Category: Caroline’s Champagne

Interesting, unusual and groovy cuvee’s, points of interest and restaurants/bars I have found whilst discovering and tasting my way through my new home region:-)

The ABC on Champagne’s appellation setting

Champagne has long set its appellation based on sales forecasts. While it seems this system works well to meet market needs, it is deeply flawed. The Covid-19 crisis clearly shows the limitations of the current system and the reasons why an appellation compromise between houses and growers has yet to be found even if harvest has already started

Champagne Harvest 2018: Marie-Noelle Ledru and Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy

Harvest started early in 2018, officially opening on August 20th, yet the official dates showed big differences, with some villages only opening early September. Derogations are possible and even if a few people began picking earlier, so far  the harvest has been slow to start, wit many people waiting till next week to bring the troops
Continue Reading

Champagne Harvest 2015 – tasting Meunier on the vines and straight out of the press at Champagne Loriot

I love visiting the Loriots in harvest, I love eating their delicious Meunier grapes whilst listening to all the banter, laughing! This year I took Jess, a friend from New York whom I had spend a day with working selling wine more than 7 years ago; almost another lifetime if you want. But Facebook has
Continue Reading

Champagne harvest 2015 – the end of harvest at Champagne de Sousa and Champagne Moussé

On Thursday I visited Champagne de Sousa, getting ready for the end of harvest. I had wanted to visit a few times before but somehow always something came up preventing me. Charlotte told me they started harvest on the 8th of September and they are expected to finish today. The de Sousa family have 10
Continue Reading

Champagne harvest 2015 – choucroute at the Boulards to lift the mood on this rainy last day of harvest.

In between class preparations I managed to visit the Boulards on this wet Wednesday. It rained cats and dogs when Delphine Richard took me out to the winery to talk about this years harvest. It was her first of being totally in charge now that Francis Boulard retired in July.  Delphine started harvest on the
Continue Reading

Champagne harvest 2015 – a day in the vineyard and winery with the Lahaye family

On Wednesday I spent the day with the Lahaye family. After lunch Benoit first took me to the Argentière vineyard where we checked on the ripeness, before joining his pickers in the youngest part of the Jardin de la Grosse Pierre. For the last 10 years, Benoit has employed a Turkish family paid by the
Continue Reading

Champagne harvest 2015 – a morning in the vines with David Léclapart

On Monday morning I spent a few hours with David Léclapart in his Cote des Prés vineyard. He was one of the 3 débardeurs for his pickers, emptying buckets of grapes and bringing the full cases to the end of the row for pick up. He really enjoyed being out in the vineyard and participating
Continue Reading

Champagne harvest 2015 – portrait of a harvester: Jacques Bony and Alexandre Budan

Last week I interviewed two different harvesters at Champagne Tarlant. Jacques Bony, a traveller, has been working harvest for the Tarlant family for at least 20 years. “I first came when I was still very young, and ever since we have come back year in year out”, Jacques explains. When asked what he likes the
Continue Reading

Champagne harvest 2015 – organic and biodynamic grape syncronicities at Aurélien Lurquin, Emilien Feneuil and Leclerc Briant

This weekend it seemed my visits were very interlinked in more ways than one. Synchronicities had started to happen in a big way already on Friday, when I bumped into Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon and later saw my beloved pick grapes in the biodynamic Chèvres vineyard in Cumières. Later in the evening when I stopped off at
Continue Reading