Food, Wine and Travel Blog

What is Méthode Champenoise? Sparkling wine can be made almost anywhere if you have the correct equipment. It is an expanding global enterprise (despite what the Champenoise would have us believe), with key players in the US, Spain, England, Italy, Australia, South Africa, and even Russia! The climatic conditions, terroir, and grape varieties will vary […]

For any visitor touring the Champagne region, the sight is instantly recognizable; row upon row of bottles being stored horizontally in the ancient and majestic chalk cellars of Champagne. Hidden underground, the cellars’ depth ensures the perfect ambient temperature for storing Champagne cuvées destined for long aging – the most prestigious bottles can be stored […]

Which Champagne houses to visit? Champagne is perhaps the most famous and simultaneously misunderstood of all the great wine regions of France. These hallowed vineyards – found east of Paris – have been making wine since early Roman times. However, throughout the majority of Champagne’s history, nothing sparkled. By the early 16th century, still, wines […]

Is Champagne better than sparkling wine? The sparkling wine world is infinitely more complex, diverse, and exciting than the Champenoise would like you to believe. Benefiting from an extraordinarily talented firmament of marketeers, Champagne has been sold as the definitive luxury sparkling wine: rarified, glamorous, and naturally, very expensive. Thus, many consumers assume that upmarket […]

Classic Champagne Cocktail Recipes for Xmas Tradition or experimentation? Classical dishes and drinks, or daring new ideas? Christmas is a season that celebrates the best of food and drink, but also poses that thorny question about whether to play it safe or venture into the unknown. Roast turkey with all the trimmings and a top-end […]

Today, most of us are well acquainted with the ‘celebrities’ of wine – the Chardonnays, Merlots, Shiraz, and Sauvignon Blancs of this world. Indeed, ask most white-wine drinkers what they fancy after work, and more often than not, their response will be, ‘I always go for a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.’ Or perhaps a glass […]

Cellar Tours selection of the best Spanish cava brands There probably isn’t anyone who hasn’t heard of Cava, Spain’s ‘cheap and cheerful’ bubbly, predominately produced in the Penedes region south of Barcelona and mainstay of supermarket aisles worldwide. But what about deluxe Cava – hand-made, artisan sparkling wines of superlative quality with prices to match? […]

What does the name Champagne mean to you? – is it simply a glamorous product, a must-have accessory at celebrations, or a famous icon? Of course, the answer is all of the above, but crucially for the savvy globetrotter; the Champagne region is a fascinating region to visit, full of historic towns and villages, gastronomic […]

French Sparkling Wine There probably isn’t anyone who hasn’t at least heard of Champagne, the motherland of all sparkling wine, home to glamour, prestige, and such iconic names as Dom Perignon. But Cremant, an often excellent quality (and value) sparkling wine that can be found across many of France’s most prestigious regions? You would hear […]

What could be more romantic than waking up in luxury splendor with views of majestic vineyards or historic wine villages like St-Emilion? Wine lovers searching for a special weekend break this Valentine’s Day are spoilt for choice in France. Will you spend the afternoon sipping Dom Perignon in the beautiful Champagne capital of Reims, or […]

In the space of just over fifteen years, a remarkable resurgence in the quality and quantity of luxury wine hotels has left the discerning oenophile seriously spoilt for choice. Pioneers like Rioja’s Marques de Riscal and Jean-Michel Cages, owner of Cordeillan Bages in Bordeaux, have given the industry a much-needed boost with their natural talent […]

[Updated Nov 2017] Want to Splash out on Posh Bubbles? Here is a list of our suggested top (and most expensive) Champagnes… There is no questioning the marketing genius of the major Champagne houses. They have ensured that Champagne’s name continues to carry almost mystical properties for the vast majority of us, and it is […]