I've got some news about an exciting free event happening in London! On Tuesday 25th November and Tuesday 2nd December you can go to a free champagne tasting evening - how great is that!
I went to the first of these events this week and it was such fun and really informative. Tuesday evening's event was hosted by Notes who are a speciality coffee, food and wine bar, with 3 branches in London - Moorgate (where we went), Trafalgar Square (where the event on 25th November is being held) and Covent Garden (where the 2nd December event will be). All of the wine that Notes sell is provided by Liberty Wines, so they sent James along to teach us all about Champagne Devaux, one of the champagnes stocked and sold by Notes. All 3 tastings follow the same format and offer 4 types of Champagne Devaux to try.
The evening started with a bit of history about Champagne Devaux. This champagne house was founded in 1846, some 168 years ago and run by the Devaux family who sadly lost 3 of the men running the house at an early age. In fact by the late 1987 none of the Devaux family remained to run the house and it was sold to the Union Auboise, one of the biggest vineyard holders in the region. However, Champagne Devaux remains one of the top quality champagnes available. With all this talk of champagne it was definitely time to try some, and first up was the Devaux Grand Reserve NV, a 3 year old champagne (double the minimum required age for champagne). There are 3 grapes that can be used to make champagne - Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Devaux only use Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for their champagnes and the Grand Reserve uses a blend of 69% PN and 31% Chardonnay. The Pinot Noir grape that Devaux grows is one of the finest in the champagne region. This produces a very gentle champagne, that's extremely drinkable! I often find bubbly can be great for a glass, but that I wouldn't want to drink more than that, whereas I could the Devaux Grand Reserve all night!! It retails at around £25 a bottle, but tastes like it's worth a lot more.
I went to the first of these events this week and it was such fun and really informative. Tuesday evening's event was hosted by Notes who are a speciality coffee, food and wine bar, with 3 branches in London - Moorgate (where we went), Trafalgar Square (where the event on 25th November is being held) and Covent Garden (where the 2nd December event will be). All of the wine that Notes sell is provided by Liberty Wines, so they sent James along to teach us all about Champagne Devaux, one of the champagnes stocked and sold by Notes. All 3 tastings follow the same format and offer 4 types of Champagne Devaux to try.
The evening started with a bit of history about Champagne Devaux. This champagne house was founded in 1846, some 168 years ago and run by the Devaux family who sadly lost 3 of the men running the house at an early age. In fact by the late 1987 none of the Devaux family remained to run the house and it was sold to the Union Auboise, one of the biggest vineyard holders in the region. However, Champagne Devaux remains one of the top quality champagnes available. With all this talk of champagne it was definitely time to try some, and first up was the Devaux Grand Reserve NV, a 3 year old champagne (double the minimum required age for champagne). There are 3 grapes that can be used to make champagne - Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Devaux only use Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for their champagnes and the Grand Reserve uses a blend of 69% PN and 31% Chardonnay. The Pinot Noir grape that Devaux grows is one of the finest in the champagne region. This produces a very gentle champagne, that's extremely drinkable! I often find bubbly can be great for a glass, but that I wouldn't want to drink more than that, whereas I could the Devaux Grand Reserve all night!! It retails at around £25 a bottle, but tastes like it's worth a lot more.
