Champagne

Pennies From Heaven – Builders Working For Champagne Lanson Find A Lost Fortune in Gold

Three builders renovating a house belonging to Champagne Alexandre Bonnet in Les Riceys (which is owned by Champagne Lanson) got a surprise earlier this month – gold coins began raining down from between the joists in the ceiling, bouncing off their safety hats. On further investigation bags of coins were found hidden amongst the beams, each containing 50 … Read more

Champagne – A Hotbed of Speculation

Champagne’s location between French and German kingdoms has always left it open to the ravages of war and invading armies but the wine region has also seen internal political struggle and civil unrest too. The delimination (setting out of the official geographical area) of the Champagne Viticole resulted in the Revolt of the Vignerons in … Read more

Georges Duboeuf Launches Contest With Artist Kaves for Beaujolais Nouveau 2011

Beaujolais wine producer Georges Duboeuf has launched a contest in collaboration with Brooklyn based artist Michael “Mr Kaves” McLeer: “Nouveau Expression – Be Heard”. The contest invites all disciplines of artists 21 and older to submit original work to the Georges Duboeuf Facebook Fan Page. The multimedia competition accepts art in all its forms, including fashion, poetry, sculpture, and dance. … Read more

Climate Change and Champagne

The Drinks Business reported last week that Champagne was getting too warm for the Pinot Meunier grape according to a number of growers in the region. The Champagne AOC has 7 permitted grapes: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris (sometimes known as Fromenteau), Pinot Blanc, Petit Meslier and Arbane (for information on some of … Read more

Sparkling Wine From Russia Comes to the UK

The press are reporting that sparkling wine from Russia has been launched in the UK and is being test marketed by Berkmann Wine Cellars. The sparkling wine is made by the Abrau Durso Winery and two wines, a brut and a rosé, both under the Cuvee Alexander II label, will retail at around £20 a bottle. The wine will be … Read more

The Forgotten Grapes of Champagne

I was intrigued earlier this month when Wine-Searcher mentioned a Champagne on Twitter that uses 6 permitted grape varieties in its blend. Wine-Searcher – apart from being a wine search engine (on which you can find suppliers, producers and comparative prices) – also has useful information on grape varieties, wine regions, vintages, labels, storage etc. The Champagne in question comes … Read more

Chinese Champagne? Moet Hennessy’s Vineyard in China

Moet Hennessy has announced that it is planting its first vineyard in China with the state owned agricultural company Ningxia Nongken. Nongken already has 670 hectares of vineyards with an annual wine processing capacity of 30,000 tonnes, and aims to expand its vineyards to 2,010 hectares in the Helan Shan district, Ningxia Hui, where the joint venture vineyard … Read more

Remy Cointreau To Sell Piper-Heidsieck and their Sino French Venture Build Chateau Dynasty

The press is reporting that Remy Cointreau SA has hired Credit Agricole-CIB to find a buyer for its Champagne division. Remy’s Champagne unit, whose brands include Piper-Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck, posted an operating loss of 4 million euros in the 12 months through March, the company said in June. Sales declined 24% in the period. Remy Cointreau sold its … Read more