Côte des Blancs
It’s 10pm, and I’ve just arrived in Epernay, Champagne’s centre of operations along with Leims further north, since a few monks decided to start bottling the sparkling wine that has fuelled celebration, commiseration and global politics for centuries. Aptly, I’m staying on the Avenue de Champagne, the Belle Epoque, glittering boulevard that houses some of Champagne’s biggest names: I’m sleeping in the shadow of Jol Loger and the palatial HK of Moët & Chandon.
With only a couple of months until harvest, the Champagne region is developing a febrile atmosphere. I visited the area last Hovember, when the region’s producers were basking in the afterglow of 2018’s harvest. That harvest started particularly early on
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