Today I visited the José Michel estate for the first time since José passed away in November of 2019, at the age of 88. José was a living legend, a champion of meunier and a grand personnage of the Coteaux Sud d’Epernay, and he had been making wine in the village of Moussy since 1952.
Although he
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In Champagne, the period between the heralded vintages of 1995 and 1996 and the highly acclaimed 2002 is sometimes overlooked—2001, of course, was a notoriously poor vintage, and 2000 wasn’t nearly as good as those celebrating the millennium were hoping it would be. The other three vintages, though,
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I’m pleased to announce that my new book, entitled Champagne: The Essential Guide to the Wines, Producers, and Terroirs of the Iconic Region
Published by Ten Speed Press and featuring photography by Gentl & Hyers, it’s an overview of Champagne from a
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On the way from Aÿ to Dizy, the road winds along the base of the imposing Aÿ slope, upon which lie some of Champagne’s most coveted vineyards. At its western edge there is a little copse of trees lying above a curve in the road, just before crossing the invisible border into Dizy, and behind these
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The 1996 vintage in Champagne is, ironically, both one of the most heralded and one of the most vilified vintages of the past quarter-century. It was hailed as a great vintage almost as soon as the grapes were picked, and many continue to think of it as such today. On the other hand, the wines have
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Producers across the Champagne region are excited about the 2015 vintage, with good reason. A warm year with plenty of sunshine, 2015 will be remembered in Champagne for its unusual dryness over much of the growing season, yet the vins clairs have been highly promising, especially the pinot noirs.
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There was a time when few Champagne houses would consider making a single-vineyard wine. Today this is rapidly changing, and the latest entry into the field (although it has already been ten years in the making) is Lanson’s Clos Lanson.
The house of Lanson has been making wine under the Lanson name
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Krug’s Clos du Mesnil is one of the most renowned wines to come from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, and along with Salon, it defines the village for many champagne collectors. An assertive, demanding champagne, it demonstrates the intense chalkiness and vivid acidic structure typical of Le Mesnil, while also
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The 1995 vintage enjoys a high reputation in Champagne today, and many producers even consider it to be the best vintage of the decade. It was certainly the highest-quality vintage since 1990 (and arguably since 1989), and on the whole, more consistent in quality than the four vintages that followed
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I was surprised and saddened by the news today that Pierre Cheval has passed away at the age of 66. Proprietor of Champagne Gatinois in Aÿ, he was also the primary personality behind Champagne’s inscription last year on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Cheval originally had a career in the French
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