This book is an excellent resource for the wine enthusiast and novice alike. Liz Palmer has truly written the ultimate guide to Champagne. This book covers all the key points about Champagne from the history, business, gastronomy, tourism, and many references to Champagne in popular culture. Palmer describes the region of Champagne with a level of familiarity and intimacy that the reader will truly appreciate. What I especially liked about this book was the inclusion of addresses of wineries, places to stay, other places of interest and a calendar of annual events. This helps give the reader a detailed overview of the region of Champagne. Palmer includes many practical hints and tips, that will make visiting the region of Champagne easy, enjoyable and stress free. The timeline in Chapter 3 “History of Champagne” is a very useful tool for anyone with an interest in knowing the key events about Champagne. Chapter 4 which describes the many parties involved in the growing, making, marketing and branding of Champagne. This chapter is very instructive on demystifying the historical and traditional ways in which Champagne is sold around the world. Chapter 8, which describes on the economics and the business side of Champagne help to explain why the wine commands the premium prices it does. Chapters 9 througho 12 covers shopping, tasting and the etiquette of Champagne all addnd but describes the also having the reader appreciate the special nature of Champagnethe wine. Chapters 13 to through 20 describe outline where to enjoy Champagne, the gastronomy and cocktails all and help to illustrate how and where to enjoy drinking Champagne. As a person who loves glossaries,, for seeking technical definitions, I found this glossary to be very thorough. Most people (unlike myself) probably never read appendices and but the ones in this book are just very as useful and informative as the rest of the book. The book ends with Appendix Appendices A through C that lists quotes, vintage years summaries and Champagne knowledge and was a great way to end the book. The size of the text, the quality of the printing and the many photographs all combine to create an inviting and easy to follow book. The overall impression is was not lost on me as to the special nature of Champagne for France and for the world. Champagne is the world’s premium wine that never falls out of fashion. Champagne appears to be gaining momentum as the one wine people everywhere associate with style, quality and celebration. This book is an excellent resource that is also enjoyable to read and it will be part of my sources on wine for many years to come.
Zis Parras Ph.D., WSET L3, French Wine Scholar
Wine Agent
Toronto, Canada
The Ultimate Guide to Champagne is available on Amazon and Kindle at http://amzn.to/2lF8ZFX
