Tour of Champagne with Edwin Dublin, Saturday 19th October 2024
One Day Wine School
Our one-day wine schools are a great way to get a thorough overview of a region in a day.
Starting in the morning with tea and coffee on arrival, we spend around 2 hours exploring the region, with 8-12 wines showcasing all different styles. With the basics covered, we head to our vaulted Napoleon cellar for an aperitif and to put the morning’s education to the test with 5 more wines paired over a delicious lunch, crafted by Head Chef Stewart Turner.
The day finishes around 3.30pm.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
Want to know your Bollinger from your Billecart-Salmon? Then join us to uncover the wonders of fizz in the company of other Champagne-lovers. Over the course of a morning and afternoon, Champagne expert Edwin Dublin will teach you all about the region of Champagne and the complex production processes behind its wines. Through a delicious selection of wines, you will discover a myriad of styles including Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs, non-vintage and vintage, sampling smaller-production Grower Champagnes alongside several prestige cuvées.
After your morning masterclass, you will enjoy a specially prepared lunch devised by our Executive Chef, Stewart Turner, served with a refreshing selection of Champagnes, so that you can see just how versatile this wine is with food.
Wines to be tasted at the masterclass:
Champagne Billecart-Salmon, Réserve, Brut
Berry Bros. & Rudd Blanc de Blancs Champagne by Le Mesnil, Grand Cru, Brut
Champagne Fleury, Blanc de Noirs, Brut, 1929
Champagne Ruinart, Rosé, Brut
Champagne Pol Roger, Réserve, Brut
Champagne Gosset, Grande Réserve, Brut
Champagne Louis Roederer, Collection 244, Brut
Champagne Bollinger, Special Cuvée, Brut
Champagne Krug, Grande Cuvée, 171ème Édition, Brut
2016 Berry Bros. & Rudd Champagne by Mailly, Grand Cru, Extra Brut
2015 Champagne Bollinger, La Grande Année, Brut 2008 Champagne Dom Pérignon, Brut en magnum
Wines to be tasted at the lunch:
2013 Champagne Louis Roederer, Cristal, Brut
2014 Champagne Ayala, No. 14, Rosé, Extra Brut
2014 Champagne Louis Roederer, Brut
2016 Champagne Leclerc Briant, Les Basses Prieres, 1er Cru, Brut Zéro
2010 Champagne Fleury, Millésimé, Extra Brut Champagne Pol Roger, Rich, Demi Sec
Dress code: smart casual
Event details
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