These images were moments taking it all in at the opening Gala Dinner for Effervescence Tasmania, hosted at the perfectly picturesque Josef Chromy winery and restaurant. I had just spent the day in the company of the Josef Chromy team and fellow wine journalists from around Australia.
Earlier this year in Epernay I was fortunate to visit Perrier-Jouët’s Maison Belle Époque – and to be given a preview tasting of two of the latest releases of Perrier-Jouët’s prestige cuvée Belle Époque.
2024 is a very important year for the Maison Champagne Pommery: it is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the first brut champagne in history.
At the end of last month Pommery’s Apanage Brut 1874 was launched in Sydney with Madame Nathalie Vranken, owner & CEO of Vranken-Pommery Monopole, on her Australian visit from Reims. The venue: the spectacular, brand new “Canvas” restaurant at the Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, with views of the best of Sydney Harbour and dishes by Chef Josh Raine paired with Pommery cuvées. And the star of the show was of course Pommery’s new, contemporary Apanage Brut 1874, crafted by Chef de Cave Clément Pierlot as the Brut of the 21st century, and the perfect way for the Maison to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the creation of Brut by Madame Pommery.
Pommery’s new Apanage Brut 1874 honours the historical work around 17 crus, with its great terroirs selected for their character and uniqueness, including the very special Clos Pompadour in Reims. Apanage Brut 1874 is built around great vintages: based on the superb 2018 vintage, a year described by Madame Vranken as “full of joyful happiness” with an elegant addition of 2015 and 2012. As so beautifully described by Madame Vranken “this cuvée is a hug for everyone who loves champagne.” Apanage Brut 1874 is the perfect for a festive apéritif coming into this holiday season!
Some of the most exceptional experiences in the Champagne region are firmly closed to the public, being the domain of wine professionals and media only. Fortunately for champagne enthusiasts, this is not the case at the Perrier-Jouët Cellier Belle Époque, which welcomes all visitors and must surely be the world’s most beautiful Champagne Bar.
My first stay in Reims was as a newly-wed, on my honeymoon back in 2005. At that time, the most luxurious accommodation option was the (then newly renovated) Domaine Les Crayères – we loved every detail of our stay and couldn’t ever imagine staying anywhere else in Reims.
All that changed in 2022 with the opening of Residence Eisenhower, now our home-away-from-home in Reims (having stayed there on our last three visits, with a fourth stay planned in December this year).
Most visitors to the Champagne region will choose busy Reims or Epernay as a base. But for a romantic and serene weekend, those in the know escape 20 minutes away to the luxurious Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa, located in the hillside village of Champillon. The hotel brings the area’s first world-class wellness destination to the vine-striped hills of Champagne.
The Avenue de Champagne in Épernay is renowned for being one of the most prestigious and celebrated streets in the world. It is not only home some of the most famous Champagne houses, including Moët & Chandon, Perrier-Jouët, and Pol Roger, but beneath the Avenue de Champagne are extensive cellars housing millions of bottles of champagne, stretching for kilometres underground.
