Six things to do at Effervescence Champagne Festival (September 2, 2018).
Thinking about coming to Australia's only champagne festival this September? Here's a hot tip, you'd better get a wriggle on, because tickets are restricted to just 500 lucky people. Should you need more than just 'champagne' to persuade you to press the 'book' button, here are six good reasons you need to come out to…
C’est arrivé!
Truffles that is, as the Australian season kicks off just in time to ally the fears of any northern hemisphere gourmands who may be fearing the long, truffle-less months to come. Native to Europe, black truffles (tuber melanosporum) grow in the roots of hazelnut and oak trees, as well as a few other select trees.…
Only drink Bollie or Veuve? Read this.
In 2014, David Donald, of David Donald Champagnes was knighted for his services to Champagne, into L’Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne, an ancient order dating from the mid 1600s. We talk to him about how his passion for champagne was ignited and his recommendations for those keen to taste-test beyond the big name bottles. When…
Eating & Drinking Ipswich.. by Helicopter
It feels incredibly fragile. An insubstantial glass bubble, a giant's toy. Surely, incapable of carrying humans up into the sky or touching down gently on the earth without shattering into a thousand shards? But, take off it does, and gradually my fists unclench and my stomach unties itself and I open my eyes to look…
How to Open your Champagne with a Sword.
Champagne educator Amanda Reboul drinks a lot of champagne (professionally of course!). Sometimes, she opens them like the rest of us, removing the foil and the wire cage before easing the cork out with (hopefully), a gentle pop. But at others times, she takes a gold-hilted ceremonial sword from its case and simply strikes the…
Does she have the world’s best job? Introducing Champagne Jacquart’s chef de cave… Floriane Eznack
Born in Charentes, near Bordeaux, Floriane Eznack became cellarmaster for Jacquart in 2011, aged just 30, one of only a few female chef de cave (cellarmaster) in the Champagne region. We talk to her about what it's like to have a hand in creating one of the world's most loved wines. What is a chef de…
When it comes to champagne – Australians stick with what they know
Australians love champagne, with figures just released showing the country is still holding strong as the 7th biggest market in the world and the largest outside of Europe; popping the corks on around 7 million bottles each year. There's a reluctance to stray from the familiar however, with major champagne houses dominating sales. Conversely, grower…
Will global warming kill the champagne industry?
These photographs, by champagne enthusiast and photographer Victor Pugatschew may look strange and beautiful, but they’re not something that gladdens the hearts of champagne houses. A fortnight ago in Champagne, vineyards report temperatures plunging to as low as -7C. The frost proceeded an unusually warm spring which saw early shooting of the vines, however it’s been…
Eat, Drink, Stay… The Champagne Region with The Bubble Diva
In 1991, 21 year old Amanda Pickering is travelling from Australia to Germany for the beginning of a backpacking trip around Europe when she finds she is seated on the plane next to a handsome, lanky, dark-haired Frenchman. That man, Corsican native Philippe Reboul was to become her husband. Fast forward a few years, and the…
Petanque. Like bowls but stylishly French.
You might have seen it in one of those gorgeously scenic French movies, or perhaps while travelling through the French countryside, where it seems every small village has a gravel petanque court. Petanque was first played in 1910 Provence, in the town of La Ciotat near Marseilles, with the first tournament organised by local café…