Well today's hints and tips are a little different and indeed about something quite specific, but I think you will agree all the same a bit scrummy.......Champagne!!! mmmm. Well all good weddings need a glass or two of the lovely bubbly stuff don't they? But what to buy and where to get the best deal? Well here is a very good friend of Courtenay Photographic to tell you more... (and I have left her words just the way she wrote them, because read in the right way it makes so much more sense - that is, in the beautiful French accent!) I give you the lovely Aurelia...
Hi My name is Aurelia and I run the champagne & wine company Georges de la Chapelle Ltd.
A woman in the wine business? Yes it is all a family affair. My parents are champagne producers in France and I have always been living with these lively bubbles since the first drop of champagne on my lips for my christening. Following my partner to London it came naturally to create a business about it.
Enough about me and Courtenay asked me to give you some advices about the champagne so I will try my best.
The champagne is often an obvious choice for a wedding because it is the festive wine and the wine of love. I am sure the champagne has been part of the best moments of your couple life even before your wedding: perhaps your first date, some romantic dinners, the moment he proposed or she proposed, to celebrate with your family and friends... So you want it to be part of the biggest day of your life.
Which champagne should you choose? There are about 100 major houses of champagne (Among the best known Moet& Chandon, Laurent Perrier, Veuve Cliquot, Roederer) and more than 5000 small/medium size champagne producers (Among them my parents). A good champagne is not always about the price, it is about the passion and the care the producers have put into its creation. I don’t think there is THE champagne you must choose but there is YOUR champagne, the one that suits your taste, the one you enjoy and will drink happily with friends and family.
How to find it? The best way is to try and taste whenever you have the occasion. For a wedding, most of the venues will offer you their wine list but if there is a champagne you really like and against the payment of a cork fee most of them will let you bring your favourite champagne (it can even turn out to be cheaper)
If you have the opportunity to travel to France, just make a small detour to the Champagne area ( about 3H from Calais on your way to the Alpes or the South of France). Most of the small producers will offer you a free tasting and you could buy the champagne at cellars price.
Can you drink any champagne at any time? Yes and No. Choose a Brut for the toasts, pure chardonnays are perfects. For the dessert or the cake choose a sweet champagne either a demi-sec or a vintage (old champagne are sweeter). For additional colours why not try pink champagne?
Something original? If you purchase your champagne from a producer or some special companies in the UK you could personalise the label with your names, your pictures... and surprise your guests. (Be careful how the champagne will be served, if the guests never see the bottle it is perhaps not worth it). Big bottles like Magnum( =2bottles) or Jeroboam (=4 bottles) can be a special treat and you can sometimes even have them engraved with your names .
I hope you will have lovely bubbles at your wedding and you will have a sparkling time.
Feel free to contact me
Aurelia
Georges de la Chapelle Ltd
Tel : 02088417387
aurelia@delachapelle.co.uk if you have any question.
I am remodelling my English website at the moment but here are some useful links:
www.champagneprat.com (My parents’ website)
www.champagne.com (Everything you want to know about the Champagne)
www.tourisme-champagne-ardenne.com (to help you plan a trip in the Champagne area)
Wedding Photographer Dorset - Courtenay photographic
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