champagne

Changing house wines is never easy. They have to work harder than others on the list: complementing more dishes, pleasing more palates, embodying something about the hotel or restaurant.

We’ve just changed our champagne. The Moutardier’s lovely but, after 15 years, we wanted to move on. After a hard morning’s tasting (in which, for fairness, the Moutardier was included) we settled on a new one, from Gobillard. Lighter, with more Pinot Noir in the blend, its nose is delicate and subtle, its mousse soft and light, and it has an elegant, clean finish.

We think it’ll be popular. In fact, we also took on the Premier Cru Brut Grand Reserve as well as their Rose and, at the same tasting, we added two great boutique wines to our list. More about those another time…