Once again this year, Envie de Champ' gives you a helping hand with 5 gift ideas to declare your love or impress your +1 (editor's note: for those lost in the abstruse language of contemporary love, your +1 is your Half). Here's our selection...
#1 - A Special Cuvée: Femme de Champagne Grand Cru
Blended from Chardonnays and Pinots Noirs from a selection of the finest Grands Crus parcels supplying the family-owned Maison Duval-Leroy, this elegantly curved Champagne has been partially vinified in oak barrels to give it a silky edge.
Its bewitching golden-yellow color and ballet of fine bubbles reveal an astonishing aromatic complexity, the result of 9 years' cellar aging. Fragrances of vanilla cookie and woody aromas are followed by notes of citrus (lemon, tangerine), flowers and yellow fruit. The attack on the palate is very fine, with notes of hazelnut, honeysuckle and citrus peel.
With its brut dosage, this prestige Cuvée is a perfect match for refined dishes. So don your apron and get to work on a caviar boiled egg or langoustine risotto. If you're pressed for time, you can always drop in on the caterer, because this great wine, like your sweetheart, deserves the best.
#2 - A spirit made in Champagne
Whisky, gin, liqueurs and Ratafias made in Champagne are all the rage these days! At the editorial office, we love Maison Pannier's Ratafia de Champagne, made from Fine de Champagne blended with Pinot Meunier musts. On the nose and palate, lovely aromas of grapes, pear, green apple, orange and honey dance on the palate. Enjoy with your other half as an aperitif, with pan-fried scallops or with a soft cheese.
#3 - A book: "Le langage des Champagnes" by Franck Wolfert
If your loved one is a true wine and reading enthusiast, then this is the book for him/her. Written by Champagne oenophile Franck Wolfert, this book is the fruit of thirty years of observation and experimentation. In it, the author reveals his tasting method based on a system of balances: wine and gas, acid and sugar, grain and density, as well as aromatic balances. From the attack to the finish, all these elements are positioned on a graph to obtain a "grapho-sensory" form.
Through the 113 Cuvées presented, you'll discover what Champagnes and their different forms have to tell you. Whether they are "celebratory", "savoir-faire" or "terroir", they will reveal their temperaments, characters and identities.
#4 - An ultra-detailed map of the Champagne vineyards
It's about time! 80 years after the last significant work on the subject, and even as the appellation has expanded, maps of the Champagne vineyards were updated in 2022 by Charles Curtis and Steve De Long, two American wine experts. Called "Cartes Collection MAPPING CHAMPAGNE", these decorative works are available on the Grands Champagnes website and will blend harmoniously into your interior.
#5 - An immersive Champagne experience
Surprise your sweetheart with a stay in Champagne. You'll enjoy unforgettable moments together, thanks to an experience creator who'll take care of everything for you: private visits to a Champagne House, sharing with a winegrower with a sense of identity, discovery of a Champagne cooperative in the company of a storytelling guide, local gastronomy, accommodation...
And if after all that, you simply want to opt for a bouquet of flowers, avoid giving her summer flowers, like the red rose, in the middle of winter...
See you soon for more info, cheers!
