Debate a Bubble - Making Champagne - Behind the Scenes

Link to Debate a Bubble - Champagne News and Reviews

Posted: 19 Jan 2011 11:33 AM PST

Hello and A Happy New Year to you all

I haven't posted for a while now because I am working on a very exciting new project that I'll be able to reveal in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile I have been out and about in Champagne where, like many places, the year started with a really cold spell.

If you work in an office this is not much of a problem, but if you are a champagne vigneron then you have to get out in the vineyards to start La Taille ( Pruning ) and it can be mighty cold.

Some vignerons leave La Taille to March, but seeing that the whole job needs to be finished before the warmer Spring weather comes along and also that pruning represents around 200 hours work per hectare, many smaller-scale vignerons, for example the Récoltants Manipulants or RMs, have no choice but to start early, come rain or shine, or this year, snow!

Even worse than snow is rain because it makes you feel even colder. Next time you open a bottle of champagne spare a thought for these chaps working in the Philipponnat vineyards above the village of Mareuil sur Aÿ

More on Philipponnat very soon and particularly about the jewel in their crown : Le Clos Des Goisses, but for now, stay warm!