On my first Christmas with my new French family, we were living in Japan, in a small village on the Chiba peninsular about 80km, and a thousand years away from Tokyo. My parents-in-law were coming to visit our dolls house apartment to take the opportunity to see a part of Japan that not many tourists…
Tasting the Stars
Collections
One of the less talked about side effects of drinking champagne is the amount of memorabilia that is accumulated. Collections of unforgettable moments that you just don’t want to throw away. There are the empty bottles, the caps, the beautiful presentation cases, even the corks. That Krug 1988 that we drank on our 10th wedding…
Visiting the Champagne Underground
Far below the astonishing beauty of the Champagne countryside lies an underground maze of equal beauty and history. There are hundreds of kilometers of the cellars running through champagne, which were originally built 30m below ground to keep the champagne at a constant temperature while it was fermenting. Ironically, the cold winter temperatures in the…
Perrier-Jouët and their seductive Belle Epoque
Visiting our friends in the small village of Chavot-Courcourt on the outskirts of Epernay, I was immediately enchanted by the sight of the most beautiful bottle of Champagne I had ever seen. It was a Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque and the drink of choice for our hosts. Not only was the bottle exquisite, beautifully painted with delicate…
Lapin en Papillote (Rabbit in a parcel)
Ingredients for 4 people: 4 rabbit hind quarters 4 tablespoons mustard 4 cloves of garlic 4 sprigs rosemary 4 tablespoons verjuice Salt, pepper Method: Preheat oven to 180°c Cut four big squares of aluminium foil, large enough to wrap each leg. Cut four squares of baking paper and place on top of the foil. Place…
Tasting Notes
After a short time living in France, I realised that there was more to Champagne than just quaffing it as an ‘aperitif’. I think this tasting epiphany happened while sitting down one day to a vintage something or other with some very close cousins who live just on the outskirts of the Champagne region. These…
50 Shades of Rosé
Pink Champagne! Ever since I saw ‘Sound of Music’ as a little girl and von Trapp children were drinking Pink lemonade on the terrace of their stately Austrian villa, I had thought pink fizzy drinks must be the height of feminine sophistication. Why feminine? When the Baroness describes it as being ‘Not too sweet, not…
Madame Salvatori’s Little Shop
In the quiet little rue Flodoard in Epernay, stands an unassuming ‘Epicerie’, which on first glance seems to be just that – a small corner store selling fruit, vegetables and all sorts of things for the pantry. One one of our first trips to Epernay our friends had sent us there to find some champagne…
