Sténopé – a Champagne from Devaux and Chapoutier

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Champagne, France, Organic, Sparkling Wine, Sustainability

Sténopé 2011

Sténopé – a Champagne from Devaux and Chapoutier Champagne Veuve A. Devaux was founded in 1846 by brothers Jules and Auguste Devaux, based at the beautiful Chateaux of Domaine de Villeneuve. It’s at Bar-sur-Seine, down south in the Aube region. The Veuve (widow) referred to was Madame Augusta Devaux, in charge of this House for several decades. After five family …

Share this Post

Christmas 2021 – a dozen delights

Paul Howard Articles, Biodynamic, Blog, Champagne, England and Wales, Food, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Organic, Spain, Sparkling Wine, Sustainability

Happy Christmas 2021

Christmas 2021 – a dozen delights Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to you all! Thanks for reading, supporting and encouraging me during this incredibly challenging year. Here’s my present to you all – the pick of the wines for Christmas 2021, together with a Christmas Card. This year there are a dozen delights. All come highly recommended for …

Share this Post

Summer Pudding – a classic dessert

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Food, Organic, Recipes

Summer Pudding

Summer Pudding – a classic dessert Summer Pudding is a classic dessert for the British summer. Here’s a super-easy recipe that makes a Summer Pudding serving six, inspired by Jane Grigson’s Fruit Book – which is a great read. Redcurrants and Blackcurrants are the two essential soft fruits for Summer Pudding. If you have a handful of Whitecurrants, Loganberries, Raspberries, Tayberries …

Share this Post

Assemblage 2009 released by Champagne Bruno Paillard

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Champagne, France

Bruno Paillard Assemblage 2009

Assemblage 2009 Regular readers of these pages will know my liking for the Champagnes made by Maison Bruno Paillard.  This time it’s about vintage Champagne and the new release of Assemblage 2009. The Cuvée This Champagne is made exclusively from the first pressings of the grapes, ensuring the best quality. These came from ten of the best terroirs in the …

Share this Post

Dosage Zero, Champagne Paillard with Crofton Cheese

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Champagne, Food, France

Champagne Bruno Paillard Dosage Zero

Dosage Zero, Champagne Paillard with Crofton Cheese Dosage Zero is a specialist Champagne from Bruno Paillard. I’ve written about this Champagne House previously, so rather than repeat myself, see here for my piece on what Champagne Bruno Paillard is all about. In style, the wines from this Champagne House are usually Extra-Brut, with minimal residual sugar, designed to let the land …

Share this Post

Salon – expensive, but never dearer

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, France, Sustainability

The Gates of Champagne Salon

Salon – expensive, but never dearer Eugène-Aimé Salon founded Champagne Salon at the beginning of the 20th Century. He was a native of Champagne and from humble origins became a wealthy Parisian furrier and socialite. Champagne Salon arose when he decided to create his own Champagne, primarily for consumption by him and his society friends. Such was his obsession with …

Share this Post

Bruno Paillard Champagne Première Cuvée MV

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Champagne, France

Bruno Paillard Première Cuvée

Bruno Paillard Champagne Première Cuvée MV Maison Bruno Paillard is an independent, family-owned Champagne house based in Reims, founded only in 1981, with its first vintage in 1985. At the time this was the first new Champagne House to be created in over a century. Bruno Paillard was just 27 years old when he set it up. Now his daughter Alice …

Share this Post

The secrets of Champagne Billecart-Salmon

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Champagne, France

© Billecart-Salmon

The secrets of Champagne Billecart-Salmon Billecart-Salmon is in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ in the Montagne de Reims, in the heart of the Champagne region. They make excellent Champagnes down on the rue Carnot and are most famous in the UK for their Rosé. As their labels proudly state, the House dates back to 1818, created by Nicolas-François Billecart. It’s still family-owned, one of …

Share this Post

Rosé Champagne for summer drinking

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Champagne, France

Rosé Champagne Bubbles

Rosé Champagne for summer drinking In his book, The Pleasures of Life, Sir John Lubbock wrote this. “Rest is not idleness, and to sometimes lie on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time”,. To which I add, “especially …

Share this Post

Cristal – is it a Diamond or just Zircon?

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Champagne, France

Cristal - Diamond or Zircon?

Cristal – is it a Diamond or just Zircon? Cristal – in the rarified world of luxury, Cristal Champagne from Louis Roederer has no peer. No other equals its fame or reputation. Perhaps Dom Pérignon, Krug and Belle Epoque come closest. In any good Champagne vintage, Cristal will be up there with the best. It’s expensive, but these days there …

Share this Post