Champagne is not something that you are born in love with – unless you live in the region of Champagne. Babies (or Catholic babies at any rate) are given a spoonful of this delicious bone-achingly dry nectar at their baptism, and although they make a funny face and try to spit it out, it is then something that is in their blood. A lifelong love affair.
This delightful story is told to me over a chilled glass of Marguet by top champagne executive Daniel Lorson,who visited South Africa as a guest of Air France and KLM this year and then came back for the Absa Capital Champagne Festival.
A fourth generation resident of the Champagne region, he is the marketing head of the CIVC, an organisation founded by the French legislature to manage the common interests of growers and traders in the region. With over 5000 champagne houses in the area he must have his hands full, but finds time to talk to a South African journalist about one of her favourite topics – bubbly! And how civilised it is to talk over a glass of the stuff.

He tells me about how champagne got its reputation as a party drink. Champagne is not a daily beverage, like red wine mixed with water. It was used at the coronations at Rheims (when France still had kings and queens) and began to carry connotations of success and happiness.
“You socialise with champagne,”he tells me, “it needs company“.
He talks about that French obsession, terroir. It’s very hard to translate or explain. It literally translates as “the earth, the top soil” but encapsulates the natural element that is particular to the identity of an agricultural product, like champagne.
When the vines grow in Champagne they grow on a thick layer of chalk and there is always a danger of frost. It is very costly to cover the vines so water is sprayed on them which freezes and protects them. The Champagne region has a very northerly climate with an average of 10 degrees, but without this the champagnes would not be so crisp.
“The elegance comes from subtlety. Champagne can match many cuisines and refeshes your plate with its soft flavours,” says Daniel. There is a marriage – to marry is marrier in French – between the wine and food, which works well when the character of the one does not supercede the character of the other, but they enhance one another, like a good marriage. This gives real added pleasure.
You could enjoy an all champagne lunch from beginning to end (which I tend to do) but champagne also works as an aperitif. “The carbon dioxide and acidity helps you digest better and quicker”.
When you drink champagne, says Daniel, you drink happiness and pleasure, bubbles and lightness. It is a food in itself. You don’t get drunk or get a headache because of the very low quantity of sulphites. The vinification does not include large quantities, unlike wine.
Daniel talks about the “ballet of the bubbles”, the “necklace” which is part of the pleasure. “First, you drink with your eyes,” he tells me as we take another sip. The bubbles need to be as tiny as possible.
Then you can actually smell champagne, by trying to catch a first impression with your nose before the bubbles kick in. Thirdly, you swirl your glass a little bit, but not too much so as to lose the bubbles.
The aroma is hard to describe, says Daniel, it is not fruit- or flower-related, but has a minerality, an earthiness of rocks and stones. Sometimes there is yeast, fresh bread, biscuits and toast. And when the wine is really old it can reach flavours of coffee, mocha and chocolate. But this is very rare and won’t be found until a minimum of 25 years of age. In some very old champagnes there is a taste of bergamot, which is more sophisticated and concentrated.
I tell Daniel how much I love the elements of champagne, the outer dressing. “The clothes of the bottle are part of the image and should represent what is inside,” he tells me.
We talk about the special shape of a champagne bottle. It’s like couture. The dress of the champagne is known as therobe, the dress. The back label, the mushroom shape of the cork, the wire case, the foil: all are elements of the champagne’s dress. No wonder champagne bottles always look so feminine.
The bottles have to be a special shape because of the amount of pressure they contain, almost twice as much as that in your tyres. Which is why sabrage is so effective, taking off the neck of the bottle completely.
The hollowness of the bottle underneath relates to the pressure, but is also part of its architecture.
The dressing of champagne starts with the foil and the label, the decoration and the name of the producer is very important as it is part of the wine’s history.   “A lot of attention and importance is given to the label as this is part of the identity, the DNA,”
My talk with Daniel has been a lesson in refinement, the enjoyment and history of one of my favourite subjects – champagne!