FIT FOR A KING
Champagne is the essence of tradition, history and joyfulness, says
ON MY LAST TRIP to France I was invited to see the historical sales records of the maison I was visiting. I was fascinated to see huge, aged, leather-bound ledgers filled with beautifully handwritten orders from the 1800s; some, the owner was proud to tell me, were from the royal courts of the day. It was a reminder of just how young we are here in the wine new world, and that when you’re buying a bottle of Champagne you are buying hundreds of years of tradition and excellence in winemaking. In what seems like the ultimate insult – given how joyful opening a bottle of Champagne can be – the global COVID-19 pandemic has created Champagne supply issues. Some of the brands we know best are experiencing stock issues in New Zealand, so were therefore absent from this tasting. Notwithstanding, those present were of excellent calibre and impressed the judges with almost 50% of the wines entered achieving four stars or above.