The Emperor Edition

We welcome the quietly spoken yet confident winemaker, Arnaud Margaine to Emperor. Arnaud took over this six and a half hectare estate from his father Bernard in 1989 and he represents the fourth generation of his family to work these vineyards in the Montagne de Reims. The estate was founded in the 1920s and was expanded by Bernard in the 1950s.  The majority of Margaine’s holdings are in the village of Villers-Marmery, a 95% village for Chardonnay, and the parcels here are old averaging about 32 years. Arnaud also has a small parcel of Pinot Noir in the village of Verzy....

By Monica Sabbatucci When thinking of bottles in the sea, you’d expect they might contain some cryptic message from the past, but what if you found bottles that contained liquid gold or long-lost champagne? Not just any champagne; perfectly preserved and aged champagne that has lived at the bottom of the sea for decades, some even centuries. Such treasure troves have existed and subsequently produced some of the most expensive bottles of bubbly in the world. These discoveries have also led to a new and innovative process of winemaking, ocean-ageing!   1907 Shipwrecked Heidsieck In 1916, Nicholas II Tsar of Russia, commissioned a...

From how to chill it and which glasses to use, there’s more to serving champagne than we think. There are also some mistakes that are commonly made when drinking bubbly, ones that can impact the best overall experience of a beautiful champagne. We’ve probably all committed these ‘Faux Pas’ before but if you really want to impress your hot date or more importantly, your in-laws, then take note of these Top 5 Faux Pas of Champagne Service.

Written and researched by Monica Sabbatucci Throughout the 1990s, hip-hop became prominent on our radios and televisions and so too did the relationship between it and champagne - one that still stands today. When I looked at how it came to be, I became acquainted with a lesser known name in hip-hop - Branson Belchie who is better known as Branson B. - an early graffiti artist and self-described street entrepreneur. Growing up in Harlem, Branson B. would see a lot of gentlemen from all walks of life; lawyers, doctors, hustlers and gamblers who would all indulge in champagne as their...