On Champagne: A tapestry of tales to celebrate the greatest sparkling wine of all

(Hardback)

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Champagne is never a simple glass of fizz... As soon as the cork flies, the first sip reveals a wine of fascinating complexity. For even the most modest non-vintage cuve, a bevy of blending decisions, multi layers of history and the incalculable climate of this northern corner of France all come into play. In On Champagne the thoughts, opinions and conclusions of the world's finest champagne writers gather to reveal this wine's action-packed trajectory from the myth of its accidental discovery not in France, we find, but in the cider cellars of England to the development of a high-tech champagne fit for space travel. It's a journey that starts and ends with capturing that sparkle in a bottle and along the way beguiles us with the nuances of its chalky terrain, the determination of rebels from Ambonnay to Avize, and the mystery of a champagne cellar under the sea. We meet the pioneers who created the great champagnes of the past and the personalities who are 'greening' this landscape, nurturing it through climate change to shape the exquisite champagnes of the future. AUTHOR: Susan Keevil started her life in wine as a 'cellar rat' cooling Chardonnays in Australia's Hunter Valley, none of which prepared her for the world of book publishing back in the UK where she honed her wine knowledge working with Hugh Johnson on six editions of his international best-seller, the Pocket Wine Book. Susan then landed her dream job as editor of Decanter magazine (the path to many worldwide wine adventures) and later became author of the Which Guide to Wine as well as a regular magazine columnist and contributor. The launch of the Acadmie du Vin Library in 2019 saw a return to specialist wine books for which Susan is a writer and editor-in-chief. SELLING POINTS: . A multi-layered look at this essential wine, beautifully designed to bring the region to life on the page . Contributions from top champagne writers: Tom Stevenson, Essi Avelan MW, Serena Sutcliffe MW, Peter Liem, Tyson Stelzer and Robert Walters, and champagne's 'modern era' is welcomed in by Evelyn Waugh . The fascinating history and Champagne's place in the world today, and its aspirations for the future . Full of stories about the innovators and characters . Next in the series after On California, one of 2022's wine books of the year in Sunday Telegraph, Washington Post and New York Times 113 colour, 13 b/w illustrations

Reviews

"On Champagne is the wine book that every lover of the worlds most famous bubbles has been waiting for whether they realised it or not." - Club O Enologique
"...if you love champagne, this is another must-buy. And apologies for the terrible pun, but it is genuinely true this book fizzes with wonderful stuff." - Jancis Robinson
"It is full of interesting and sometimes entertaining stories and if you remember looking for a gift for a champagne lover: this is it." [Translated via Google Translate, original language: Dutch] - Het Financial Dagblad
"Among the other good wine books out this year is On Champagne: A Tapestry of Tales To Celebrate the Greatest Sparkling Wine of All." - The Telegraph
"Writers in this sparkling collection include former secretary general of NATO Pater Carrington. The latter recalls transporting cases of Champagne in a Sherman tank - as he says, "no limousine"." - Waitrose Magazine
"Presenting the story of the iconic French fizz from its accidental beginnings to the present day and looking to the future, there is plenty for Champagne-lovers to enjoy." - Decanter
"Presenting the story of the iconic French fizz from its accidental beginnings to the present day and looking to the future, there is plenty for Champagne-lovers to enjoy." - Decanter
"A wide-ranging and fairly stellar anthology, mostly a state-of-the-art overview by such luminaries as Serena Sutcliffe MW, Tom Stevenson, Elin McCoy, Tyson Stelzer, Hugh Johnson, and a dozen other experts, past and present." - Wine Conversation

Author Bio

Susan Keevil started her life in wine as a cellar rat cooling Chardonnays in Australias Hunter Valley, none of which prepared her for the world of book publishing back in the UK where she honed her wine knowledge working with Hugh Johnson on six editions of his international best-seller, the Pocket Wine Book. Susan then landed her dream job as editor of Decanter magazine (the path to many worldwide wine adventures) and later became author of the Which Guide to Wine as well as a regular magazine columnist and contributor. The launch of the Acadmie du Vin Library in 2019 saw a return to specialist wine books for which Susan is a writer and editor-in-chief.