How do you keep your spirits up when the weather is grim and grey? Drink bubbles of course! And the best bubbles are from the Côte des Blancs in Champagne, where chardonnay rules and the dosage sugar is kept low. So that’s where we go early December…
And blimey it was blanc, très blanc. We beat the snow by a day, but it caught us up. Not that it stopped us drinking the stuff, copious quantities, all in the name of research (to get our tastiest bargain…)
Épernay has a little festival first week in December – Les Habit de Lumière – well worth a visit if you want to see how the locals consumer their fizz…
Ahem…, several of the drinkers in these shots may well not be from Épernay at all… I shall not give their identities away…
Gimonnet and Bouquin Dupont came out top in our dedicated and fastidious research, so we stocked up (Mrs P cannot go a week without at least one glass of blanc de blanc); the car was loaded up and off we headed home, into the teeth of a storm and a slightly anxious ferry crossing. Didn’t spill a drop or pop a bubble. That’s the way to do it!
(Duchies – we missed you this year. Don’t go missing this again!)
Thomas Peck Photos 
December 13th, 2017 at 11:54 am
Count us in for 2018 visit Tom.
OA xx
December 13th, 2017 at 2:43 pm
You’ll love all the bubbles!
December 16th, 2017 at 8:12 pm
If you like bubbles I can thoroughly recommend the sparking banquette and crémant from Limoux in the foothills of the Pyrénées . They have been making sparkling wine there for longer than anyone else and they really have it down to a fine art. The carnival de Limoux is slightly longer than the Épernay festival too – it runs for three months from January to March and claims to be the longest carnival in the world!
Disclosure – I have no connection with any of the winemakers in the Limoux area BUT I was lucky enough to move to this beautiful part of the world a year ago which has afforded a few opportunities for critical appraisal of the local produce!
Joyeux Noël
December 19th, 2017 at 8:48 pm
I love the idea of a 3 month Carnival. I must certainly try it out, and the banquet and crémant too! Joyeux Noël à vous aussi!
December 21st, 2017 at 10:27 am
‘Love this. ‘Sounds like a plan in the months to come…! meanwhile, Happy Christmas to you, Mrs. P, and the kids. Another year is ending. Sigh!
p.s. I mentioned you in one of my posts. Here’s the link: https://thebritishberliner.wordpress.com/2017/12/12/how-to-visit-yorkshire-and-york/