Commercial Building, 37 Cochrane Street, Central www.yellowdoorkitchen.com.hk Cépage ravioli; and Iberian pork belly en sous vide with Iranian Beluga caviar and what else but champagne sauce. 23 Wing Fung Street, Wan Chai www.lesamis.com.sg China Club Though a members only club, American Express cardholders and most hotels can arrange entry to this Hong Kong favourite. Housed in one of the few classic buildings remaining in the heart of Central, the restaurant spans three floors of the former Bank of China headquarters. The question is whether the food quality, the retrodecor reminiscent of 1930's Shanghai or the priceless post-Maoist artwork is the attraction, so while the restaurant is packed with locals, they are usually hosting excitable visitors. All dishes are tasty at the China Club, if somewhat `gentrified' for western tastes. Jellyfish noodles, eggplant clay-pot, Peking duck, barbecued suckling pig and E-fu noodles are all popular favourites. The rotating array of lunchtime platters on Saturdays will change your ideas of the classic buffet forever. Stop by the "Long March Bar" for pre-dinner bubbles or venture up to the top-floor library for a cigar and squeeze through the narrow exits onto a magical balcony featuring one of the best insider views within Central. 13/F, Old Bank of China Building, Bank Street, Central Yellow Door Kitchen Shortly after the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 there was a proliferation of `private kitchens', illegal restaurants launched in high-rise apartments or warehouse buildings by talented chefs ­ many ex-executives in the financial sector ­ with a dream to launch their own restaurants. The Hong Kong government turned a blind eye Debra Meiburg MW Debra Meiburg has called Hong Kong her home for years. This Master of Wine is a celebrated wine journalist, TV personality, wine educator and in-demand speaker, who works towards broadening the experiences of the everyday wine lover. Fi n e C i t y

Andreas Larsson 100 CHAMPAGNE and FOOD from a to z B eetroots ­ Yes, I'm serious. When the summer approaches, I just love these fresh and vibrant primeurs. The combination of sweetness, earthiness and minerality works wonders with all mineral wines, and champagne in particular. Simplicity works best again; cook them and serve with high quality butter seasoned with a drop of lemon and salt. Complement the portion with a rather full Pinot-dominated rosé. For that extra twist of luxury, add some black truffle to the butter. In this case the champagne could have some more maturity and tertiary notes. I recently had the great pleasure of enjoying this with a 1988 Dom Ruinart Rosé. Quite Hedonistic. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ A sparagus ­ When I started to read wine books in the late 1980s, many experts still claimed that wine didn't work with asparagus. A lot of silly things have been said about combining food and wine but this is plain rubbish. Can there be anything better than fresh white AAA asparagus, cooked to perfection, served in all their simplicity with a sauce hollandaise and devoured with a mineral and elegant blanc de blancs? I barely think so -- with this I have a preference for youth and the more firm and reductionist styles from Mesnil or Avize. od used to be staple food when I grew up but these days it is seen as a luxury, which indeed it deserves to be. I still wax lyrical about a portion of baked cod with browned butter and horseradish that I enjoyed with a mature bottle of Krug Grande Cuvée. Simple but so divine. C D om Pérignon is a great partner for fine gastronomy, as everyone that has had the pleasure of participating in one of the culinary exercises at Moët & Chandon's Château de Saran would know. The 2000 is really starting to open up now and is proving to be very versatile. I have followed it over the last few years alongside a great variety of foods but the last marvellous surprise was its combination with Korean barbeque.

E scargots are starting to come back as chemicals thankfully disappear from most vineyards. I was recently offered a ragout stuffed in a Provencal tomato. Quite mineral and intensely flavourful, this needed a serious amount of freshness and vibrancy. The regal 1999 Comtes de Champagne did the job! oam is so 2009. Fusion cuisine, you're out! L obster probably epitomises ultimate luxury. If I needed to choose my last meal it would most likely be a perfect risotto with lobster and a magnum of Krug 1988 (­ in all simplicity...?) T M N oat's cheese is said to be perfect with Sancerre. However, those of us who aren't too devoted to herbal and green Sauvignon Blanc can easily replace it with a youthful and zesty champagne with a predominance of Chardonnay. erring is generally thought to be a bizarre food that we Swedes enjoy with serious amounts of aquavit. Partly true, although, some of us actually prefer champagne with it. I am not kidding, I love the freshness and precision of a young champagne balancing the fat and rich texture of herring. It is at its best when enjoyed simply with sour cream and new potatoes. ndian food is complicated with many wines, but champagne normally works well, as the trick is to avoid tannins and high alcohol. It does not hurt if the champagne has a higher dosage; I would even consider sec or demi-sec with curry dishes. uttiness is an aroma frequently encountered in champagne and by using this in the food it can easily enhance the taste of the champagne. ysters need champagne and vice versa. We never get tired of this, do we? mami is above all present in scallops and raw fish. My experience tells me that extra brut is not the ideal solution. Instead we need dosage, as these crustaceans appear quite sweet most of the time. H O P Q V asta with avocado cream and king crab. Well worth trying with a precise and vivid blanc de blancs. uail ­ Having watched the movie Babette's Feast I simply cannot forget the Caille en Sarcophage that consists of nothing less than a quail stuffed with duck liver and truffle served in puff pastry and a truffle sauce. Even though the 1865 Clos de Vougeot served in the movie might have worked well, this is exactly the kind of dish that should be enjoyed with the best champagnes, such as twenty-year-old rosés or Pinot-dominated cuvées. enison with mushrooms is a very 101 autumnal dish for me that is a bite of heaven when enjoyed with a not too cold, rich, structured and profound 1999 Bollinger La Grande Année. I agyu burger should not be underestimated, as it need not be haute cuisine all the time. I recall a fantastic combination of the meat, perfectly crispy onion rings, cheddar cheese and sizzling bacon with Deutz Brut Classic from the mini bar. enophobic I am not ­ however when it comes to sparkling wines I might be slightly so. As much as it can be fun and rewarding to taste Cava, Spumante and bubbles from around the globe, few beverages can enthral us the way champagne can. W X J apanese food, apart from the sushi and sashimi mentioned below, is all about purity and simplicity cooked to perfection. I truly consider this ascetic and disciplined approach to be suitable to the nature of champagne. obe beef with mushrooms and a light sauce made of butter and soy sauce is incredibly good with a structured and Pinotdriven vintage champagne. The 1999 vintage is drinking perfectly right now. aspberries au naturel is by far my favourite dessert. On top of that, it is one of the few desserts that really work with champagne. Enjoy it with a high-quality, Pinot-dominated rosé. R S Y Z K ushi is tailor-made for champagne. Few things can make us feel so healthy and happy. I have this every week and most often I opt for youthful, mineral chardonnays, but there is plenty of room for improvisation. outhfulness is quite often looked down upon by most semi-snobbish champagne lovers that dont drink anything younger than 20 years. However, that invigorating freshness and vivid energy a young Champagne can deliver with a meal... Priceless... zzz... -- Drink in moderation. Fi n e L a r s s o n F G aguro ­ Tuna is starting to diminish from the oceans and consequently from restaurant menus. I will deeply miss this treasure of the sea, especially letting the flavours of a perfect maguro sashimi at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo linger. ruffle ­ say no more! Most of the combinations that have made me speechless over the years have had their fair share of truffle involved. Whilst I consider black truffle to be best with red wine, the ephemeral and alluring white truffle is clearly best with a great white wine or a mature champagne from the 1970s that possesses the pungent and intense nose of minerals and truffles. U

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There is absolutely no blending in the making, merely single-vintage, single-village and single-vineyard champagnes. Created from these are small amounts of highly priced, sought-after and handcrafted champagnes; Cédric Bouchard makes what many people regard as Champagne Haute Couture. Text: Essi Avellan MW / Photography: Michael Boudot 103 It is an early morning as I travel all the way down to the southernmost part of Champagne, the Aube. This subregion lies some 80 kilometres southeast of Épernay, and is completely isolated from the main region. After a little thought, I realise Chablis, and thus Burgundy, is much closer. I certainly feel its remoteness while driving along the small winding roads that guide me to my destination, Cellessur-Ource. There are not many names champagne drinkers would recognise from the area, but we are all more than familiar with its fruit, as it is an essential part of nearly all the great houses' cuvées. It is difficult enough for a small grower to establish a name for itself in the praised Grand Cru villages, let alone here in such a remote area. Still, there is one bold young man whose name and champagne is currently on the lips of all those who follow the region with great interest. Cédric Bouchard has a blatant disregard for the rules of the region, which have for years been blended wine and great volumes. Instead, he makes minuscule quantities of tailor-made wine, eschewing all blending. His wines comprise one vintage, one variety and one vineyard only. Anyone used to doing calculations on economies of scale would say an annual production of 15 000 bottles of champagne, such as the volume of Cedric's, is just insane. Fi n e R a r i t y

104

With these thoughts on my mind I drive up the hill to the winery, which has absolutely no signposts confirming that I am at the right place. However, the sympathetic and energetic looking Cédric Bouchard soon rushes out. After exchanging a quick greeting, we descend into the ascetic-looking cellar premises to escape the raw January weather. I halt to take a look of some of the bottles but Cédric urges me to continue: "Actually, you are now in my father's cellar. My territory starts over there," Cédric indicates. Father and son sharing cellar premises must mean you get along well, I comment as we pass through and he replies after a pause: "There's often a bit of tension here... Actually we do everything differently. My father avoids all risks; to me taking risks is the only way to excel." Cédric Bouchard's approach to making wine is very Burgundy-like. "I am after truthfulness and the maximum transparency of the wine's DNA," he defines. This authenticity he achieves with minimum intervention. "You know this is a small business. There are only three of us here: me, the grapes and the vinification," Bouchard jokes and continues: "After pressing the grapes with my friend's cocquard press, I basically do nothing for months. The wines ferment on the wild yeasts and malolactic fermentation takes place naturally, too." Furthermore, the wines are not chaptalised by adding sugar to raise the alcohol content, nor are they fined or filtered. Bouchard also believes that oak barrels mask the true identity of the wine. Therefore all the wines are born in neutral vessels, made of material such as stainless steel. Additionally, there is no sweetening dosage added at disgorgement. 105 Small is beautiful Cédric Bouchard got started when his father gave him a small plot of Pinot Noir, called Les Ursules, to work and experiment on in 2000. This 0.9051 ha parcel, situated close to the winery, is planted with 36-year-old vines yielding 3600 bottles a year. The main line of his wines is labelled under the name Roses de Jeanne, as an homage to his grandmother. In addition to Les Ursules, there is now a 100 per cent Chardonnay La Haute-Lemblé (1400 bottles), as well as a 100 per cent Pinot Blanc La Bolorée (1000 bottles). The experiments eventually went further and Bouchard advanced to sourcing grapes on a négociant-distribueur basis. Cédric reasons: "I guess I got bored, because I had only enough to do for six months a year." Originally the second range, Infloresance, which is made of Val Vilaine Chardonnay (8900 bottles) and La Parcelle Pinot Noir (2000 bottles), was supposed to be his early drinking "entry-level" range. However, Cédric complains that his hard work on the vineyards has made them too good and similar in style to Roses de Jeanne, thus blurring his original concept. Well, somehow I do not see that as an insurmountable problem, but is the ultra small scale not a problem for Bouchard? "I want to control everything myself. It is like haute couture, creating and handcrafting every single wine myself," Cédric stresses. Fi n e R a r i t y

The bottles are dressed to impress too, their labels being refined, minimalistic and carefully considered, thanks to his graphic designer girlfriend. The silk paper wrapping that displays the map of each vineyard is a nice touch. Also, each bottle will display the disgorgement date from this year onwards, so the consumer knows exactly what he or she is drinking. Despite being from a single vintage, all of Bouchard's wines are not labelled as such. This is due to the high demand that has forced Bouchard to sell the wines before the 36-month legal requirement for vintage wine is fulfilled. Indeed, his wines have become collectables, gaining such a cult following amongst champagne connoisseurs that it is difficult to come across a bottle. Dislike of bubbles Cédric Bouchard manages to counteract all rules of champagne. I was sure I had misheard when he blurted out: "I don't actually like bubbles in a wine." Bouchard certainly is a true Burgundy man, almost fighting against the bubbles ­ like Dom Pérignon. "I must confess they bother me a bit. That's why my champagnes have lower than usual pressure ­ 4.5 atmospheres instead of 6," he remarks. Our discussion turns to the current 2009 vintage. When I ask Cédric for his view of it, he replies: "2009 was beautiful year, but there was no challenge. I get more fascinated with the difficult vintages like the 2001, when you really have to master the harvest and vinification. The challenging years are much more interesting to me." I suspect there is no one else in Champagne asking for more difficult vintages. And I presume Cérdic Bouchard has become bored again, as the conversation moves time and again to the still wines of Champagne, the Coteaux Champenois: "It is really a forgotten category, but I want to revive it." His aim is no less than to make the finest in Champagne. The range includes a still Chardonnay, a Pinot Noir rouge and a Pinot Noir vinified as blanc. However, that is another story waiting to be told at the unlikely moment I get bored of bubbles. > 106

The Cédric Bouchard style is very much Burgundy. They are more wine-like rather than sparkling wine, due to the lower than normal pressure in the bottles. The wines are concentrated, rich and muscular but what separates them from the genre of other Burgundy-style champagnes is the absence of oak. Therefore there are no signs of deliberate oxidation or oaky notes. The wine's ripe fruitiness ensures the lack of sugar is no problem. Cédric Bouchard Inflorescence Val Vilaine (2007) 2010/2017 89p 89p This Pinot Noir comes from a 1.49-hectare parcel owned by Cédric Bouchard's father. Glossy lemony colour. Pronounced and lifted nose of sweet white fruits, spice, honey and herbaceous notes. Fine concentration on the vinous and gently effervescent palate. Overt and round, yet structured. Cédric Bouchard Inflorescence La Parcelle Blanc de Noirs (2002) 2010/2015 Deep lemon-yellow colour. Overt and open, with a developing nose of ripe red apples and cherries, coconut and spices. Structured and muscular on the full-bodied, weighty palate. A touch of phenolic bitterness on the long and fruity finish. Cédric Bouchard Roses de Jeanne Les Ursules (2007) 2010/2020 This Pinot Noir plot of 0.9721 hectares was planted in 1974. Deepgolden colour. Youthful nose of voluptuous red fruit, coconut and nuts. Tightly-packed on the fresh and powerful palate, with both depth and length present. Burgundy-like, silky and seductive texturally with a stylishly calm mousse. Cédric Bouchard Roses de Jeanne La Bolorée (2005) 2010/2017 107 89p A rare 0.2107-hectare plot of pure Pinot Blanc dating back to 1961. Deep-lemony colour. Stylish and fruity, highly aromatic nose with flowers, wine gums and spices. Not many autolytic toasty aromas considering its age. Viscous and oily on the palate, which starts weighty and with mouthfill but which is eventually lifted and refreshed by the medium-high acidity. Long finish with a touch of minerality but could do with some more finesse. Lots of personality and a peculiar style. Cédric Bouchard Roses de Jeanne Le Croix d'Enfer (2004) 2010/2015 90p This is a tiny production of Pinot Noir Rosé de Saignée from a 0.072-hectare plot. Medium-deep onion skin colour. Complex nose that constantly developes in the glass. Starting off with cherry, spice and hints of mushroom, it develops an array of vegetal and herbaceous notes. Highly concentrated on the vinous and weighty palate, resembling red Burgundy in texture and aromas. Cédric Bouchard Roses de Jeanne La Haute-Lemblé (2005) 2010/2015 92p A minuscule plot of 0.118 hectares planted with Chardonnay. Deep, bright-yellow colour. Sweet lemon fruit on the lifted nose with ripe fruit and nutty notes. Still youthful and tight on the nose. Rich, smooth and vinous on the dry palate, which has a persistent finish with compact fruit. Fi n e R a r i t y 91p

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110 Ah, relief at last! The rush to the airport is long behind you. With good luck, good management, or both, check-in was only mildly traumatic. Customs, Immigration and Security caused you the usual aggravation, while the twilight zone of the airport lounge took its usual toll. But now, finally, you're settling into your seat, arranging your reading materials, airborne office and sleep aids, and preparing for the long flight ahead. The flight attendant offers you a welcome drink and you gratefully select a glass of champagne from the tray... what better way could there be to ease into the journey? The first sip instantly puts a smile on your face ­ just like coming home. On the ground, prior to liftoff, this first glass tastes quite familiar, notwithstanding slight variations in airline stemware and ­ not to be underestimated ­ your state of mind in the wake of the flurry of activity prior to boarding your flight. Following takeoff and close to top-ofclimb, you accept a second glass of your favourite travel companion. Subtly, yet significantly, it seems to taste different. The flight attendant assures you it has been poured from the same bottle, which was carefully re-stoppered prior to the ascent. But somehow the champagne seems to have changed. It is more restrained, perhaps lacking those delicate nuances of minerals, fine apple fruit and yeast complexity you recognised in that first glass. It tastes drier on the backpalate, the acidity seems more pronounced and there is now a hint of firmness you hadn't noticed before. You would almost swear it was a different wine. Welcome to the mile-high champagne club! You are correct in sensing that it tastes different, but what is actually going on? Well, we now know there are several factors that contribute to changes in perceived wine flavour ­ particularly that of champagne ­ at high altitude. Some relate to the wine itself, some to the tasting environment and some to the taster. Each alone can have a significant impact, and in combination they can really make a difference to the way you enjoy your glass of in-flight fizz. So please fasten your seatbelts, sit back and enjoy the flight as we look at some of the technical aspects of the flavour of champagne in high(flying) society.

111 Fi n e S c i e n c e

We now know there are several factors that contribute to changes in perceived wine flavour ­ particularly that of champagne ­ at high altitude. 112 Despite the best efforts of aircraft manufacturers and airlines, few air travellers would disagree that the aeroplane environment is far from the one we enjoy on solid ground. Once the novelty of streaking at 900 km/h through the upper troposphere in a flying cigar has worn off ­ and for most of us nowadays, that novelty is long forgotten ­ air travel becomes yet another means of getting from A to B in the shortest time and with the least disruption to our lives. And, for the time being at least, air travel is the most efficient means we have to achieve these objectives when travelling long distances. One unavoidable factor associated with high altitude is the rarefied atmosphere through which airliners fly for the major part of the flight. At 10 000 metres (33 000 feet in the arcane language of aviation), the temperature of the thin air outside the aircraft is commonly as low as -50°C (-58°F). Such painfully low temperatures have significant consequences for the relative humidity of the external air, which must be drawn into the aircraft, pressurised and heated for the obvious benefit and comfort of passengers and crew. It is a commonly-held but erroneous belief that the cabin air is continually recycled in aeroplanes flying at high altitude. However,

113 this is a simple impossibility given the continual need for life-giving oxygen to be replenished, and for removal of the waste carbon dioxide and moisture exhaled by up to 420 passengers on the average 747­400. In fact, a fine balance between recycling of cabin air and introduction of fresh air from outside is maintained ­ a compromise between removing contaminants and maintaining the comfort of the aircraft's precious human payload. Given the unavoidable differences between the mile-high and earth-bound environments, what are the main implications for the enjoyment of food, wine and, of particular interest to us, champagne? The first is undoubtedly humidity. Legions of passengers report suffering a range of respiratory ailments following a high-altitude flight. However, rather than the exposure to air-borne pathogens that most people seem to blame as the cause of this apparent increase in sickness, a likely contributor is the low humidity unavoidably prevalent in the cabin that leads to the drying of the protective mucous membranes in our noses and throats. Values for relative humidity in an aircraft cabin at cruise altitude average 10­20 per cent, compared with the 60­70 per cent that most regard as a comfortable figure. Higher air turnover rates result in even lower values up front in the cockpit, unless humidification is installed; unfortunately, humidification of cabin air has attendant drawbacks such as extra weight and the risk of water-borne bacteria, which are not easily overcome. The primary impact of low humidity on the taste of champagne is via physiological effects on the taster. At low relative humidity, the mucous membranes coating the olfactory zone within the nose, and to a lesser degree the tongue, have limited moisture content and hence are less able to function effectively in sensing aromas and tastes - especially the delicate aromas and flavours of champagne. Add to this the constant movement of cabin air as it is circulated and replenished, and it is hardly surprising that aroma compounds have precious little time to linger and delight the weary traveller. A second factor reducing our capacity to taste is the difference in oxygen levels between air at sea level and that in an aircraft cabin which, since air at cruise altitude provides far too little oxygen to sustain life, is pressurised by onboard compressors to an equivalent altitude of 8000 feet (2438.4 meters). The human brain is particularly sensitive to blood oxygen content because it relies so heavily on a ready and continuous supply to function effectively. Hypoxia is the condition of low blood-borne oxygen that has a measurable impact on brain and general neurological function; a small but nonetheless appreciable level of hypoxia occurs in individuals who are not adapted to the low concentrations present at high altitudes. Research conducted at several locations around the globe has quantified the effects of altitude-related hypoxia on a range of human factors including motor and memory skills, as well as sensory function. The standard altitude limit for full brain function in unadapted individuals is 10 000 feet (3048 meters); this is the primary reason to limit general aviation in unpressurised aircraft to that level. The nominal altitude is set at 8000 feet in pressurised aircraft cabins for the same reason, this slightly lower figure providing a comfortable safety margin for passengers at the lower limits of healthy physiological function. However, this is not to say that a small reduction in sensory acuity doesn't occur even at this altitude, which is otherwise physiologically safe for extended periods. Sensitivity of taste and smell, as well as hearing, has been found to diminish in Fi n e S c i e n c e Given the unavoidable differences between the mile-high and earthbound environments, what are the main implications for the enjoyment of food, wine and, of particular interest to us, champagne?

114 unadapted test subjects when moved from sea level to altitudes above 2500 metres ­ just over 8000 feet in aviation-speak. So this, too, is likely to be a factor in our altered perception of that high-altitude glass of bubbles. To my knowledge, no controlled trials have been conducted to compare the high-altitude sensory perception ­ especially wine sensory perception ­ of people adapted by way of their home location to lower oxygen levels ­ an experiment made difficult by the global scarcity of researchers and wine-lovers who live at elevations higher than 1700 metres (5,600 feet)... except during the skiseason, of course. The net effects of low humidity and low oxygen levels appear to be subtle differences in the way aromas and tastes are perceived. In terms of simple primary tastes, it has been observed by a research group in India that sweetness and saltiness seem to diminish with higher altitude, while the apparent intensity of sourness and bitterness is increased. In simulated conditions of high altitude, both low humidity and low atmospheric pressure were found by a researcher in Texas and a team in Germany to raise sensory thresholds of model aroma compounds, further reinforcing the conclusion that flavour perception is reduced in the conditions experienced during highaltitude air travel. The result for a glass of champagne is that it will seem drier to the palate, while its apparent acidity and phenolic bitterness are likely to be more pronounced. Combined, these perceptions will give the impression of a leaner, tighter, overall more austere style of champagne. While the classic aperitif style certainly has its place as a prelude to a fine meal or on a summer's afternoon, it doesn't necessarily provide comfort for the traveller at 35 000 feet. The factors mentioned so far influence the physiology of the individual taster, rather than the wine itself. Pressure, an obvious function of altitude, also affects the physical characteristics of wine. The effect of ambient pressure is especially pronounced in the case of champagne, due obviously to the importance of effervescence to its overall sensory impact. The ambient pressure at a cabin-altitude of 8000 feet is close to 75 per cent of the atmospheric pressure at sea level. Lower ambient pressure influences the partial pressures of gases making up the atmosphere, and in the immediate vicinity of a champagne glass, the air contains a great diversity of volatile components that are escaping the wine and moving into the gas phase. The most significant effect of lower atmospheric pressure is to increase the difference between pressure within and outside the bottle. When the cork is first removed, the rapid loss of effervescence leads to a lower entrainment of wine aroma "The person changes much more in the air than the wine does. I have tasted a wine from business class the evening before flying out on SIA and tasted it in the air, and it is the same wine." Steven Spurrier components into the immediate atmosphere and hence a lower apparent intensity of aroma is sensed. Loss of dissolved carbon dioxide also has a significant effect on taste perception ­ and as we all know, the magic of champagne is inextricably linked to its bubbles. Thus another effect observed at high altitude, according to researchers based in Columbia University and University of California San Diego, is known as the "champagne blues" ­ reduced perception of the acidic tang due to carbonation, which in their experiments was due to the inactivation of an enzyme located in the taste buds. In this case, it results from both the reduced CO2 content and the lower effectiveness of the taste receptors located across the tongue. A practical factor influencing the appreciation of wine is the stemware in which it is served. Professor Gerard Liger- Belair and co-workers, of the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, have confirmed through their experiments on bubble formation and release that the champagne flute favoured today is a far superior design to optimise aroma concentration, compared with the nowdefunct open coupe. Recently some airlines, obviously becoming more aware of the importance of stemware in ensuring optimal results in an otherwise difficult tasting environment, have upgraded their champagne glasses in their business and first classes. Hopefully, others will follow suit. Finally, this brings us back to the taster, as both the overall environment and specific factors such as glassware have a significant influence on our mood and, in turn, on sensation. The psychology of sensory perception is a well-researched subject, and it is broadly acknowledged that mood plays a significant role in determining our response to stimuli such as smell and taste. The effects of aircraft engine noise, general activity in the cabin, difficulty sleeping and build-up of jet-lag, not to mention the mild trauma almost invariably experienced in the hours leading up to the flight, all combine to create an emotional landscape that is far from the state of mind that typically attends the appreciation of a fine glass of champagne. Steven Spurrier, frequent international traveller and member of the wine selection panel for Singapore Airlines, summed up this last point nicely in noting that perception is vital in all tasting situations: if the taster is comfortable, and is served wine in a quality glass, then the wine will simply taste better. "The person changes much more in the air than the wine does. I have tasted a wine from business class the evening before flying out on SIA and tasted it in the air, and it is the same wine." So, given the many factors that might conspire to make a wine that tastes sublime at sea level taste quite different at 35 000 feet, is it actually possible to enjoy your favourite Champagne en route? I would suggest that, given a combination of suitable stemware, a fine yet boldflavoured champagne and, ideally, a positive and relaxed state of mind, such an outcome is eminently possible. C ha m pa gn e Hi gh -F lye rs

Celebration 116

"This was no party of the year, it was the celebration of 25 centuries!" - Orson Welles Dom Pérignon Rosé 1959 Text & Photography: Pekka Nuikki 117 The atmosphere was charged, and all the necessary barbed wire fences had been erected around the enormous gala venue. Special troops consisting of professional soldiers guarded the area, keeping the curious at bay. A number of private planes carrying diverse heads of state had already landed at the nearby Shiraz airport, and many more were on their way. A 200-million-dollar party was just beginning. Surrounded by steel spikes and in the depths of a huge cluster of marquees, 306 bottles of the first-ever vintage of Dom Pérignon Rosé champagne impatiently awaited the royal gourmands. The 2500th anniversary of the Persian Empire was one of the most flamboyant society events of the twentieth century. Planning of the event had begun in the late 1950s, and it climaxed in a gala dinner held on 14 October 1971. The light-coloured leather seats of 250 red Mercedes-Benz limousines carried 600 guests, including royals and heads of state, to a vast serpentine table, where they would enjoy the world's most lavish dinner. The dinner was made and served by the world-renowned Parisian establishment Maxim's, which was forced to close its restaurant in Paris for several weeks due to the festivities. For almost six months the Imperial Iranian Air Force made frequent sorties between Shiraz and Paris, flying supplies which were then trucked cautiously in army lorries to Persepolis. Each month, goods were driven down the desert highway to deliver building materials for fifty Jansen AG-designed air-conditioned tents, Italian drapes and curtains, Limoges dinnerware, Baccarat crystal, Porthault linens, an exclusive Robert Havilland cup-andsaucer service and over 5000 bottles of wine ­ including the 1959 Dom Pérignon Rosés. The event was officially opened with a toast of Dom Pérignon Rosé 1959 champagne. The dinner began with quails' eggs filled with caviar from the Caspian Sea. The host, the Shah of Iran, was actually allergic to caviar and had to settle for an artichoke dish. Next came a mousse of crayfish tails, which was beautifully complemented by a Château Haut-Brion Blanc from 1964. The celebrated 1945 Château Lafite Rothschild vintage added some elegance and a dash of soft tannins to the third course of roast saddle of lamb with truffles. Before the main course, the guests' taste buds were refreshed by a champagne sorbet and a taste of the Moët & Chandon vintage champagne from 1911, created during the Champagne Riots. The main course was Iran's ancient national symbol, peacock, stuffed with foie gras. The fifty roast birds decorated with peacock tail feathers were a stunning sight on the dinner table. The Comte de Vogué Musigny from 1945, a soft Pinot Noir, was chosen to contribute a suitable depth and structure to the meal. The Dom Pérignon Rosé champagne from 1959 was also chosen to accompany the dessert of glazed Oporto ring of fresh figs with cream and a raspberry champagne sherbet. The six hundred guests dined for over five-and-a-half hours, making this the longest and most lavish official banquet in modern history, as recorded in successive editions of the Guinness Book of World Records. In the words of Orson Welles: "This was no party of the year, it was the celebration of 25 centuries!" 1959 was the first vintage of Dom Pérignon Rosé. The first bottles, considered the `jewel of Dom Pérignon', were first set on lees in the Dom Pérignon cellars in 1960, with only 306 bottles released. The vintage was only presented at the celebration of the Fi n e C e l e b r at i o n Champagnes

118 Persian Empire; it was never commercially released. As Richard Geoffroy, Dom Pérignon's cellar master, says, it was a turning point: "Dom Pérignon Rosé vintage 1959 is a rare, superlative, mythical vintage. Powerful and solar, its light will inspire the creation of Dom Pérignon Rosé forever." Geoffroy also told us that there are only a few bottles left in the Dom Pérignon cellars. "Looking back, I think of the creator of the Dom Pérignon Rosé 1959, René Philipponnat. I contemplate what has become of Dom Pérignon's legacy: his ambition to pioneer rosé wines at a new level, which led to the start of the Dom Pérignon Rosé adventure that generated the other expression of Dom Pérignon. Looking forward, it is my duty to live up to this heritage and keep pushing and taking risks to make an ever more provocative rosé." The Dom Pérignon Rosé 1959 vintage reached a record price of US$84 700 at an historic rare champagne auction in New York, overseen by Acker Merrall & Condit. In this, Dom Pérignon 1959 Rosé's first ever public sale, the "rarer than rare" bottles were estimated at US$5000­7000, but were acquired for the astronomical price by a wine investor. > 1959 Dom Pérignon Rosé 92p 2010/now D 30 min / G 30 min (DisGorGeD march 1969) Excellent-looking bottle. Purchased from the private cellar of an Italian champagne collector, whose father was an importer of Dom Pérignon in the 1970's. This rare and unique bottle was opened at a Premier Wine Club event in 2010. In our minds, we had no trouble imagining that this bottle ­ Celebration bottle ­ we had just opened was one of the "leftovers" from the 2500th anniversary of the Persian Empire. Sometimes, if you have an abundant amount of wild imagination, even a poor wine can taste heavenly. Luckily, in order to get this Celebration wine to taste like pure silk, time was the only thing we needed, and after 30 minutes aeration it opened and became as good as it gets. Deep, intense, hazy-amber colour. Rich and layered nose that evolves beautifully in the glass, delivering white truffles, jammed arctic brambles, figs, hints of smoke and liquorice. Dry, intense and voluptuous palate with vivid acidity. Focused and muscular structure with a smooth, velvety texture. A mature champagne that is still alive but no longer improving.

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Champagne Unites Text: Essi Avellan MW Photography: Rothschild T he Rothschild family is present all around the wine world, from Bordeaux to Chile and Argentina to South Africa. Until now the different family branches have gone their individual ways when attempting to conquer the world, rivalling each other as they went. Their latest establishment, however, unites the families under one brand, Champagne Barons de Rothschild. The market was taken by surprise, when in 2009 Baron Eric de Rothschild, Monsieur Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, Baronne Philippine de Rothschild, Baronne Ariane de Rothschild and Baron Benjamin de Rothschild launched a range of champagnes under their common name. The Rothschilds decided to enter a completely new area and wine style, one which not one of them had previously been involved with: Champagne. Based in Reims, their vision is to build a champagne house for centuries to come. The Rothschilds entering the champagne scene has caused some turmoil in the region and their non-communicative nature has further accentuated this. To achieve highenough standards to begin with, the Rothschilds joined forces with La Goutte d'Or, the reputable champagne cooperative based in Vertus. The cooperative also produces its own brand, Paul Goerg. The cooperative's winemaking is supervised by Jean-Philippe Moulin, who is a former cellar master of Ruinart. House style For the house style the Rothschilds have chosen an elegant and pure style with a high proportion of Chardonnay. The amount of reserve wines from previous years is high, at around 40 per cent. As the style aims for lightness and finesse, the role of the reserve wines is to contribute to the complexity and consistency of the cuvee, whereas no aged character is sought. The minimum ageing on the lees is three years and after the disgorgement and dosage the bottles are stored for a further six months in the cellars. Such a long period allows the sweetening dosage to blend in the wine, while simultaneously letting the wine develop a creamy and toasty complexity by the time it reaches the consumer. The fruit can be proudly shown with a light dosage, ranging from 9­11 grammes per litre. In style these are very much aperitif champagnes for an educated palate. tHe Range The Rothschilds brought three cuvées on to the market simultaneously. The range is rather classical in approach: a brut, a blanc de blancs and a rosé non-vintage. The brut is made of 50 per cent Chardonnay, with the rest being Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The core of the Chardonnay 120

the Families Fi n e N ov e l t y 121 NV 2010/2015 originates in the southern parts of Côte des Blancs; Vertus, Bergère-les-Vertus and le Mesnil. The Pinot Noir villages include Verzenay, Hautvillers and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. The blanc de blancs is made predominantly from Vertus and Le Mesnil Chardonnay, the share of reserve wines being slightly lower than in the brut non-vintage ­ 30­40 per cent ­ in order to highlight the fresh and lively Chardonnay fruit. This blanc de blancs cuvée is also used as the base wine for Rothschild Rosé non-vintage, which gets its colour from the 15 per cent red wine that is added. tHe Result One ties the Rothschild name so closely to red wine that the idea of champagne takes some adjusting to. However, with the Rothschild standards the wine cannot be anything but well-made from high quality raw material. The wines are a promising first launch for a project whose aims and details are still largely veiled in mystery. Our request for a visit and enquiries for further information were rejected. > 89p Barons de Rothschild Brut NV 2010/2015 90p NV Barons de Rothschild Blanc de Blancs 2010/2015 Pale lemony colour. Bright, fruity, clean nose of apple and cream. Sweet fruit with seductive autolytic nuances. Promising nose, although the palate does not quite reach the level of the nose. Less fruity than expected, however the high fruit quality does contain a certain purity. Light and elegant with a long lemony length and fine acidity. Pale lemon-green colour. Elegant and mineral nose of lemon, smoke and pastry. Fruity on the linear palate, which is rounded by the pleasantly creamy mouthfeel. Tight and very dry with medium length. 86p Barons de Rothschild Rosé Pale pink colour. Bright red fruit nose with cherries, pepper, ash and cream. Tight and a little bit phenolic on the palate, and lacking the charm one would expect from a rosé. A higher dosage would aid. Opened and improved in the glass, though.

122 TexT: essI avellan mw phoTography: pekka nuIkkI The champagne grower I follow wITh mosT fascInaTIon Is Jacquesson. The developmenT ThaT The chIqueT broThers Jean-hervé and laurenT have achIeved In The pasT 20 years Is remarkable. ThIs house's ascenT Is so sTeep ThaT IT Is someTImes hard To keep Track of IT. I have vIsITed Jacquesson fIve TImes In The pasT Three years, and each TIme I have been overwhelmed by The qualITy and quanTITy of InnovaTIons.

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The house's champagnes were served aT napoleon's wedding To The archduchess marie-louise of ausTria We are sitting in the Jacquesson tasting room going through their range of champagnes. I make a comment to Managing Director Jean124 Hervé Chiquet that Jacquesson does not make their champagnes very easy for the consumers or the press to follow. Jean-Hervé Chiquet seems to take my remark as criticism, which was not, however, my intention. He replies quickly "We are still in the process of development. We know where we want to be, but we are still seeking to find better ways to get there." Jacquesson was at the time of its foundation in 1798, one of the first champagne houses in Châlons-sur-Marne. By the time of the Paris world exhibition of 1867 Jacquesson & Fils was a major house whose sales exceeded one million bottles. Napoleon had a great impact on the house's success, as Jacquesson was one of his favourite producers. Alongside several other occasions, the house's champagnes were served at Napoleon's wedding to the Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria. When Napoleon visited Jacquesson in 1810 he granted them a gold medal ­ the highest imperial accolade for an outstanding commercial enterprise ­ in recognition of "the beauty and richness of its cellars". The medal is featured on the Jacquesson labels to this day. The glorious days of Jacquesson came to a sudden end with the death of Adolphe Jacquesson in 1875. His descendants showed little interest in winemaking and the house drifted away from family hands. It was in 1974 that Jean Chiquet bought the property and its new life began. However, Jean's sons JeanHervé and Laurent must take most of the credit for giving the company its prosperity and reputation of today. "We had a tough ten-year negotiation with Daddy about taking charge here..." Jean-Hervé Chiquet grins. But during the ten year period in which they have run the company, impressive results and inspiring innovations have become almost commonplace. Jacquesson launched a trilogy of late-disgorged champagnes from the successive great vintages 1988, 1989 and 1990. The DT (Degorgement Tardif ) range was quite ahead of its time when launched and today many houses are attempting to show the ageing capacity of champagne this way. Jacquesson used to produce a top of the line wine called Grand Vin Signature and its rosé equivalent. With the 1996 vintage, the wine's name was changed to simply `vintage', with the single-vineyard wines taking the position of prestige wines. these same villages, as well as Chouilly and Cumières. Chiquet says, "Even though we also buy grapes we still consider ourselves essentially growers." Jacquesson has launched two single-vineyard champagnes to date, Dizy Corne Bautray and Dizy Terres Rouges Rosé. The remaining two, Aÿ Vauzelle Terme and Avize Champ Caïn, are still waiting for their premiere in the cellar. "The single-vineyard wines are sort of `accidents' that are produced when conditions are favourable. So we do not produce all of them each year. The single-vineyards may account for eight to ten per cent of our annual production, which is relatively significant", Chiquet explains and continues, "Terroir wines assist in developing champagne into a serious gastronomic wine. To me, champagne is only at the beginning of its evolution." BullshiT Jean-Hervé Chiquet, like Jacquesson, is a true grower and he clearly enjoys showing off his well-nurtured vineyards. "We seek to highlight the diverse and complementary characteristics of our great terroirs. We allow a controlled natural growth of vegetation in the rows of vines, thereby ensuring that the soil is kept well aerated and we also virtually eliminate the use of herbicides. Furthermore, the vines have to suffer, which encourages them to search deeper for the minerals that they need. This stress manifests itself through lower yields, thereby Terroir Wines Single-vineyard wines are quite a natural development in Jacquesson's range. The Chiquets are true grower producers, their own vineyards totalling 26 hectares in the Grand Cru villages of Aÿ, Avize and Oiry and in the Premier Cru villages of Hautvillers, Dizy and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. These are complemented by a further 15 hectares of grower's vineyards in

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"The wines have To suffer, which encourages Them To search deeper for The minerals ThaT TheY need." 127 Fi n e G r ow e r

128 leading to greater ripeness and concentration in the grapes." As we drive past the newly replanted part of Terres Rouges vineyard, Jean-Hervé adds "Each vineyard is analysed for nutrient deficiencies at regular intervals. If needed, we add 100 per cent organic nutrients. It is bullshit. I mean we literally bought 200 tonnes of bullshit for this particular vineyard..." in the cellar, such as adding sulphur dioxide or heavy sweetening dosage. Indeed, all our vintage wines can technically be classified as extra-brut. Also, no filtration takes place before bottling and this applies to every single wine of the house." innovaTions One of the bizarre customs in champagne is to leave the age, blend and constituents of the non-vintage champagnes unmentioned. This apparently makes champagne easy to buy and understand. However, it leaves us with very little knowledge of what we are drinking. Jacquesson makes wine foremost, not champagne. But they have managed to become leaders in the new wave of champagne communication. The back label of all their wines lists exactly what is it made of, how and when, while the technical information sheets go even further than that. non-inTervenTion A great majority of Jacquesson's wines are vinified in large oak vats that do not impart wood aroma to the wine. These casks and barrels, which are used to carry out controlled oxidation of the wines during the six to ten months that they spend in wood, bring complexity and structure, as well as vinosity, to the wines. Chiquet continues, "Our wines go through the softening malolactic fermentation. We try to minimise intervention Also, Jacquesson's non-vintage blend was reborn a few years ago. The former Brut Perfection was renamed with a numbered cuvée that changes every year: "We started with the cuvée 728 ­ the number came from our internal bookkeeping for cuvées. The current launch is cuvée 734, which is based on the 2006 vintage." The idea with Jacquesson's non-vintage is not to keep a consistent style and taste from one year to another but to make the best possible wine every year. It is also fascinating to compare the development of these nonvintage champagnes side by side. It is time to leave Jacquesson and JeanHervé Chiquet, but I can't wait to see in which direction this house is going next. >

Jacquesson Cuvée No 734 NV 89p 2010/2018 Pale-lemony colour. Muted, soft, bruised apple and lemon nose. Fruity and clean on the firm and structured palate. Solid structure with good intensity and fine length. A couple of years' cellaring will reveal more of the wine, which has mid-term potential. Jacquesson Dizy Corne Bautray 2000 90p 2008/2018 Medium deep lemony colour. Complex baked apple, nut and old wood spicy nose. Good volume and firmness. Pleasantly dry and vinous. Jacquesson Avize Grand Cru 2000 91p 2009/2020 Deep lemon-gold colour. Ripe apple, apple jam and spice nose. Wide and rich on the palate with an appealingly sweet fruitiness. Long and luscious with a confectionary taste on the persistent but fully dry finish. Needs some time to show its full potential and will last for more than ten years. Jacquesson DT 1989 90p 2009/2015 Medium deep lemon-gold colour. Rich, nutty and yeasty nose of bruised apple and honey. Weighty and pronounced. Very masculine. Strong, powerful and long. Jacquesson Dizy Corne Bautray 2002 91p 2009/2018 Deep lemon yellow colour. Spicy and fruity nose with a hint of floral tones and old oak complexity. Firm acidic backbone and superb fruit intensity. Vinous and fine, with a long length and good concentration for future ageing. Jacquesson DT 1988 89p 2009/2012 Deep golden colour. Toasty rich, bruised apple and honeyspice nose. Wide and full palate with a lot of fruit. Drying finish. A bit angular and oxisdising. Presumably not a perfect bottle. Jacquesson 2002 86p 2010/2022 Medium-deep lemony colour. Overt and fruity red apple and spice nose with nutty hints. Structured and powerful on the dry palate. Some phenolic bitterness at the long finish. Youthful still and will gain more depth and complexity with medium-term cellaring. Jacquesson Avize Grand Cru 1997 88p 2009/2012 Deep, developing yellow colour. Ripe baked apple and spice nose with some dusty notes. The palate is elegant and fresh but lacks a focus and intensity. Somewhat rustic style that drinks well now and the next few years. Jacquesson 2000 89p 2009/2018 Medium deep lemony colour. Pleasantly pungent, toasty brioche and dried fruit, honey, yeast and bruised apple nose. Crisp and dry palate with muscle and length. Enjoyable already but will evolve. Deep cherry red colour. Fruity and waxy, exuberant red berry and spice nose. The nose is remeniscent of red wine and the structure has a tannin-like. Unique style, you either love it or hate it. 129 Fi n e G r ow e r Jacquesson Terres Rouges Rosé 2003 86p 2009/2013

The Tenth 130 Text: Christian Göldenboog Photography: Marc Volk A great non-vintage champagne is a pleasure to drink, as it is both harmonious in aroma and seamless in structure. At its best, it delivers an illusion of ease from the winemaker's side. However, an immense amount of thought and effort goes into constructing these perfected cuvées. FINE talked to Dominique Demarville, the nose of Veuve Clicquot and the creative influence behind the Yellow Label.

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is essentially a cuvée of numerous origins (crus), several grape varieties and more than one vintage. Contrary to most other wine regions, the standard release of a Champagne House remains a non-vintage wine, although most experts readily speak and write about vintage champagnes or prestige cuvées. This causes most cellar masters to give a weary smile. Dominique Demarville, appointed Chef de Cave at Champagne Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin in Reims last year, maintains that vintage champagne is not the difficulty. The great challenge of his work lies in Carte Jaune, in Brut Non-Vintage. Because the Champagne region is so far north, the assemblage ­ the marriage or blending of different crus, grape varieties and vintages ­ has gained general acceptance as the fundamental recipe. "Our first goal, therefore," says Demarville of his job, "is to achieve an exceptional Brut Yellow Label." Within this cuvée he must retain the style of his famous champagne house, regardless of how the current harvest turns out, and this must be achieved year after year. The final result, though, may only be tasted after thirty-six months. Consequently for Demarville, there is no room for failure. Yellow Label, as far as taste is concerned, is a clearly defined champagne: the oenologists look for a balance between the fruit on the one hand, and the roast aroma ­ such as coffee or toasted bread ­ on the other. A fine acidity is also greatly desired, as is a good length on the palate. of the Brut Carte Jaune conjure flavours such as peach and apricot, with hints of vanilla often present. A fine acidity is also greatly desired, as is a good length on the palate. According to Demarville, the `goût' (taste) should still be present in the mouth after thirty seconds. In order to achieve this distinguished flavour, the oenologists must carefully search amongst their four hundred reserve wines for a balance between the current and reserve wines. "In 2008 we only had a share of twentyfour per cent reserve wines. To achieve the desired flavour in 2009 we had to work with thirty-four per cent." But reserve wine is a lot more than just reserve wine. "Last year, 2009, was also very fruity. If we had taken reserve wines that were too heavy or intense we would never have achieved our goal." No less than ten oenologists work on the assemblage process, with Demarville having the final say. They begin in early October, directly after the harvest, between the alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. All still wines are carefully tasted at least twice, and sometimes as many as four times. As a rule, twenty-four to thirty different wines are tasted every day. This is the maximum, says Demarville, as the mouth inevitably becomes tired. In addition to the four hundred reserve wines, there are some six hundred wines in the current harvest, meaning the oenologists have a thousand or so wines at their disposal. Dermarville characterises his aptitude for absorbing the nose or taste of a wine not as a gift of genetic recombination but rather as training; every oenologist must have a very good recollection of aromas and it is essential to hone this skill. This always takes place in the morning, between eleven and twelve o'clock, when the senses are at their keenest. "This is actually the time when we start to get hungry," observes Demarville drily. "We humans are like animals - when we are hungry we are vigilant and only look for the best." "Only the best" is what these Veuve oenologists are looking for -- and they sometimes search for perfection once again between five and six o'clock in the afternoon. A weighty responsibility Hunger for balance This "balance", or equilibrium, is one of the favourite words of the cellar masters of this northern vine-growing region. The fruit aromas There is no question about it, Demarville works hard and is meticulous when it comes to the details. At the same time, let it be said there are champagne cellar masters who are real showmen ­ to this class Demarville does not belong. All the assemblage work must be completed by March, and when asked whether he is responsible for six million bottles of Carte Jaune, he replies: "There are a few more than that." When I inquire as to whether he has nightmares during the degustation process he answers: "No, I don't get too much sleep during that time." At our first encounter Demarville had just been appointed the latest (and youngest) cellar master of one of the great champagne houses. After studying oenology in Avize and Burgundy, he first worked for several smaller champagne houses, before moving to Champagne G.H. Mumm in 1994. Just four years later he was named Chef de Cave, and it was during this period that his application to Clicquot was sent. A suitable successor to the legendary Jacques Péters was being sought. I first encountered Péters fourteen years ago, when he was posing in front of Tank 622 for a photo session. Dressed in a suit and necktie, he looked every inch the James Bond of oenology. The fermented gaze, without residual sweetness, revealed that the concept of failure was wholly foreign to him. "When we carry out the blind tasting, we find out why Jacques is cellar master here," an oenologist from the Clicquot team explained to me at the time. "Péters discerns crus where the rest of us cannot. He's our boss, and that is why he has the grey hair!" In the meantime his hair has turned white. For twenty-two years he was cellar master of the House; for three years he helped Demarville learn the ropes. At Clicquot, the complex work involving the reserve wines was new to Demarville. "Ultimately, it's a question of two champagne houses with two distinct philosophies. When I came to Veuve Clicquot I had to forget everything that I had learnt up to that point," explains Demarville. Naturally, written notes on the composition of the assemblage exist, but in the Champagne region the oenological 133 Fi n e C e l l a r M a s t e r

134 transmission of knowledge is through word of mouth ­ from one generation to the next. Once a year, Demarville meets up with Péters and his predecessor, the now almost ninety-year-old Charles Delhaye, to sample the current assemblage. I was fortunate enough to be present on one such occasion. "Champagne is like culinary art, but without the recipe," said Delhaye, while I was keen to hear from Demarville just why he had decided to change his job. "Because of the colour," responded the new cellar master. "From Mumm Red to Clicquot Yellow." A diplomatic answer. But in the opinion of Jacques Péters this was not merely good diplomacy, but actual fact. According to Demarville, he felt at home with the image, the team and the House. Furthermore, the quality of the champagne had impressed him. "Champagne is like culinary art, but without the recipe," The Widow's riddle "Veuve Clicquot is a wine that is always dominated by the structure, aromas and body of Pinot Noir." For this it is necessary to thank the energetic BarbeNicole Clicquot Ponsardin (1777­1866), better known as Veuve Clicquot. Demarville speaks of this Grande Dame of Champagne with reverence. "In the 19th century success came to those champagne houses that had excellent vineyards and worldwide distribution," explains Demarville. In that respect, nothing has changed to this day. Above all else, Madame Clicquot was an innovator: she not only brought the first rosé champagne to the market, but also had the idea of designing a very special device. Around 1800, the purification of the wines posed a serious problem after the second fermentation; the champagne had to be repeatedly transferred from one bottle to the next. "In the wine there is a kind of distinct, fine sediment. In spite of every precautionary measure I fear that it is impossible for me to send anything other than this wine with the aforementioned fine sediment," wrote Madame Clicquot to a customer. The problem caused much racking of brains. The story goes that the widow would clamber down to the cellar, at night and in secret, to work on a solution with her cellar master, Antoine Müller. By 1816, and after a great deal of experimentation, they had constructed the first riddling table, designed to dislodge sediment from the bottles. In 1818 this method was refined: inclined holes were drilled into the table so that for the first time the bottles could be placed, neck-down, at different angles. This technical breakthrough boosted sales and the triumphal march of the champagne around the world soon followed. During the 19th century in Berlin, for example, champagne of this kind was so popular, "that one hardly dared to cough in the street for fear of spitting in the face of a champagne salesman." This is the colourful description of this period by Ludwig Bohne, a Veuve Clicquot representative. Bohne was deemed a most successful salesman, as was Friedrich Wilhelm IV (1795­1861), and with good reason. The stubborn Prussian was named König Clicquot (King Clicquot) by his entourage, although The Widow was to outlive King Clicquot by four years. Meanwhile, Champagne Veuve Clicquot itself is now two hundred and thirty-eight years old, and how many cellar masters have there been during this period? Dominique Demarville is only the tenth. This figure alone testifies to the art and integrity of champagne in general, and the Yellow Label in particular. >

Tasting notes: Essi Avellan MW and Pekka Nuikki 100p 96p 92p Superb-looking bottle with good level. Some haziness in the golden amber colour and no bubbles apparent. Developed rich nose with apricots and dried fruits, waxiness and mineral tones. Moderately dry on the palate with some residual sugar detected. Intense and concentrated taste with moderately high acidity and minerality. Long, lemony aftertaste. Not a very complex wine but very persistent and gracefully matured. 91p The bottle looked fine, with some ullage and a well-preserved label. The cork was still tight and to our relief there was a beautiful sigh upon opening. A fully developed deep golden colour with orange hues. The nose was rich and mature with oxidised apple and dried fruit aromas. The nose was still very much alive, awakening our taste expectations. There were tiny amounts of fine bubbles keeping the palate alive. Concentrated dried fruit aromatics, steely acidic backbone and a long, fully-developed finish. 91p 135 94p 97p 96p This beautiful old Veuve Clicquot had arrived the day before the tasting after spending a peaceful 60 years in ideal surroundings ­ the damp cellars of an Austrian castle. It arrived unclean and covered with a thick layer of dust and dirt. Beneath the dust the bottle was in top condition. The champagne itself looked clear, its ullage by the tin foil. A real surprise caught us unaware when we opened that eighty-yearold wine ­ the cork popped with such a loud sound that we cried out in delight. And that was of course met with amazement on nearby tables. Well, they did not know the age of this particular wine In 1923 the harvest was of good quality but small in size, and it took place exceptionally late in the season. Veuve Clicquot of this vintage has a truly fresh, rich and apple-like bouquet. Its clarity, golden yellow colour and numerous youthful bubbles spoke rather of an age of twenty years. On the palate a rich, smoky creaminess supported and gave body to those lively bubbles. A remarkably full and sophisticated wine, whose youthfulness and balance surprised us in a very positive way. Without doubt one of the best champagnes from the 1923 vintage. 92p The 1942 Veuve Clicquot was slightly feminine and fun, a bit of a mystery to us, and we all kept coming back to it over and over again. All the other vintages gave us a kind of `excellent wine' pleasure, but this 1942 gave us something more. Excellent-looking bottle with a healthy, goldish colour. Decanted 30 minutes. Surprisingly lively with tiny, slow-running bubbles. It had a lovely, flowery, feminine and perfumed nose with lots of vanilla and tropical fruits, all of which opened beautifully in the glass. It had splendid richness, length and excellent acidity with a touch of sweetness. Very gentle yet powerful at the same time ­ hard to describe. It went up and down in the mouth like a roller coaster ­ there were moments where we simply enjoyed the ride and moments when you just wanted to scream due to the sheer excitement. This 1942 Veuve Clicquot was one of the biggest and most positive "champagne surprises" we have ever experienced. What a ride! This massive vintage produced a record crop of 13 800 kg/ha. Quality was slightly compromised by quantity. The best wines have survived well and La Grande Dame was still in great condition. An elegant and lusciously sweet nose. Apple jam and nuts. Very balanced palate, refreshing acidity and volouptuous fruitiness. A stylish wine from the beginning until the very end. Enjoy now. 95p Beautiful, developed onion skin colour. Rich, toasty and intensely fruity nose of dried fruit, wax and brioche. A wide and muscular palate with a very refined mousse and intense fruit. Lovely acidity and mineral finish. One of the finest champagnes of the vintage. Fi n e C e l l a r M a s t e r The vintage itself started well with an ideal budding season. The spring frosts, together with the violent hailstorms, caused some damage on vineyards. The flowering was extended with some millerandage. Preferable weather conditions during the summer and autumn yielded a superb quality of crop; indeed this vintage has to be considered one of the vintages of the century in Champagne. This was an outstanding wine as an aperitif: appealing yellow-gold colour with few fine bubbles. The rich and fragrant nose seemed very youthful. An absolutely complete wine, with the creamy, toasty flavours and fresh acidity still in balance. Enormously full and intense, with all factors sitting in perfect harmony. Although it was a 375 ml bottle, size does not always matter. Despite being a perfect wine, the occasion when this very special bottle was opened was extraordinary. It was the farewell party of Jacques Péters, the legendary long-time cellar master of Veuve Clicquot. A small party had gathered at the Veuve Clicquot manor in Verzy to celebrate the occasion. The guest list was impressive with Tom Stevenson, Richard Juhlin and Michel Bettane in attendance amongst others. The successor of Péters, Dominique Demarville, had prepared a unique surprise for him. As Péters was born in 1946, which was not a vintage year, Demarville opened bottles from both 1947 and 1945. The bottles had rested on their lees until that moment and were disgorged just before dinner. The 1947 was in condition but was showing its age thanks to some oxidative impressions. However, the 1945 was magnificent, and one of the best champagnes we have ever tasted. Impressively youthful with plenty of rounded fruit left. Honey, dried fruit and toasty elements. Very concentrated on the velvety palate with a gentle healthy effervescence still on show. An absolute charmer, with neareternal length and amazing layers of nuances and character. An unforgettable wine shared in unforgettable company.

95p Glossy salmon to onion-skin colour. Fresh and lively nose of red berries, rum and herbs. Linear and skinny, this wine lacks charm but is very pure and fine-tuned. There is even evidence of a drying tannic nuance. The second bottle we tasted had much more charm and fruit. 96p 89p Deep-cherry-red colour with orange hues. Reduced rubbery nose at first. Very youthful, tight and concentrated but still very closed. Not much autolytic character. A full and rich wine, which is still far too youthful and currently at a difficult stage. 95p 91p 93p 89p 92p 92p Medium-deep lemony colour. Gentle creamy nose of fresh, ripe white fruits, lemon, gunpowder and smoky minerality. Fascinating palate with its firm structure, yet mouthcoating and caressing texture. Gentle, elegant mousse on the long, linear taste. Starting to drink but has a great ageing potential. C M 94p 94p 94p La Grande Dame 1995 was made of grapes from eight different Grands Crus around Champagne. The 62.5 per cent Pinot Noir and 37.5 per cent Chardonnay from a ripe vintage brought immense depth and roundness, even heaviness, to the wine. Fruit-packed, voluptuous, solid and mouthfilling. This wine was astonishingly enjoyable right from its launch. A truly great lady! 136 94p 88p Medium-deep cherry-red colour. Straightforward berry-like nose with some spice and gentle toasty impact. Highly youthful still, both on the nose and on the palate. Fresh, firm and structured on the energetic, mediumbodied, dry palate. Starting to drink but more depth will emerge within the next 3­5 years and it can handle maturation positively for 10 more years. Y CM MY CY 92p 91p 91p Deep, dark orange-hued and pink colour. Pinot Noir nose with earthy, animally notes, leather, dried fruits and red berries. Vinous and smooth texture with mineral gun flint flavours and liquorice. A very special wine, but not to everybody's liking. A red wine lover's rosé. Drink between now and 2010. CMY K 94p 89p Medium-deep peach hued pink colour. Elegant, fresh and straightforward cherrynose. Clean, intense fruitiness on the palate, which is dominated by red fruit. Rather onedimensional but muscular and fresh. Drinking well today but will develop positively for 3­5 years. 93p 93p 93p Medium deep, orange-hued onion skin colour. Seductive, mature nose of dried fruits, honey, wax, toast and animally notes. Wide and round, silky palate with tiny, perfectly integrated bubbles. Very harmonious and beautiful, mature champagne that is drinking perfectly today. 89p Deep-lemony colour. Gentle and slightly muted nose of yeast, vanilla, acasia and yellow apple. Some dusty notes on the straightforward and fresh palate. Round palate but with a tight acidity. Evolving character with 10 years of ageing ahead. Lacks the finesse or intensity of the finest vintages. 86p Pale lemony colour. Smooth and toasty. A stone fruit and floral nose with a lemony edge. Burnt sugar and liquorice complexity. Nice cleanliness and focus on the wide, voluptuous mouthfeel. Soft acidity with a noticeable dosage that rounds the wine.

140 Vintage 2002

FineVintages Text: Peter Liem Champenois winemakers may argue over the merits of many vintages of the past decade, but there is an almost universal consensus regarding the 2002 vintage. Perhaps the finest vintage overall since 1990, 2002 was a year of outstanding weather conditions, resulting in a healthy crop of grapes that combined both quality and quantity. Fi n e V i n ta g e 141 the vines largely escaped damage from either frost or hail, and growth in the spring was earlier than usual, with rapid and healthy flowering thanks to sunny skies. The warm summer was notably dry, with 30 per cent less rainfall than usual between April and September ­ in fact, since 1961, only 1996, 1976 and 1962 saw less rain than in 2002. August, however, saw higher-than-average rainfall, promoting rot in the vines and causing some anxiety among growers. Fortunately, the sunny weather returned in September, lasting through most of the harvest. This was clearly a rich year: 2002 boasted the highest alcohol levels since 1990, averaging 10.5 degrees (to put this in context, 2003 ­ a year commonly viewed as being extremely ripe ­ averaged 10.6 degrees of potential alcohol). In addition, Pierre Larmandier of LarmandierBernier notes that 2002 saw "a maturation by concentration that we usually don't have," as a north wind dried the grapes in the period before the harvest, concentrating both sugars and acidity. This sort of concentration, where the grapes begin to shrivel and lose weight on the vine, is extremely rare in Champagne, and in 2002 this served to reduce the yield by 10 to 20 per cent. Today, the 2002 vintage is widely accepted to be one of the finest of the last quarter-century. "It's a dream vintage," says Richard Geoffroy, cellar master of Dom Pérignon. Jacques Diebolt of Diebolt-Vallois, who has been making champagne since 1959, calls 2002 "the best vintage I have seen in my lifetime." There is certainly a sense of richness and depth in the 2002s, reflecting the warmth of the vintage and the concentration in the grapes. Yet there is also a remarkable balance and harmony that is found in these wines, and rather than emphasising their ripeness, the 2002s consistently demonstrate a feeling of clarity, finesse and poise. There are already a number of outstanding 2002s on the market, from Diebolt-Vallois's Fleur de Passion to Vilmart's Grand Cellier d'Or to the sublime Cristal by Louis Roederer. Over the next few years, however, we can look forward to the releases of superstar cuvées such as Philipponnat's Clos des Goisses, Vilmart's Coeur de Cuvée, Salon and Krug, all of which should be very exciting indeed.

Selection of 2002 Champagnes 2002 Agrapart Cuvée Vénus Blanc de Blancs This is made from a small portion of the vineyard of La Fosse in Avize, worked by horse rather than by tractor. The vineyard of La Fosse is intensely chalky, unlike the clay-based soils of the parcels used for Agrapart's L'Avizoise, and the 2002 Vénus keenly expresses this chalky minerality, feeling crystalline and effortless in its elegance and purity. On the palate it is subtle, silky and detailed, finishing with outstanding length and vivid aroma. It's a brut nature, released without any dosage, and it feels entirely complete and secure without the addition of sugar ­ its tense, ripe fruit and vinous character giving it an admirable depth and harmony. While it is already expressive now, it still feels like a youthful champagne, and should provide ample reward with an additional five to ten years of ageing. 2002 Henri Billiot 142 Made of 72 per cent Pinot Noir and 28 per cent Chardonnay, this is vibrant and full of kinetic energy, driven by a firm core of acidity on the palate. Unlike the last vintage release, 1999, which was (and still is) relatively open and generous, the 2002 is more reticent and reserved, feeling tense and wound-up. "It is a vintage that is a little different for us," says Laetitia Billiot. "It is very lively and pointed, but I think that with age, it will develop very well." The flavours on the palate veer towards a high-toned red fruit, like red plum or raspberry, and the fruit aromas are very persistent on the finish, showing a silky elegance and subtly nuanced complexity. This is a classy wine, showing all the breeding and finesse expected of a great Ambonnay, and it needs at least another decade in the cellar to bring out its best. 2002 Chartogne-Taillet Cuvée Fiacre Made of 60 per cent Chardonnay from the vineyard of Chemin de Reims and 40 per cent Pinot Noir from Les Orizeaux, this is still extremely youthful and tensely wound, hinting at a range of flavours from apple and pear to guava, grapefruit pith and red cherry. It continues to develop more harmony and complexity with time in the bottle, and its silky texture and subtly intense expression of minerality give it a feeling of exceptional refinement and breeding. This is a thrilling wine, and promises to develop even further ­ I still think that it is too young to open, but I am more and more excited about where it is going. 2002 Diebolt-Vallois Fleur de Passion Blanc de Blancs At the top of Diebolt's range is the Fleur de Passion, sourced from 50-yearold vines in Cramant and made entirely in old barriques, without malolactic fermentation, fining, filtration or cold-stabilisation. The 2002 is potentially the greatest Fleur de Passion yet, and in time it may even surpass the unbelievable 1996. The only problem with it at the moment is that while it is a wine of obvious refinement and grace, it has begun to close down very severely, even more than is generally typical for this cuvée. Despite showing a sophisticated minerality and a silky, subtle texture, its fruit has become more and more reticent and introverted in recent times, and is a wine that you will want to put in the cellar and leave there for as long as you have the patience. I would wait until at least 2012 to open this, and ideally even longer.

2002 Gonet-Médeville Ambonnay La Grande Ruelle This is the first vintage of this single-vineyard champagne; it is made entirely of Pinot Noir and fermented in old oak barriques. It spent 53 months on its lees, and was released with a dosage of three grammes per litre, which seems absolutely perfect for this wine, as it exhibits an outstanding sense of balance and expression. It is luscious yet focused, blending a complex array of flavours and feels silky in texture. There is a strong character of soil, an energetic chalkiness common to the best wines of Ambonnay, that underlines the rich fruit, and the whole package projects a sense of inner strength and confident poise. Above all, it is the finish that constitutes the most striking element of this wine, expanding with subtle intensity and fragrant, complex length. This is certainly a youthful champagne, needing more time in the cellar to show its best, but it already feels so classy and full of character. Tasting this wine multiple times since release has convinced me more and more of its extraordinary quality. The balance and expression on the nose is striking, showing ripely concentrated fruit packed into a taut, sleek frame, and possessing an almost electric sense of tension and vibrancy. There is the rich depth typical of Bouzy, yet underneath this the chalky minerality is very prominent, and overall it thrives more on its intensity of flavour rather than its weight. On the palate it feels virile and energetic, with an expansive presence and velvety depth, and while the flavours are dark and dense in tone, demonstrating notes of cassis, black cherry and blackberry, the 30 per cent of Chardonnay here seems to impart a sense of precision and finesse. While nearly three-quarters of this was vinified in barrel, the wood has given it extra complexity and richness of aroma rather than any overt flavors of oak, and the finish is thoroughly Grand Cru, showing fragrant dimension and persistent length. This wine will continue to develop superbly with time in the bottle, and it would be almost a pity to drink this before 2012. 143 2002 Lilbert-Fils Blanc de Blancs This is made from two vineyards in Cramant: three-quarters of it comes from old vines in Les Buissons, on the flanks of the Butte de Saran near Chouilly, and the rest of it is from Moyens, on the Cuis side of the village. The old-vine Cramant character is immediately apparent, with a dark, brooding depth and complete, nearly three-dimensional feel. There is a hint of currant-like fruitiness in the centre that becomes more prominent with air, surrounded by complex aromas of pear, lemon peel and verbena, all pinned down by an insistent note of chalk. It's utterly gorgeous in its harmony and poise, demonstrating a strong personality while remaining discreetly refined and composed. Give it another decade or more in the cellar and you will be amply rewarded. Fi n e V i n ta g e 2002 Benoît Lahaye

2002 Philipponnat Cuvée 1522 Philipponnat's Cuvée 1522 is designed to showcase the vineyard of Le Léon in Aÿ, a source of particularly high-quality Pinot Noir, and as usual, this is 60 per cent Le Léon Pinot Noir and 40 per cent Chardonnay ­ which in 2002 came entirely from Oger. This is still closed and tightly constricted, feeling stern and austere compared to either the Grand Blanc or the Réserve Millésimée from the same vintage. The depth and vitality typical of 2002 is definitely on display, and a lovely core of sweet Pinot fruit emerges on the palate about half an hour after the bottle is opened, accented by exotic hints of ginger and star anise. It feels pure, incisive and very classy, yet it is still in obvious need of more cellar time to bring out its best, and it should turn out to be an outstanding wine. Note that this cuvée is sometimes labelled as Brut and sometimes as Extra Brut ­ it is always dosed at around 4 or 4.5 grammes per litre (four in the case of the 2002), which is well within the extra brut category. 2002 Louis Roederer Cristal 144 Typical for Cristal, this is 60 per cent Pinot Noir and 40 per cent Chardonnay, blended from eight villages: Le Mesnil, Avize and Cramant for the Chardonnay; Verzenay, Verzy, Beaumont-sur-Vesle, Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ for the Pinot Noir. All of the vines are estate-owned, as is the case with all of Roederer's vintage wines, all of which are a minimum of 25 years old. Even in its youth, the 2002 appears to be the finest Cristal since the 1996, with a flowery, ethereal complexity and elegance that is very much in keeping with the character of the vintage. The texture is extraordinary, like the finest silk, and the finish shows a long, complex and painstakingly detailed length that is remarkable even for Cristal, demonstrating a seamless harmony and a marvellous sense of clarity and poise. What is surprising about this wine is how well it is showing for a young Cristal: the last two releases, 2000 and 1999, were particularly stubborn and reticent at the same age, and I would have to go all the way back to 1990 to find a Cristal so sensual and alluring in its youth. Undoubtedly, however, its best is still to come. 2002 Vilmart Grand Cellier d'Or The 2002 is possibly the finest vintage yet of this cuvée, combining a creamy, stone-fruit aroma with lively acidity and a remarkably fine, silky texture. It is rich without being weighty, feeing sculpted and sleek, and despite its youth it already demonstrates a subtle, delicately layered complexity and expansive dimension on the palate. It promises to only become more thrilling with time. Time, however, is essential ­ like many 2002s, the wine appears quite closed at the moment, and I feel that it will go through an awkward phase for several years before settling down and revealing its true depth. Taste it now if you must, but it would be better to put it away for another five years at least.> Peter Liem's ChampagneGuide.net is the web's most comprehensive guide to the wines and wine producers of Champagne. The online guide features profiles of over 100 champagne producers, from renowned négociant houses to small grower estates. It is an informative, highly detailed and continually updated wine guide written from an insider's point of view.

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The Champagne villages are rated on a system called Echelles des Crus, which gives an 80 to 100 per cent ranking to each of the 319 villages. There are 17 villages that are granted a full 100 per cent classification and the right to the title of Grand Cru. The picturesque village of Avize in the Côte des Blancs is one of the most renowned Grand Cru villages for Chardonnay. We will start our series of FINE Villages from here. Text: Essi Avellan MW Photography: Michael Boudot 148 AVIZE The most famous prestige cuvées in Champagne, including Dom Pérignon, Cristal and Comtes de Champagne, all have significant proportions of Avize Chardonnay in their perfected blends. The cellar masters cherish its precious contribution to the finesse, complexity and longevity of their champagnes. However, it is only through the small growers, whose wines are not blended to such a large degree, that one can grasp what the praised village and its fruit is all about. Avize, in the heart of the Côte des Blancs sub-region of Champagne, has the privilege of hosting some esteemed names, such as Jacques Selosse and Agrapart, as well as some lesser known high-quality growers such as Varniere-Fannière and Franck Bonville.

149 Fi n e V i l l a g e

Super-cooperative 150 To get a holistic overview, I am starting my exploration of the village from a very special place: a cooperative called Union Champagne. The massive concrete entrance to a building that resembles Soviet architecture is far removed from the glitz and glamour of the great houses. I am welcomed by cellar master Yannick Collet, oenologist Cédric Jacopin and commercial director Georges Monnet. When we enter the cellar the true size of the place is revealed. Yannick Collet jokes: "This building is like an iceberg, most of it is below ground." And this is only one of their 13 cellar premises around the region! Breathtakingly, the cooperative's 1000 members own over 1200 hectares of vineyard, most of which is exclusively in Premier Cru and Grand Cru villages. Union Champagne was formed in 1966 and it has grown ever since; today it is one of the most important cooperatives in the region. The main clients of this cooperative ­ that is recognised foremost for its quality ­ are the major houses: Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot in particular. Taittinger is another important client, and their prestige cuvée Comtes de Champagne has a significant share of Union Champagne's fruit. Cédric Jacopin reveales an interesting curiosity: "Dom Pérignon cellar master Richard Geoffroy's father used to be our president." Cellar master Yannick Collet and his future successor Cédric Jacopin also vinify wines for the cooperative members as well as private label buyers, such as UK supermarket chains. But the thrilling range for the wine lover is De Saint Gall, which is the brand of the cooperative itself. Commercial director Monnet states: "We are not aiming for the high-end branded market with De Saint Gall. It is a brand for those who know. Our target is to reach the top sommeliers and gastronomic experts. Due to the reasonable pricing, De Saint Gall is an ideal pouring champagne for high quality restaurants." The wine making is neutral and very clean, and it is the fruit quality and precision that sticks out in De Saint Gall wines. For this reason the extra brut style has become the hallmark of De Saint Gall. Yannick Collet, a local boy and an extremely experienced winemaker and blender, is highly knowledgeable of the subtle differences of the Côte des Blancs fruit. I therefore ask him how would he describe Avize Chardonnay. "Avize is on its own the most complete wine of the Côte des Blancs, the most harmonious and age-worthy as such. Oger and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger might be more powerful and Cramant more elegant, but Avize has got it all balanced." We sit down to discuss the village terroirs in depth and Collet hands me a large historical map of the vineyards: "The core of Avize is on the mid-slope. In historical times the village was built in the middle of the vineyards for logistic reasons. It has since expanded up the hill and down the slope." The landscape of the Avize vineyards is relatively even and mainly points east, but there are significant differences in the soil, and therefore the wines within the commune. Words are not enough to describe the differences so Yannick picks up his phone and calls his friend Pascal Agrapart, a renowned grower and terroirist in the village. Five minutes later we pick up Pascal, who is waiting in front of his winery with a shovel on his shoulder.

151 Fi n e V i l l a g e

Hands-on demonstration We drive to his nearby vineyard Les Robarts, which is situated in the middle of the slope. Pascal puts his hands in the dirt and starts explaining: "Here the soil is relatively humid and compact, with a higher clay content. The deeper and richer topsoil accounts for the wider and heavier wines." He demonstrates this by digging a hole in the middle of two vines. Small traces of chalk start emerging after 10 centimetres but his shovel hits solid chalk after 40 centimetres. He fills the hole in the ground and we continue to the Le Champ Bouton plot further down the slope. Here the soil is significantly lighter and drier, even to the naked eye. Pascal starts shovelling again but the loose texture makes it difficult for him to make it to the solid chalk before the bottom of the hole fills again with sandy soil. When he finally succeeds in making the white chalk visible to us, he concludes: "From here the wines are accentuated with a fine minerality." Agrapart, in fact, separates his wines according to the terroir. The wines from the richer mid-slope soils go to the monocru cuvée L'Avizoise. The fine and lean wines from the lower slopes are used for the cuvée Mineral, which is constructed using Le Champ Bouton in Avize and Les Bionnes in neighbouring Cramant. Agrapart's naturalistic approach continues in the cellar, where the wines are fermented in used demi-muid oak barrels or stainless steel. The wines are unfiltered and dosed very gently. Yannick Collet (left) and Pascal Agrapart presenting Avize vineyards 152

Avize as the heart of the cuvée Bird's Eye View Once we have finished this underground exploration of Avize, Cédric Jacopin surprises me by asking: "Would you like to see Avize and the Côte des Blancs from above? Flying is one of my passions and the airfield is just around the corner." This is an offer I cannot refuse, and we head to the Aérodrome d'Épernay-Plivot. Cédric Jacopin and I take off in a Robin DR400 for a birds-eye tour of the region. We approach Avize from the north, having flown over the town of Épernay as we made our way into the Côtes de Blancs. We fly by the Grand Cru villages of Chouilly and Cramant and see the Côte bend so that it becomes fully east-facing. The hillside is at its steepest near the forest line, turning into a gentler slope at village level and finally flattening out completely. The terrain is quite even without many hillocks. But one can clearly see differences in the condition of vineyards, with colours sometimes altering every few rows of vines in response to vineyard management. As we pass Avize and head to Le Mesnil-sur-Oger in the south, the differences in the landscape become more apparent. We fly until the very end of the Côte des Blancs, Les Bergères-lès-Vertus, where Jacopin curves back to return to Pliny. After a smooth descent, I thank my pilot for the eye-opening view of Avize and decide to make a spontaneous visit to Franck Bonville, a high-quality producer who owns a respectable 18 hectares in the Grand Cru villages of Avize, Cramant and Oger. I am in luck when I reach his winery, as Olivier Bonville is available after a short wait, and we go on to explore the house's champagnes. Olivier, the third generation of Bonvilles to make champagne in Avize, is a great person to talk to about old vines and limited yields. Avize fruit forms the core of his wines but he never makes monocru (singlevillage) champagne from it. Avize fruit usually accounts for 50 per cent of each of the house's cuvees, given that it seamlessly integrates the wines from the neighbouring villages of Cramant and Oger. We end the tasting of Bonville's pure, balanced wines with a special bottle of 1977 Franck Bonville, which, with its rich coffee and toffee nuances, proves the ageing capacity of these wines. Epitome of Avize I continue my exploration at Varniere-Fannière, where I meet the young Denis Varnier. Prior to my visit, I had only encountered his wines a couple of times but had been impressed with their purity and focus. It is actually hard to get hold of these wines, as Varnier has just 4 hectares, out of which he makes 40 000 bottles of Grand Cru only. He makes an interesting portfolio, from Brut Zero to Grand Cru Rosé, but the real treasure here is Cuvée Saint-Denis NV, which comes from an old plot called Le Clos du Grand Père in the heart of Avize. This wine, made from seventy-year-old vines, is the epitome of Avize fruit due to its non-vintage nature that hides vintage differences. The wine also owes a great deal to Varnier's precise, transparent winemaking style, with a light dosage of 3 g/l. This wine captures Avize perfectly to me: beyond the sophisticated and restrained surface there is subdued power and intensity. Completely seamless from the front to the back palate, with grace and nobility throughout. A true Grand Cru. 153 Fi n e V i l l a g e

Agrapart 88p A 50/50 blend from the 2004 and 2005 vintages from all seven villages. Pale lemon-green colour and promising smallsized bubbles. Fragrant and squeaky-clean nose of tropical fruit, green apple, lemon and smoky minerality. Very dry on the lightweight and focused palate. Elegant and somewhat restrained. 87p 90p 91p 86p 88p 88p 88p 85p Agrapart Les 7 Crus Blanc de Blancs NV 2010/2018 Franck Bonville Brut Rosé Grand Cru NV 2009/2015 Pale cherry-red colour. Fruity and round, red berry nose of cherry and strawberry alongside some volatile notes. Mediumbodied and focused on the fresh and dry finish. Franck Bonville Cuvée Prestige NV 2009/2018 Medium-deep light-yellow colour. Smooth and complex nose of ripe apple, nuts, smokiness, toast and volatile notes. Some rusticity in the aromatics but the body is opulent, focused and fresh. 88p Agrapart Terroirs NV 2009/2015 The terroir is a mix of wines from four Grand Cru villages, with equal amounts from the 2003 and 2004 vintage. Pale lemony colour. Delicate, purist green apple and white fruit nose. Smooth vanilla and passionfruit as well as emerging viennoiserie. Intense and pure with a powerful linear structure. Clean and tightly-packed. Franck Bonville Les Belles Voyes NV 2009/2018 Medium-deep lemony-green colour. Straightforward fruity floral elegant nose with wax, wood and honey. Touch of smoky minerality. Tight, lightweight and silky smooth palate with similar aromas to the nose. Limited dosage but still easy to drink. Clean and smooth textured. 90p Agrapart Mineral 2003 2009/2015 This 2003 Mineral demonstrates how Pascal Agrapart can accomplish great wines, even during difficult years, by working on his old vines. Lemony colour. Soft, toasty and creamy white fruit and kiwi nose. A tightly-packed, very dry palate. Nice autolytic influence and long nutty finish. De Saint Gall (Union Champagne) De Saint Gall Brut Tradition Premier Cru NV 2010/2013 Pale-lemony colour. Soft and delicate, fragrant and nuanced confectionary nose. Vegetal notes. The grip is lost on the palate, which is smooth and lacking spine. Medium-length and easy to like. 89p Agrapart Les Demoiselles Brut Rosé NV 2009/2013 Pale-salmon colour. Chalky red fruit on the minerally and creamy nose. Gentle and sweet on the palate, giving a very feminine, seductive impression. Fresh and delicate but there is a strong spine of acidity supporting the body. Medium-long, dry and mineral taste of cherry fruit. Making "blanc de blancs" rosé is a tough task but Agrapart certainly knows the way. Terroirs is the base wine here into which he adds Cumières red wine from René Geoffroy. 154 De Saint Gall Brut Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru NV 2010/2013 Medium-deep lemon colour. Clean and crisp, sweet apple and lemon nose. Light, round and smooth mouthfeel with gentle mousse. Intense fruitiness on the medium-long finish. Appealing and easy to approach. 90p Agrapart Vénus Brut Nature 2002 2009/2020 Pale developing lemony colour. Smooth, creamy and nutty, caramel, green apple and tropical fruit nose. Sharp, highly acidic palate with medium length and a very dry finish. Still young, but approachable nonetheless. The foam is a bit aggressive for the time being and the wine needs some time to achieve perfect integration. De Saint Gall Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru NV 2010/2014 Medium-deep lemon-green colour. A toasty and bready, tropical fruit and apple nose. Toasty finish, medium-bodied on the palate. Long and fairly intense. Franck Bonville 85p Franck Bonville Sélection Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru NV 2009/2013 Medium-deep straw-yellow colour. Restrained and gentle nose of melon, pear, vegetal nuances and flowers. Tight and lightweight palate with some dusty aromatics. Long, minerally and nutty finish. De Saint Gall Brut Rosé NV 2010/2014 Medium-deep cherry-red colour. Bright and fresh red fruit nose with raspberries, strawberries and delicate spiciness. The elegant and lively palate is firm and fresh with a lemony twist and light minerality. Medium-long, dry and fruity finish. De Saint Gall Brut Demi-Sec NV 2010/2013 Pale lemon-green colour. Fresh nose of marshmallow, ripe apple, floral notes and lemon. The medium-sweet palate feels drier and stylish due to the high acidity. The high quality fruit is evident even in this medium-sweet wine. Medium length and a foamy, gentle mousse. 89p Franck Bonville Blanc de Blancs Millésime 2004 2009/2017 Medium-deep youthful-lemon colour. Clean, pure citrus and floral nose with a touch of dustiness. Acidic palate accentuated by an aggressive mousse. Linear and steely, youthful style with smoky minerality. As it is an early launch, time is required to allow it to mellow.

155 90p De Saint Gall Brut Millésime Premier Cru 2004 2010/2018 Medium-deep lemon-yellow colour. The pure and mineral nose is intensely fruity with lemon, white flowers, peach and smoke. Tight and still somewhat restrained on the palate. Fine acidity and elegant, light yet intensely fruity mouthfeel. Medium-long, dry and sophisticated. 92p De Saint Gall Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru NV 2010/2025 Medium-deep lemony colour. Toasty and rich, elegant nose with floral notes, lemon, vanilla and toffee. Powerful and stylish palate with a rich, round mouthfeel. Fresh and focused but pleasantly overt and giving - a real crowd-pleaser. Good intensity and a charming juicy texture on the palate that is finished with a long, pure and mineral length. Delightful today but with a great potential. 90p De Saint Gall Brut Millésime Premier Cru 2004 2010/2018 Medium-deep lemon-yellow colour. The pure and mineral nose is intensely fruity with lemon, white flowers, peach and smoke. Tight and still somewhat restrained on the palate. Fine acidity and elegant, light yet intensely fruity mouthfeel. Medium-long, dry and sophisticated. 90p De Saint Gall Brut Rosé Grand Cru NV 2009/2015 Medium-deep cherry-red colour. Fragrant red fruit nose of strawberry, spice, herbs and undergrowth. Powerful and fruity on the structured palate. Fine acidity and long length. Fi n e V i l l a g e

92p Bright, deep yellow-green colour. Pronounced, fragrant nose of brioche, lemon, white fruit and smokiness. Perfumy and seductive. Razor-sharp on the focused and wonderfully intense palate. Energetic and concentrated with a solid back bone of acidity. Long and lean, dry finish. 90p 92p 88p 90p 87p 87p 91p 90p De Saint Gall Brut Millésime Grand Cru 2002 2009/2020 Jacques Selosse Substance Blanc de Blancs NV 2010/2017 This is a multi-vintage wine made using Avize Chardonnay from two plots. The peculiarity is the solera-system of pre-bottling ageing, which contributes to the developed and oxidative style. Deep-golden colour. Evolved, oxidative nose which is approaching manzanilla sherry. Almonds, dried fruit and honey. Full bodied and vinous on the palate, the taste is very strong and long lasting. A unique wine but not to everybody's taste. 89p De Saint Gall Orpale 1998 2010/2015 Medium-deep lemon colour. Elegant, restrained and clean nose with some lactic toffee notes, apple and earthiness. Powerful and fruity on the palate but not very elegant. There is an elemant of phenolic bitterness on the long and concentrated, dry finish. Peaking soon. Jacques Selosse Contraste Blanc de Noirs NV 2006/2015 Deep-golden colour. An intense and vinous nose of burgundylike cherry-red fruit, spice and dried fruit. Powerful and bold on the muscular palate. Opulent fruit and appealing minerality on the long palate. Here, the vinosity makes the bubbles feel tiny and of secondary importance. It is fascinating how well the master of Côte des Blancs works with Pinot Noir. Perhaps the variety is better suited to Selosse's methods than Chardonnay. 94p De Saint Gall Orpale 1996 Champagne 2010/2010 Glossy golden colour. Open and overwhelmingly toasty nose of mocha, herbs, honey and floral notes. Plenty of layers and phenomenal development in the glass. Bright, exuberant fruit on the intense and powerful palate. Wonderful acidity and near-eternal length. Varnier-Fannière Varnier-Fannière Brut Zero Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru NV 2009/2014 Pale greenish colour. Delicate, clean nose of primary fruits. Pear and ripe apple with gentle autolytic and bready notes. Lovely creaminess on the palate. Mineral and fully dry with exemplary fruit purity shining through. 92p De Saint Gall Orpale 1990 2010/2013 Deep-golden colour. Powerful and distinctly toasty nose, with coffee, cream and undergrowth. Wide, even fat on the palate. Round and very much in balance. A great bottle, which is drinking perfectly just now. Varnier-Fannière Cuvée Jean Vannière Origine NV 2009/2016 Pale lemon-yellow colour. Smooth and gentle ripe apple, vanilla, fudge nose with emerging toastiness. High acidity on the palate, with a tight skeleton but gentle mousse. Very dry on the nutty and almondy finish. 156 91p De Saint Gall Orpale 1985 2010/2010 Intense golden colour with fine, lazy beads. Closed and rather mushroomy once opened and needs some time in the glass to aerate. Only lightly toasty but more on the cigar and bruised apple side. Powerful and very long on the palate. We tried two separate bottles, but they were the same. Showing signs of tiring. Varnier-Fannière Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru NV 2009/2015 Very pale greenish colour. Fresh green apple and pear marmalade nose with lemony hints. Appears very dry when it enters the mouth but the finish has a sweeter feel to it. Light, elegant and pure. Jacques Selosse 90p Jacques Selosse Version Originale Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut NV 2010/2020 Selosse's Extra Brut is blended from the fruit of Avize, Cramant and Oger. The tiny production of 3500 bottles receives a modest 1.5 g/l sweetening dosage. Overt and powerful, the somewhat oaky and oxidative nose carries honey, flor yeast, dough and bruised apple aromas. The mouthfilling structure is firm and fresh. The round and ripe fruit works well with the dryness, leaving a fresh mineral finish. Varnier-Fannière Brut Rosé Grand Cru NV 2009/2015 Pale-pink colour. Delicate, just gently berried nose, more champagne-like toastiness and minerality coming through. Ashes and tartred berries on the fruity and lively palate. A lovely style, balancing in between rosé and blanc styles. Very refreshing and appetising. Varnier-Fannière Cuvée Saint-Denis NV 2009/2020 Glossy greenish-yellow colour. Fragrant, complex and evolving nose of toast, nuts and ripe apple. Lovely intensity and flavour complexity on the energetic palate. Juicy texture and a lovely acidic spine. 90p Jacques Selosse Brut Initiale Blanc de Blancs NV 2010/2015 Avize, Cramant and Oger are the sources of Chardonnay wine for the Initiale cuvee that is a blend of three vintages, then aged in bottle on the lees for three years. Bright-golden colour. Rich, powerful nose of ripe apple, honey, baking spices and coffee. Full, round and almost chewy on the palate, it finishes with a freshness and a very long aftertaste. Varnier-Fannière Grand Vintage Blanc de Blancs 2003 2009/2016 Pale-lemony colour, not too deep as is often seen with this very hot vintage. Rich and ripe, creamy and toasty nose with an abundance of tropical fruit. Round and full-bodied with a medium-long hazelnut finish. A successful wine from this abnormal year.

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Princes Text: Essi Avellan MW · Photography: Michael Boudot Grand Vin des Princes is the eye-catching carafe-shaped prestige cuvée of de Venoge that was produced between the 1961 and 1993 vintages. scarcely known and rarely encountered, this particular bottle and its golden contents is something all champagne lovers should acquaint themselves with. i did a magnificent tasting of the majority of the officially launched vintages with the head of the house, Gilles de la Bassetière, at de Venoge. To complement the series of vintages, i combined the notes from some of my previous encounters with des Princes. Grand des Vin De Venoge 159 Fi n e Ta s t i n g

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Princes during the early golden era of de Venoge in the mid-1850s, Joseph de Venoge managed to lure his wine into the favour of the european princes by arranging champagne and shooting picnics for them. To please the eye of royalty, a special crystal carafe bottle was created for the Vin des Princes in 1864. no bottles of the early cuvée have survived to this day but the legend of Vin des Princes has persisted nonetheless. it was, however, much later when the prestigé cuvee as we currently know it was launched. The story begins in 1961 when champagne des Princes was first made. The first release was a non-vintage but the following examples have been vintage champagnes. The authorities banned the use of the name, as the word champagne was considered unregisterable; de Venoge's solution was to rename it Grand Vin des Princes. Grand Vin des Princes was crafted to fit the emerging blanc de blancs prestige cuvée category pioneered by salon, comtes de champagne and dom ruinart. it is a 100 per cent chardonnay from the Grand crus of côtes des Blancs ­ namely avize, Oger, cramant and chouilly. This voluptuous and velvety champagne of great intensity was produced in 1961 (nV), 1962, 1964, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1992 and 1993. alongside these years, the cellar masters at de Venoge had the habit of vinifying small lots of off-vintages that would never be officially released. Therefore, their impressive library of champagnes contains exceptionally rare vintages, such as 1984 and 1987. recently, they also discovered 20 bottles of 1978 that was never launched. We opened one of those bottles during this tasting. de Venoge might not be one of the bestknown champagne houses, but their cellar masters have certainly been of great pedigree. Today isabelle Tellier, one of the rare female cellar masters, is in charge. Prior to her appointment and between the years 1992 and 1998, the reigns were held by eric Lebel, now famously at Krug. His predecessor, Thierry Gasco, now overseees Pommery's cellar, and is yet another great champagne maker to have worked for de Venoge. it is without doubt that the talent in the cellar has kept the quality of the champagne so high, despite the house changing hands numerous times over the years. Production of Grand Vin des Princes was stopped after the 1993 vintage, when the company developed a new prestige cuvee called Louis XV, which is also sold in a carafe-shaped bottle, albeit a colourless one. Many wine lovers were left longing for this great discontinued cuvée but the current head of operations at de Venoge, Gilles de la Bassetière, has good news for them. next year will witness the rebirth of Grand Vin des Princes, as it will be launched from the 2000 vintage. This time it will, however, be contained within a regular-shaped bottle rather than the carafe. 161 Fi n e Ta s t i n g Grand des Vin Throughout this tasting Grand Vin des Princes revealed its noble heritage. The succulent, opulent yet elegant 1983 was showing beautifully. Other exceptionally good bottles were the 1992, 1985, 1978 and 1976. it was also impressive how well des Princes did when it came to lesser years such as the 1992, which was just delicious. >

92 p Grand Vin des Princes 1993 95 p Grand Vin des Princes 1992 91 p Grand Vin des Princes 1990 na Grand Vin des Princes 1989 2010/­ Unfortunately this 1989 had a slight cork taint. The structure seemed fresh and interesting. 2010/2020 Deep lemon-gold colour. Evolving and opening, slightly nutty nose of toast, apricots, honey and butter. Rich and round, creamy palate with good freshness. Long, balanced taste with a 7 g/l dosage. Disgorged 2006. 2006. 2010/2020 Deep-golden colour. Beautifully nutty and expansively toasty nose with sweet perfumy notes, roasted coffee and flowers. Complex and elegant. Voluptious and powerful palate with mature Chablis-like mineral and straw nuances and a tight acidic backbone. Fresh, lively and intense. One would not have expected such finesse, aromatic complexity and body from a lesser vintage like 1992. 1992. An absolute charmer. Disgorged 1998. 1998. 2010/2015 Very deep-golden colour. Round and rich confectionary nose of burnt sugar, butter, dried fruits and baking spices. Developed and weighty palate with a huge concentration of fruit. The acidity falls second to the massive body, leaving a heavy overall impression. Some notes of over-maturity and a lack of finesse and liveliness. The 8­9 g/l residual sugar also feels higher than necessary. Not showing its best now, allthough, due to the fruit intensity it might still have a second life ahead of it. 93 p Grand Vin des Princes 1985 96 p Grand Vin des Princes 1983 2010/2020 Deep-golden colour with brown hues. Fragrant dried fruit nose with honey, orange marmalade, fudge and light toastiness. Interesting aroma profile with lots of layers. Muscular and round on the palate, which does not however carry all the nuances and depth of the nose. Voluptuous but a bit heavy, lacking freshness and focus. 1991 disgorgement. 2010/2020 Deep-golden colour with browning tones. Subdued nose of soft vanilla notes, coffee, toffee, perfumy and floral aromas. Compact and fresh on the long palate, which had lovely depth. Fine mousse and a lovely balance of fruit and acidity. 162 92 p Grand Vin des Princes 1982 90 p Grand Vin des Princes 1979 93 p Grand Vin des Princes 1978 92 p Grand Vin des Princes 1976 2010/2018 Deep golden colour. Less expressive nose of restrained aromas of coffee, nuts, milk chocolate and a mushroomy whiff. This is usually a great vintage so perhaps there is a tiny cork impact. The palate shows more than the nose. Long, intense and fresh. 2009/2015 Deep golden colour. Developed nose of toast, nuts, caramel and lemon. The focused and fruity palate has a superb, acidic backbone. Linear structure and long, citric finish. Fine with complexity and class. Drinking wonderfully. This was tasted at De Venoge but one year prior to the main tasting. 2010/2015 Medium deep browning colour. Rich and soft evolved nose of coffee, viennoiserie, cream and some mushroomy notes. Long and fresh, concentrated, even chewy palate. 1­2 g/l dosage is enough. Disgorged approximately 6­7 years ago. 2010/2015 Deep gold, browning colour. Beautiful toasty nose of coffee shop, brioche, andhoney with light mushroomy notes. The weighty palate and the crisp acidity seem slightly unintegrated. Not completely balanced but with plenty of fruit left. 1983 disgorgement. 90 p Grand Vin des Princes 1975 87 p Grand Vin des Princes 1973 84 p Grand Vin des Princes 1971 2010/2013 Deep-golden colour with orange hues. Some maderised affect on the roasted nose of woody notes and mushrooms. The wide and rich palate is drying at the finish. Propably a bottle that was not stored perfectly. Bought at a UK auction by De Venoge. 2005/2015 Deep-golden colour with browning hues. Developed stylish nose of toffee, dried fruits and lemony notes. Some dusty nuances alongside the opulent fruit, which deduct from the overall impression. The rich palate is still fruity with fine, small-sized bubbles livening up the palate. High acidity and long length. Tasted in Stockholm in 2005. 2005. 2005/now Developed orange-hued colour. The nuanced nose has toast, milk chocolate and roasted coffee. The palate does not live up to the level of the delicious and promising nose. Some oxidative notes and drying fruit. Perhaps not a perfect bottle. Tasted in Stockholm in 2005. 2005.

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164 Versailles Versailles

165 I Text: Juha Lihtonen Photography: Pekka Nuikki t is the year 1760. The popping of champagne corks echoes down the halls of the Palace of Versailles as the court celebrates just one more ordinary weekday among others, for no particular product. He has just established a new house of champagne ­ what will later be known as Lanson ­ and it is the sixth producer of the trendy sparkling drink from the Champagne region to compete for the court's favour in Versailles. Today there is no competition. Lanson is the only champagne to flow in the galleries of Versailles. Instead of courtiers, the Palace is filled by more than one thousand guests from around the world who are "bathing" in reason. The retinue of Louis XV is not troubled by knowledge of the fact that France is beginning to crumble as a world power, with the British victory over New France in North America. No: the court bathes in champagne in order to drown out any worries from outside of Versailles. Around the same time in Champagne, the young François Delamotte watches in his mind's eye the king bathing in his Lanson to celebrate a day that is not an ordinary day among others. It is Lanson's 250th anniversary, and the scene for the celebrations is nothing less than the Château de Versailles. Fi n e 1 0 0 B e s t

Extra Age Brut champagne. The beautifully lit Orangery with its cathedral-like, highceilinged spaces, combined with the music from a string quintet, create an enthralling atmosphere. Downstairs in the long hall, waiters pour Extra Age Brut from magnum bottles, and an array of delicacies, each more appetising than the next, is on offer at tables decorated with numerous ice sculptures. The ambience is expectant. During the evening, entertainment is provided by nouveau cirque performances ­ dancers inside large bubbles and three-metre-tall dancing angels. A court- 166 The gold-clad palace glimmers luxuriously in the setting sun. At the gilded gates, a queue of guests over one hundred metres long snakes unhurriedly towards the main entrance. At the door, butlers in ceremonious Baroque dress greet the guests and proudly announce each visitor's name to the hosts. They, directors Philippe Baijot and Bruno Paillard of the Lanson Champagne house and of its owner, the Lanson-BCC group, warmly welcome their guests. From the great hall the guests' journey continues to the Versailles Orangery, accompanied by chamber music and Lanson's

167 Essi Avellan MW and Pekka Nuikki The evening leaves behind an unreal, magical feeling. The historical and sumptuous setting of Versailles, coupled with the celebratory mood, which is only heightened by champagne, create an impression of the happily bubbly court of Versailles having been brought back to life after all these centuries. > Vive le Château de Versailles! Vive Lanson! Fi n e 1 0 0 B e s t like feel is contributed by fabulously costumed and made-up actors who playfully jest among themselves and with the guests in traditional Versailles style. A singer accompanied by a grand piano only interrupts her swinging performance for a moment to allow the head of Lanson, Philippe Baijot, to hold his speech. The excited anticipation of the evening is rewarded at 11 p.m. when guests are invited to step out into the gardens surrounding the Orangery to watch the highlight: a fabulous fireworks show, set to music.

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POLO DAY and a Veuve Clicquot, 169 Countryside T exT : Essi Avellan MW P hoTo graPhy : Michael Boudot in The English The king of wines and The game of kings meT aT The VeuVe C liCquoT g old C up p olo aT C owdray p ark , e ngland . fine Champagne magazine joined The 15 000 polo fans in aTTendanCe for a glorious day of ponies and bubbles. Fi n e E v e n t

Clicquot time ThebusstopsinfrontoftheVeuveClicquot VIPareaandweareguidedintotheluxurious quarters, which consists of a large marquee for lunch and afternoon tea, as well as a spacious terrace for watching the match. "Clic, Clic, Clic, says the Veuve Clicquot clock", announces the loudspeaker. And it is indeed Clicquot time; an army of waiters and waitresses dressed in black and orange approach us serving Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label. After half an hour of mingling, the champagne is complemented by delicious appetisers, served by our accommodating hosts.The guests are enjoying themselves, bathinginsunshineandlookingatthestream ofthousandsofspectatorsfillingthestands.I gettogetherwithVeuveClicquot'spresident Stéphane Baschiera and Moët Hennessy UK Managing Director JoThornton, who enlightenmeastoVeuveClicquot's"Season" conceptofsponsoringacollectionofcultural, sportingandsocialevents. "We have developed this programme by creating our own events, such as Veuve ClicquotPoloClassicinManhattanandLos Angeles, and by partnering existing events such as Goodwood Revival, Polo Gold Cup and le Fooding in Paris, New York and Milan,"Baschieracomments. "Oursponsorshipisbynomeansexclusive topolo.Butpoloisastylishandelegantsport, a perfect pairing with Veuve Clicquot," Thorntonadds. 170 n the cloudless, scorching hot Sunday morning of July 18, IboardtheVeuveClicquotbusthatiscarrying invitees to the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup Final, which will decide the winners of the 2010BritishOpenPoloChampionships.The drive down from London to Cowdray Park inWestSussextakesagoodhour,andduring thedrivethetalkamongsttheeagerspectators revolvesaroundtheday'santicipatedmatch.I learnthattheVeuveClicquotGoldCupisone oftheworld'sgreatpolotournaments,which everytopplayerwantstowinatsomepoint intheircareer.Thisyear20teamsenteredthe tournament,whichstartedthreeweeksearlier. Two teams, Lechuza Caracas and Dubai, made it to the final after battling through seven previous rounds. Dubai reaching the finalisgreatnewsforthepolofans,whowill get to see the world's number one player, ArgentineanAdolfoCambiaso,inaction. Theanticipationisstartingtobuildasthe journeyadvancesandweenterthevillageof Midhurst, where Cowdray Park is situated. Conveniently, the old houses in the village arepaintedinapeculiarway,withtheirdoors and window frames shining in "Clicquot yellow" ­ almost as a tribute to the Veuve ClicquotGoldCup. We start to see more orange, or officially egg yolk yellow, when we enter Cowdray Park, which is elegantly adorned with the Veuve Clicquot colour for the tournament. The noble game has been played here at Viscount Cowdray's 16500-acreestateforacentury,andtheclub is widely recognised as the home of British polo. After the rapid growth in popularity of polo in Britain during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the game nearly died outduringtheSecondWorldWar.However, ViscountJohnCowdraywasabletoholdon toadozenponiesandhethenopen-handedly lentthemtootherstorevivethesportafterthe war.Todayhisson,the4thViscountMichael Cowdray, keeps up the tradition of worldclass polo in the country. The Cowdrays are supported in their endeavour by Veuve Clicquot,whohassponsoredtheCupfor16 years,enablingsuchalarge-scaleandfirst-rate eventtobeorganised.

"Our sponsorship is by no means exclusive to polo. But polo is a stylish and elegant sport, a perfect pairing with Veuve Clicquot," StéphaneBaschiera 171 Fi n e E v e n t

The team is extremely hungry for success, as it lost here in the final last year. 172

Cambiaso appears concentrated, withdrawn and serious, even hostile. After the relaxing aperitif we are invited for a champagne lunch inside the marquee. Halfway through the delicious dessert, the crowd's cheering breaks our conversation. I realise the teams have entered the field for theirwarm-upandIquicklyfinishmylunch. Irushtowardstheendofthefieldwherethe teams'areasaresituated. Action time The smell of horses and testosterone adds to the excited atmosphere that continues to build. The busy grooms are managing the ponies and the players have returned to their marquees before the beginningofthegame.Inpolo,everyplayer has a handicap between -2 and 10, with thelatterbeingthebest.LechuzaCaracasis playingatacombinedhandicapof22,with VictorVargasplayingatthefrontwithaone goalhandicap,followedbyGuillermo`Sapo' Caset (8 goals), Miguel Novillo Astrada (9 goals)andfinallyMaxRoutledge(4goals)at theback. Dubaiistoday'sfavourite,though.Theteam isextremelyhungryforsuccess,asitlosthere inthefinallastyeartotheArgentineLaBamba One of Caracas' ponies is called Champagne, which I think is a good omen for the team. deAreco.The23-handicapteamcomprisesof RashidAlbwardy(1goal),FranciscoVismara (3goals),PabloMacDonough(9goals)and AdolfoCambiaso(10goals). I follow curiously the routines and behaviourofAdolfoCambiaso.Heisoneof therarehandicap10players,butevenwhento comparedtothem,heseemstobeinadifferent league. Looking at him now, he appears concentrated, withdrawn and serious, even hostile. I am sure he needs to be unapproachable, as everybody would to love to getapieceofhim. The people in the know say Cambiaso is able to get more out of the ponies than anybody else, and this is essential at this level, as it is a certainty that the ponies make a huge difference. Cambiaso's ponies are some of the most expensiveanddesiredintheworld,trading hands at 15 000 ­ 110 000 euros. When taken into account that every player needs six ponies for each match, one can start to understandwhypoloisexpensiveandlargely consideredanelitistsport. I notice one of Caracas' ponies is called Champagne,whichIthinkisagoodomenfor theteam.Itisactiontime,andIneedtohead backtothestandtofollowthematch. Game on The umpire throws the opening ball the moment I reach the stand.The game starts offatfullspeed,impressingmeinstantlywith itspower,speedandskill.Thefastandagile ponies seem to merge into one with their riders, whose handling of the animals looks admirablyeffortless. Lechuza Caracas has one goal on the scoreboardatthebeginningofthematch,in ordertolevelthegameastheyhavealower combinedhandicap.Dubaitakestheinitiative quitequicklyandscoresthefirstgoal,which 173 Fi n e E v e n t

The hisTory of polo dates back to at least the 5th century BC. In ancient Persia polo was a training sport for cavalry units. Played by as many as 100 men a side, it literally resembled a battle of war. The modern game of polo was formalised by the British in India, where the first polo club was founded in 1834. It was also the British settlers who took the sport to Argentina in the late 19th century. The sport grew quickly amongst the gauchos and Argentina soon became the country breeding both the best ponies and the best players. Today Argentina is known as the Mecca of Polo, and the Argentine Polo Open is by far the game's most valued tournament. 174 issoonlevelledbyagoalfromLechuza.Goals fromCambiasoandMacDonoughputDubai ahead4­2attheendofthefirstchukka,or seven-minuteperiod.ByhalftimeDubaiare ahead8­5. At halftime, the spectators get a chance to stretch their limbs and enter the field to replace the divots by stamping them back intotheground.Whileweparticipateinthis way,theplayerstakeadeservedbreakandget preparedforthesecondhalfofthegame. The halftime break was certainly useful for Lechuza Caracas, who enters the field withanew-foundstrengthandtheyquickly levelthegame.Dubaiseemedtohavealready takenvictoryforgranted,butLechuza'sspurt awakesAdolfoCambiasointodisplayinghis fullcapabilities.Foramomentitisaone-man show. Goals follow, and in the last chukka Dubaiisleading14­10.Thencomesthefinal pushfromLechuza,yieldingthemtwomore goals. However, Dubai resists and the game finishes14­12.

Dubai seemed to have already taken victory for granted, but Lechuza's spurt awakes Adolfo Cambiaso into displaying his full capabilities. 175 Fi n e E v e n t AdolfoCambiaso

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It is celebration time. Stéphane Baschiera hands the coveted Gold Cup to Rashid Albwardy, son of the Dubai team's patron. JoThorntonrewardshimwithaSalmanazar ofVeuveClicquotYellowLabel. The rest of the prizes go to one man, AdolfoCambiaso,whoisawardedtheMost Valuable Player prize. His nine goals today alsomakehimthehighestscorerintheBritish OpenTournament,andMoëtHennessyUK marketingdirectorElsaCorbineauhandshim the beautiful yellow Veuve Clicquot saddle 177 Fi n e E v e n t The Gold Cup trades hands designed by Nigel Coates. On behalf of the Cowdray family, the Hon Emily Pearson presents a rug for the Best Playing Pony of the match, Dolfina Caridad, which is also ownedbyCambiaso. The ceremonies on the field take a good half hour, during which I get to exchange some words with Pablo McDonough, a seeminglyhappywinningplayer. "It was a good match, high in goals. Iscoredfourmyself.Itisgreattoreturnasa winnerafterlastyear'sdefeat." I leave the players to celebrate and head insidethemarqueeforatoastofchampagne, servedtogetherwithafternoontea.Iruninto Stéphane Basciera, who is happy about the event'ssuccess. "Ibelievewehadaverygoodturnout,and theweatherwaswithus.ViscountCowdray knowshowtowelcomepeopleandmakeus feel at home. And I believe Veuve Clicquot knows how to host guests and set out the perfect day, to enjoy what I am told is the mostprestigiouspolotournament." I could not agree more. It has been a gloriousday.>

PabloMcDonough Basic rules of polo By cowdray park polo cluB PlAyers HAndICAP each player is given a handicap level from -2 to 10 goals depending on his ability. The lowest handicap is -2, with 10 being the highest possible. A team's rating is calculated by adding together the 4 players' handicaps. THe TeAM Positions are no 1 and no 2 who are the forwards, no 3 the pivot position, usually the best player in the team, and no 4, or Back, the goal defender. GrOunds The maximum permitted pitch is 300 yards long and 160 yards wide. The goal posts are 8 yards apart. durATIOn Of PlAy The match is divided into chukkas, each lasting 7 minutes. The interval between each chukka is 3 minutes to permit change of ponies. At half time the interval is extended to 5 minutes. The bell is rung at the end of each 7 minutes period. Play continues after the bell rings until the ball goes out of play, or the umpire stops play for a foul, or the bell is rung for a second time 30 seconds after the first bell. In the final chukka play stops with the first stroke of the bell. CHAnGInG ends ends are changed after each goal scored, or at half time if no score by then. fIeld rules right of Way ­ during play there is an imaginary "line of ball", which is generally the direction in which the ball is travelling at any one moment. When a player has established the right of way along that line, it may not be crossed by an opposing player, if there is the slightest risk of collision. Crossing ­ Any player who crosses the player in the right of way close enough to be dangerous or cause a player to slow up, commits a foul. riding Off ­ riding off is the term used to describe the action of one player trying to take control of the ball by pushing a member of the opposing team off his chosen course, whether the other man is playing the ball or not. But it must not be done by charging in at a dangerous angle, nor must the man in possession of the ball be crossed. Hooking sticks ­ A player may hook an opponent's stick provided he is in the same side of the opponent as the ball, or directly behind him, and provided the stick is below the level of the opponents shoulder. Players must not attempt to hook an opponent in front of the pony's legs. uMPIres There are two mounted umpires and a third man or referee in the stands acts as an arbitrator if the umpires disagree. The goal judges behind each goal wave a flag when a goal is scored. The timekeeper and scorer keep track of the timings of the match and sound the bell or hooter at the end of each chukka. PenAlTIes different types of penalties are awarded depending of the nature of the foul. 30 and 40 yard ­ shot at an open goal, the attackers have to be level with the ball when hit or hit at. defenders have to be behind the back line. 60 yard ­ none of the defending team to be nearer than 30 yards. free hit ­ from the spot where the foul occurred, with none of the defending team to be nearer than 30 yards. from the centre of the ground, none of the defending side can be nearer than 30 yards. This is awarded at the discretion of the umpires. If the ball has gone over the back line, but not through the goal, then the defending team hit it back into play at the point where it crossed the line. The attacking team must be 30 yards away. 178

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The Great Dozen ha mp agne Ve u v e C q lic ot u It is always a delight to taste the great wines of the Veuve Clicquot Champagne House. So it was that those invited were only too pleased to make their way to Restaurant Margaux in Berlin to sample the highlights and allow themselves to be enchanted. All bottles came from the private cellar of Veuve Clicquot in Reims. The beginning was marked by the first tasting `flight' of three rosé champagnes followed by three further flights. Both rosés from the 1980s were the subject of intense dinner table discussion: the 1988 La Grande Dame was highly regarded by many, while others admired the 1989 Cave Privée. Under flight number two, the 1988 Veuve Clicquot Vintage Rich was shown twice in two different glasses and thus the variable condition of the two bottles was accorded recognition. Both possessed their own beauty, although only the one deemed more complex appears in our tasting notes. The chef, Michael Hoffmann, was well aware that fine champagne and a solid meal never exclude one another and ­ to the satisfaction of the assembled guests ­ served a tasty Hungarian Goulash with Sauerkraut. 181 Photography: GuiDo BiTTner Fine Tasting C

The Great Dozen ha mp agne l eC Ve u v qu ic 182 Tasting notes: Till Ehrlich <»{ ChampagneRosé }«> Champagne Rosé First Flight 1988 La Grande Dame rosé r 1998 La Grande Dame rosé r 92p 93p A fine, fresh rosé champagne down to the very last detail. Fine mousse and delicate salmon-pink. Playful, animating and fresh aromatic composition. On the palate, the lively freshness of the wine is a surprise, unexpectedly disclosing an almost hard-hitting intensity. A charming interplay that successfully integrates the notes of ripeness while evincing depth of flavour. Its finale on the palate is lengthy and coherent. A steady stream of fine bubbles. Intensive, shining garnet red and subtle shaded frothiness with hints of wild strawberries. It is also possible to trace acerbic tones in the background. On the palate, the Grande Dame reveals itself as tender yet solid at the same time. The wonderful fruit aromas are reminiscent of freshly picked raspberries and unfold with generosity and refinement. The freshness thereby seems striking and perky; in the finish it dissolves with esprit. <»{ Champagne }«> Second Flight 1989 Veuve Clicquot Cave Privée rosé r 90p 1998 La Grande Dame ot Fine mousse, apparent and plush, glimmering, light tone of salmon, which merges into a fine coppery red. The richness of the multifaceted bouquet is characterised by its ripeness. On the palate, a very fine fruit aroma unfolds which counters the ripeness. In the finish the fruit notes seem particularly fragile and delicate, so that acidity and acerbic notes make their presence felt. C 92p Fine bubbles and a delicate golden-yellow colour. Lively, intense nose with aromas that bring to mind ripe ­ but not overripe ­ fruits. On the palate, it achieves balance between substance and elegance, giving rise to an impression of finesse and light-footedness. Delicate fruit tanginess with a fresh, luscious character. Long finale.

1995 La Grande Dame Magnum 93p 1990 La Grande Dame Jéroboam 96p Bright, beryl-like yellow and fine beads. Fascinating aroma of plentiful fresh fruit reminiscent of cherry plums. A sense of fullness, density and melting effect on the palate. An immediate, intense flavour of yellow fruit unfolds, with a distinct acidity balanced its turn by a prominent fruit sweetness. In the extended finale it is possible to trace mineral tones; there is a delicate tanginess and a sweet tone which characterises the wine's vinous and vivid quality. Luminous yellow-topaz with golden lustre. Rich bouquet with depth and intensity; the unfolding, wonderful and diversified aromas remind one of roasted almonds but also dew-covered cherry plums and yellow apples. On the palate, too, the wine is fascinating from the very first moment, beginning with a marvellous lushness, which is fed by a waft of sweetness and vital acidity. The acidity makes a wild, apple-like and intense impression ­ yet the overall picture is harmonious. When it comes to style, its own indomitable taste finds expression in its directness, without losing any harmony. Long finale. The rich bouquet offers glorious freshness and distinctive fruit, with aromas recalling the spicy and bittersweet nuances of wild mountain flowers. On the palate, a very striking entrance of complex fruit, which seems to be well-structured. Herein is revealed a very present acidity. In the finale, a predominance of appetising, delicately bitter notes. 1988 La Grande Dame 96p Fine mousse and colour density remind one of gold topaz. An expressive, agreeable aroma with genuine depth in which diverse yellow fruit aromas and intense freshness can be discerned. On the palate, a real fullness that is neither coarse nor superficial, but which remains always light-footed, retaining the wildness and immediacy of acidity and body in balance. In the finale, a charmingly balanced lushness emerges, endures and only hesitantly departs from the palate. 183 Third Flight 1990 Veuve Clicquot Cave Privée 93p 1988 Veuve Clicquot Vintage rich 88p The nose has a muted hint of maturity, suggestive of the vintage. Balsamic notes, lovage (a Mediterranean perennial plant) and a floral component with violet ­ together with the ripe fruit ­ result in a complex structure that is densely interwoven. Intense development in the mouth; the tannins present are dressed in satin. Subtle gold topaz reflections and an expressive bouquet with ripe, appleharvest tones. On the palate, ample mellifluousness and sweet fruit flavour with marked lushness and density. In the process, a dynamic interplay between sweetness and acidity unfolds. The fruit sweetness seems slightly exaggerated, yet there is sufficient balance, which is also expressed in the finale. 1990 Veuve Clicquot Vintage 95 p 1980 Veuve Clicquot Cave Privée 90p Fine mousse and a bright, topaz-yellow colour. Delicious, complex aromas that evoke sponge cake, ripe autumn apples and cherry plums. Rich on the palate, the fullness of flavour reveals lightness and precision. The texture is thick yet lacks heaviness. A finely balanced acidity and off-dry sweetness. Enduring length. A vintage borne from cold and damp weather conditions. Therefore, it is all the more surprising to find this an honest champagne, brisk and stringent in style, with its own special charms. Straw-yellow with golden lustre. Elegant, subtle aromatic composition with both mineral, sweet and piquant herbal notes. Fresh and perky. Vigorous and distinct on the palate: collected juiciness of a firm, slightly stringent type. Good finale, with pleasant bittersweet citrus tones also present. > Fine Tasting 1995 Veuve Clicquot Vintage Magnum 89p Fourth Flight

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Breguet of Timepieces - The Mona Lisa 186 Text: Pekka Nuikki assuredly. It read precisely seven o'clock. It was absolutely quiet, even though the thick morning mist on the plain of Waterloo concealed an army of tens of thousands N apoleon slid his gold pocket watch out of his pocket and looked at it of men and their mounts. It would soon be time. Napoleon waited a while longer, until the metallic blue hands of his Breguet read 7:21am. The order for the attack was given! Fifty-three years later on 8 August 1868, at 4:20pm, Baron James Mayer de Rothschild signed a deed of sale, which granted him ownership of the Château Lafite vineyard for a price of 4.4 million francs. The vineyards became known as Château Lafite-Rothschild. Precisely sixty-nine years after this, Ettore Bugatti stood on the shoulder of the LeMans circuit and clocked the fastest lap of his Bugatti Type 57G at 5:13 flat. Eight years afterwards, Sir Winston Churchill lit his first cigar on the first day of the Yalta Conference and looked at his watch: the metallic blue hands read 8:55am. It was the morning of 5 February 1945. Five minutes later, negotiations with Joseph Stalin and Franklin D. Roosevelt that would decide the fate of post-war Europe would resume. Churchill rose slowly from his chair, slipped his Breguet No 765 watch into his pocket and readied himself for a very positive outcome.

187 Napoleon lost his battle, the Baron got his name into the annals of wine history, Bugatti took LeMans twice and the formation of the UN was agreed upon at Yalta. These historic events and great men have one thing in common ­Breguet ­ Fi n e L i f e s t y l e

188 Breguet ­ the first brand-name product Time has been measured throughout human history. It was crucial to possess knowledge of the seasons, sowing and harvest times and celebrations, which were determined by the positions of the sun, moon and stars. Even though time has always played a central role in human reality, it was not until the broader proliferation of clocks that it also became part of our practical reality. Abraham-Louis Breguet, who quite literally put time in our hands, was born in Switzerland in 1747. When he began his apprenticeship as a watchmaker at the tender age of 15, he moved to Versailles in France. Twelve years later, Breguet founded his own company on the Île de la Cité in Paris. This marked the beginning of Breguet's illustrious career, which was embellished with a host of inventions and royal clients. admired. Indeed, the most famous Breguet watch of all was named after the Queen. The fascinating story of the Breguet No 160 watch, also known as the "Marie Antoinette", begins one night in 1783. Abraham-Louis Breguet awoke to a loud banging at his door. He opened it to find a young officer purportedly sent by one of Marie Antoinette's lovers, who wanted to commission Breguet to make the finest watch ever known, no matter how much it would cost or how long it would take to produce. The watch was to be made of nothing but the finest, most precious materials and contain all the known complications of the time, such as a perpetual calendar which adjusted for leap years, an equation of time, a minute repeater that chimed out the minutes and even a thermometer. Breguet began work on the watch immediately, but the challenge proved to be more demanding than anyone had anticipated. Breguet's No 160 watch was eventually finished some 44 years later, four years after the death of Breguet himself. The ill-fated Queen never lived to see the finished product either, as she was sentenced to death for treason by a revolutionary tribunal in 1793. The watch was initially entrusted to the Breguet family, after which it changed hands only a few times over two centuries, finally ending up at the L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem. In 1983, there was a break-in at the museum and the watch was stolen. Its current whereabouts are unknown. The Leonardo of watchmakers Clocks have evolved a great deal from the first time humans planted a stick in the earth to follow the traverse of the sun. When examining the relatively short 500-year-long history of crafting timepieces, one watchmaker rises above the rest. Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747­1823) is a veritable renaissance man of the watchmaking world and arguably the finest watchmaker to have ever lived. In addition to being a technically gifted and inventive watchmaker, he can also be considered a designer and marketer far ahead of his time. The direction of style in which a watch's hands, numbering and intricate engravings demonstrate the sophisticated sense of form of its designer still bears Breguet's signature. A headless queen and a 10,000,000 euro watch Breguet's watches were among the most sought-after brand-name products of their time. European courtiers as well as diplomats, scientists and artists formed his regular and extremely well-paying clientele. The Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, was one of his most famous and loyal customers. The young and beautiful Marie Antoinette, one of the brightest stars in the royal constellation of the time, inspired both adoration and disapproval in aristocratic circles by serving as a model for the Breguet watches she so

189 Hand-wound Breguet 3091 Classique "Grande Complication" with tourbillon. Price (in yellow gold): approx. 87 000 euros. Fi n e L i f e s t y l e

190 Breguet "Reine de Naples". Price (in white gold): approx. 197 000 euros.

First wristwatch Perhaps the most famous Breguet invention was his tourbillon. The tourbillon is a watch escapement in which the balance spring, escapement wheel and pallet fork make a complete rotation every minute. A tourbillon corrects the rate error caused by the movements of an ordinary balance spring and the watch user. Today, only the most expensive creations of the most prestigious watchmakers employ the tourbillon, whose construction is considered the pinnacle of watchmaking skill. Breguet's shop was also the birthplace of the wristwatch. It took two and a half years to make the Breguet No 2636 wristwatch before it could be delivered to its commissioner on 10 June 1810. Its perfect movement consisted of such complications as a repeater. A repeater is a complex striking work, which chimes out the time when a button is pressed on the left side of the watch. The striking work first marks whole hours, then quarter hours and finally, possibly, the remaining minutes. This makes it possible for the wearer to know what time it is, even in pitch darkness. The watch was ordered by Napoleon's sister Caroline, the erstwhile Queen of Naples. 191 Sympathetic clock One of Breguet's most ingenious and yet most "unnecessary" inventions was a so-called watch stand. The basic idea behind a watch stand, which was part of a table clock, was to wind a pocket watch, set the right time, and place it on the stand for the night. The invention was dubbed the "Sympathetique". Its production proved to be extremely expensive and time-consuming, and Breguet only managed to make five Sympathetique clocks during his lifetime. Breguet's idealistic inventor persona is aptly illustrated by the fact that it was he himself who developed a movement that regulated the time kept by a pocket watch, even though in reality his pocket watches were so accurate that there was no need to constantly reset them. With Sympathetique clocks it was hardly a matter of fulfilling a real need; rather, it served more as a demonstration of Breguet's overwhelming technical skill as well as a marketing tool. Indeed, all five of Breguet's Sympathetique clocks were commissioned by kings. Fi n e L i f e s t y l e

Hand-wound Breguet 3988 Classique "Grande Complication" with double tourbillon. Price: approx. 305 000 euros. 192 The timepiece of kings After the death of Breguet, the company continued making watches, first under his son, Antoine-Louis Breguet, and then his grandson, Louis Breguet, beginning in 1833. The House of Breguet produced hand-made watches at a rate of approximately two hundred a year for such clients as Selim III, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, King George III of England, Louis XVIII, King of France, Fuad I of Egypt and Tsar Alexander I of Russia. Starting at 10,000 euros Breguet is still one of the most prestigious watchmakers, if not the most prestigious. Only Patek Philippe has a history and reputation nearly as glorious. Breguet still manufactures its watches by hand, and its production volume is only a fraction of other watchmakers, such as Rolex. Breguet watches are considered truly luxury items, with prices starting at 10 000 euros and ranging all the way up to 200 000 euros for Tourbillon watches. The buyer of a Breguet will have his or her name immortalised in the corporate records alongside other Breguet clients, such as Napoleon and Alexander I. The author has been an aficionado of timepieces longer than a taster of wines. His specific area of interest encompasses wristwatches, and pocket watches converted to wristwatches, from the late 19th century and early 20th century. He is especially fond of rattrapantes and repeaters, and is also the proud owner of three Breguet watches.

"Had I not set up a Champagne House, there's one thing I am sure of; I would never have made it as a great painter because I'm just not sure I'm talented in that way. I would, however, have liked to own a gallery. I chose another path and today I'm a contented amateur who, every now and then, catches a glimpse of something that moves me profoundly." Bruno Paillard David Russel Vintages in Two Words Nearly twenty years ago I encountered two particular words ­ Colour and Prosperity. I had just acquired a case of vintage champagne in magnum bottles from a producer unfamiliar 1975 Vintage assemblage, Gouache to me at an auction. The reason for my acquisition was not the contents, but the enchanting appearance of the bottles themselves. On the large labels, mellowed with time, the two words came together in a way that fascinated me. While the champagne was excellent, the atmosphere of that painting, still haunts my memory. 194 Colour and Prosperity A TumulTuous & warm Today Champagne Bruno Paillard only releases vintage champagnes in what they consider to be exceptional years. The current offering is the Bruno Paillard Brut Assemblage 1999. Another rare characteristic of the Assemblage is the label; each vintage has an individually designed label, designed

Text and artwork from Jean-Marie Pinçon's book Champagne in Art (Thalia Edition) Forewords by Pekka Nuikki A by a contemporary artist. Paillard wanted to add even more personality to his vintages and express their nature on the bottle labels, stepping beyond the rather sterile information that must be included by law. Each bottle carries a graphically designed message and once vintage is finally ready for drinking, the theme is selected. Paillard picks two words to describe the champagne and then asks the artist to create a label that reflects the words. French artist Didier Paquignon was asked to create the 1999 label, using the words tumultuous and warm ­ the outcome is a unique collection of varied works of art. Each painting has its own story, which expresses the main characters of the vintage in a distinctive way. Today the collection counts some sixteen paintings, the majority of which were created around two words. However, the three exception came in the years 1969 (Complexity), 1981 (Exuberance) and 1985 (Time), when just one word was deemed enough. 195 Bruno Paillard Bruno Paillard, the man who created the champagne, established his own Champagne House in 1981 at the age of 27. He had to sell everything he owned, including his precious vintage Jaguar MK2, in order to generate the initial capital for the project. Nowadays, he is a highly respected figure in Champagne. In addition to running his own successful Champagne House, he is also the chairman and visionary behind the region's second largest champagne group, the Lanson-BCC (Boizel Chanoine Champagne), which has seven champagne houses in its portfolio. Fi n e G a l l e r y

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Assadour Assadour was born in Beirut (Lebanon) in 1943. He studied at the Pietro Vannucci Academy in Perugia and then at the Ecole Nationale supérieure de Paris (Atelier Coutaud) from 1964 to 1970. He has been a member of the French Society of Painters and Engravers since 1975 and has exhibited his works all over the world since 1968. As a renowned engraver, the passage to watercolour and later to painting appealed to him. Whatever the technique used, his creations verge on surrealism. As in this gouache, there are often imaginary flat planes in his works in which any number of objects are suspended, suggested by detailed geometric forms. When Bruno Paillard had just started his Maison, in the early 1980's, he had the opportunity to discover and purchase a batch of several thousand bottles of this great vintage. The wine had already aged some fifteen years before being placed onto the market, at a time when "no-one was interested in the evolution of Champagnes". Emerged as its defining characteristic and stood out as the obvious theme to be transmitted to Assadour. The artist interpreted this dominant trait to perfection: his abstract approach (gouache, watercolour, drawing) corresponds to that year's wine. 197 Willingly, Assadour exploited geometric figures making onlookers delve into a multitude of patterns, sometimes pyramids or lines similar to the Nazca geoglyphs from Peru or, again, the mound builders from the United States. The desert, also present, is represented by yellow spanning to brown, through reds and ochres. Silhouettes, an eye, outlines, a horizon; these are all graphic expressions of this complexity interpreted by the painter. Complexity 1969 Vintage assemblage, Gouache Fi n e G a l l e r y

198 Toni Casalonga Toni Casalonga, Corsican painter, lives and works in Pigna on the island where he was born in 1938. He gained a classical background at the Ecole nationale supérieure de Beaux Arts in Paris and the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma amongst other prestigious learning grounds. His paintings have been exhibited in many European cities but he is also the designer behind many theatre and television sets. Eclectic in his taste, he also enjoys sculpture. His monumental sculptures can be seen both in churches and at the bow of a cargo ship. This painting ­ similar to lacework ­ could be entitled "Dancing Bubbles" because movement just bursts out of the canvas. Joyful young girls perform a sensual farandole in front of a bunch of grapes, with berries escaping as bubbles. The superposed golds and ochres recall the colour of aged Champagnes. This is an unambiguous image

199 Fiesta - Feminine 1974 Vintage Blanc de Blancs, Gouache of the Champagne myth with joy and dancing; in other words: fiesta time. Essentially feminine, it goes with the preconceived idea we have about "blanc de blancs": a glass of Champagne viewed from above with a sort of bubbling effervescence. The focus makes it light, fine-featured, elegant, tingling with life. As weightless as mousse and carefree, this is Champagne's eternal nature. There's nothing existential here, it's simply downto-earth thinking around existence. Fi n e G a l l e r y

200 Nissan Engel Nissan Engel was born in Haifa (Israel) in 1931. He studied at the School of Fine Arts in Jerusalem and then settled in Paris in the 1950s. His exhibition at the Galerie Weil in 1960 was a milestone for making his name known. He then emigrated for a time to New York and his larlely graphic works stood out by his approach to colour. It's not easy to classify his art into a category. One of his passions in life is music; he is free-thinking and doesn't belong to a particular school of thought. He is a painter and engraver and has a particular penchant for using collage techniques. His ultimate goal is to reach a state of equilibrium and harmony. Today, Nissan Engel shares his time between Paris and Normandie. Here, we're talking about a Champagne that has been produced using pinot noir grapes from Mailly alone, a superb grand cru. Golden in colour, its density sparks off images of dark fruits and walnuts. It's a relatively powerful wine. With age, pinot wines evolve, first rendering red berries notes, then

201 Strength ­ Richness darker berries and finally expressing crystallized fruit. Strength and richness is what Nissan Engel took on board and transcribed in this magnificent piece, somewhere between figurative and abstract work with its superposed framed transparencies. Effectively, this canvas owes its profound depth to the overlapping collages, opening out onto a 1973 Vintage Blanc de Noirs, Oil and collage on canvas true perspective. It could possibly represent the countryside around the Champagne area lit up by a powerful and dominant solar disk, imposing in egg yolk yellow, expressing strength. Quasicentral to the work, the disk lights up a mosaic earth blossoming with imaginary fragrances; all of a sudden, the elegance of its richness and its mineral character become within reach. Spicy, citrus and crystallized fruit aromas explode out from a primitive patchwork of stylized fields and vineyards. The complexity of this wine is enhanced in this rendering. The richness in no way masks the softness; these nuances are present both in the canvas and in the wine. Fi n e G a l l e r y

202 David Russell David Russell was born in London in 1927. Fascinated by the secrets within erotic art and inspired by Italy (he spent twenty years in Florence), he is also known as a fine sculptor. He has also written and illustrated an erotic work "Sophie's dream book" about female fantasies. Somewhere between a pastoral evocation and naive naturalism, this painting could well represent paradise according to David Russell. A young man is embracing a woman as they are surrounded by cherrubs, symbols of this new Eden, the Hesperides. In the background there is the hunter in a pillared pavilion. Is he Heracles' double seeking to steal the legendary golden apples? This time round, he'll have to choose between the apple and the grape because the climbing vine has found its way into the garden. Unaware, Champagne glass in hand, the couple is offering a toast to love. Should

203 Colour ­ Prosperity Vintage 1975 Blanc de Blancs, Gouache one see the light chardonnay as a feminine grape variety, elegant, fine and vivacious, and the pinot noir as a masculine variety, both full and round? In any event, the wine from this vintage was rich and fleshy. Beyond a certain underlying eroticism (the heavy lidded, sensuality of the woman), it is a painting that evokes life's pleasures. There is prosperity and abundance. Visibly, the reference to Champagne is quite direct. What if, as is suggested to the spectator, this lost paradise were a metaphor about Champagne that has to be destroyed to be enjoyed? Fi n e G a l l e r y

204 Christine Burdin Christine Burdin, born in 1946, lives in Provence. As an art history graduate she began by studying a classical curriculum. But she then went on to become an assistant producer in the movie and TV industry for ten years and afterwards set up CB Design (a design, packaging and multimedia house). She is also a successful painter, engraver Advertising graphics and the creation of furniture and sculptor with exhibitions in Paris, Rome, are not too different and, recently, she discovered Geneva, Lausanne, Zurich and Japan. Graphic a new centre of interest, the digital photograph. design for advertising and furniture design also appeal to her and she has recently discovered a new passion for digital camera photography.

205 Exuberance When Bruno Paillard set up his Champagne house in 1981, he could finally create his blends himself. Today he continues to distinguish vintage Champagnes by a label reproducing an artist's paintings 1981 was a year with a small harvest; the pinot noir grapes seemed finer than the chardonnays. Bruno Paillard selected a quantity of grapes and set aside part of the "moûts" (unfermented grape juice) from these pinot noir grapes with this idea at the back of his mind that : "maybe I'll make a `blanc de noirs' in the footsteps of the 1973." As a theme, he chose "Exuberance" precisely because this pinot noir dominant wine was reminiscent of 1973's "Strength and Richness". It was stronger and richer; in other words, exuberant! Words to describe its true characteristics include over-matured, very strong expression, mineral and strong fruitiness. The artist conjured up a sarabande. Bright colours bounce off the black background accentuating the torrid atmosphere of the fiesta. Vintage 1981 Blanc de Noirs, Oil on canvas There is an asexual Bacchus whose face is not unlike the Smiling Angel from the Reims Cathedral. The famous watchful and angelic smile has made way for a cheekier one. The angel has lost its wings but gained ram's horns. Altogether it's more akin to a fauna than a mythological god. Far from any connection with vines from Champagne, the grapes in the painting exist firstly for their symbolic worth but also as the indispensable attribute to animated bacchanalia. The movement gives off a powerful impression. One could qualify the painting as violent both for its brushstrokes and its colours. Full of contrast to the point of almost being brutal, it is the opposite of a decorative painting. The beauty of the osmosis between the artist and the Champagne were the basis for the illustration of this wine with its strong personality. It opens the way to multiple interpretations. Fi n e G a l l e r y

206 Benoît Marq Born into a family of reputable master glassmakers from Reims, Benoît Marq is the son of Charles Marq and Brigitte Simon, both recognized painters, and from the outset he was brought up in an artistic environment rich with characters like Chagall or Vieira da Silva, to mention but two. Master glassmaker, he has also become a painter. His works of art are the living proof of the need for lightness of being and transparency and are true to his work on light and crystallography. The 1989 vintage may have lacked a little acidity but was more supple and fuller. Hence the theme. Great success for this wine which, as time did tell, aged extremely well. Its length of life was greatly appreciated by Champagne connoisseurs who are ever on the lookout for it. When examining Benoît Marq's painting, the first word that comes to mind is transparency. Here, one can

207 Ampleness and Suppleness ask if the theme is well suited to the work of art. Certainly, for part of it. Yes, for the depth found in the imposing emerging mineral-like forms in the foreground. However, present in a more subtle manner, suppleness is symbolized by the suggested flight of a bird that the spectator can imagine in the sky. Behind the painting, the influence of the master glassmaker is palpable. This painting has a soul and no doubt it owes its luminosity to the fact that the artist is a frequent visitor to cathedrals. Vintage 1989 assemblage, Watercolour Fi n e G a l l e r y

208 Sandro Chia Born in 1946 in Florence, Italy, Sandro Chia studied at the Arts Academy in his home town. As a young graduate in 1969, he set off to travel the world for a year before settling in Rome and later in New York in 1981. This artist, who finds his inspiration in mythology, in Romanticism as well as in the Renaissance period, enjoys painting man "in his most carnal representation" and is partial to heavily endowed bodies. Willingly, he accentuates the robust side to better highlight the face. In 1990, he painted Le Couple aux Raisins (The Couple with the Grapes) as part of the advertising Depth campaign for the Bordeaux wine, Château LynchBages. With Depth, he encountered another wine, another vineyard, but this time the theme was devoid of anything linked to grapes. "I like the way he has represented this theme because the density of this particular wine is huge, not to mention its remarkable depth." Bruno Paillard's antennae have detected, in this vintage, the promise of a wine that will open out fully as well as exceptional potential for expression. For sure, it will take its time to come out with what it has to say, but it will be well worth the wait. Vintage 1996 Blanc de Blancs, Pastel and gouache on paper So, Sandro Chia has illustrated this notion of depth by a sort of spiral. Its very appeal, which sometimes verges on fright, is counterbalanced here by a feeling of serenity that we can almost touch as onlookers. The woman's attitude with her cumbersome body ­ which the artist enjoys creating - transmits this "serene depth" well. Deep blue as the dominant colour is balanced by the warming effect of the red working to eliminate any impression of cold that is so often associated with blue.

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