Champagne, Uncorked: The House of Krug and the Timeless Allure of the World’s Most Celebrated Drink

297 Pages·2016·6.99 MB·English

by  Alan Tardi

C H A M P A G N E ,
U N C O R K E D

C H A M P A G N E ,
U N C O R K E D
THE HOUSE of KRUG
and the TIMELESS ALLURE
of the WORLDíS MOST
CELEBRATED DRINK
A L A N T A R D I
New York
Copyright © 2016 by Alan Tardi
Published in the United States by PublicAffairs™,
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Set in 11.5-point Goudy Oldstyle STD
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Tardi, Alan, 1956– author.
Title: Champagne, uncorked : the house of Krug and the timeless allure
of the world’s most celebrated drink / Alan Tardi.
Description: First edition. | New York : PublicAffairs, [2016] | Includes
bibliographical references. (cid:42)(cid:69)(cid:70)(cid:79)(cid:85)(cid:74)(cid:205)(cid:70)(cid:83)(cid:84)(cid:27)(cid:3)(cid:45)(cid:36)(cid:36)(cid:47)(cid:3)(cid:19)(cid:17)(cid:18)(cid:23)(cid:17)(cid:17)(cid:24)(cid:21)(cid:17)(cid:17)(cid:93)
ISBN 9781610396899 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Champagne (Wine)
(cid:36)(cid:77)(cid:66)(cid:84)(cid:84)(cid:74)(cid:205)(cid:68)(cid:66)(cid:85)(cid:74)(cid:80)(cid:79)(cid:27)(cid:3)(cid:45)(cid:36)(cid:36)(cid:3)(cid:53)(cid:49)(cid:22)(cid:22)(cid:22)(cid:3)(cid:15)(cid:53)(cid:20)(cid:24)(cid:3)(cid:19)(cid:17)(cid:18)(cid:23)(cid:3)(cid:93)(cid:3)(cid:37)(cid:37)(cid:36)(cid:3)(cid:23)(cid:21)(cid:18)(cid:15)(cid:19)(cid:16)(cid:19)(cid:19)(cid:21)(cid:134)(cid:69)(cid:68)(cid:19)(cid:20)
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016007400
First Edition
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To all the people of Champagne, past, present, and future, who
through their limitless passion, consummate skill, and unshakeable
commitment make Champagne the superlative libation that it is.
And to Fernanda and Lucia, who put the sparkle into my life.

AUTHORíS NOTE
This (cid:74)(cid:84)(cid:3)(cid:66)(cid:3)(cid:88)(cid:80)(cid:83)(cid:76)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:79)(cid:80)(cid:79)(cid:205)(cid:68)(cid:85)(cid:74)(cid:80)(cid:79)(cid:13)(cid:3)(cid:66)(cid:77)(cid:85)(cid:73)(cid:80)(cid:86)(cid:72)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:42)(cid:3)(cid:73)(cid:66)(cid:87)(cid:70)(cid:3)(cid:85)(cid:66)(cid:76)(cid:70)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:85)(cid:73)(cid:70)(cid:3)(cid:77)(cid:74)(cid:67)(cid:70)(cid:83)(cid:85)(cid:90)(cid:3)(cid:85)(cid:80)(cid:3)
interpret events and motives, and some of the names of people I en-
countered on my visits to Champagne have been changed. Informa-
(cid:85)(cid:74)(cid:80)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:69)(cid:70)(cid:70)(cid:78)(cid:70)(cid:69)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:80)(cid:79)(cid:205)(cid:69)(cid:70)(cid:79)(cid:85)(cid:74)(cid:66)(cid:77)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:83)(cid:3)(cid:81)(cid:83)(cid:80)(cid:81)(cid:83)(cid:74)(cid:70)(cid:85)(cid:66)(cid:83)(cid:90)(cid:3)(cid:67)(cid:90)(cid:3)(cid:44)(cid:83)(cid:86)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:73)(cid:66)(cid:84)(cid:3)(cid:67)(cid:70)(cid:70)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:78)(cid:74)(cid:85)(cid:85)(cid:70)(cid:69)(cid:15)

CONTENTS
Author’s Note vii
Prologue xi
Rue Coquebert 1
PART I: IN THE BEGINNING:
THE BIRTH OF CHAMPAGNE
1 What Lies Beneath—La Champagne Viticole 7
2 Into the Vineyards—Vintage 2013 13
3 Growers, Suppliers, Presses 23
4 Vendange 49
PART II: COMING OF AGE:
LA BELLE …POQUE
5 Fermentation 77
6 Tasting, Tasting, Tasting 101
7 Assemblage 143
ix