Avez-vous un champagne anglais?
This week Chapel Down, England’s largest wine producer, took its sparkling brut to Reims. What happened next will astound you.
Just in time for English wine week, 17-25 June, Chapel Down has unveiled a clever publicity stunt. The Kent producer went to Reims and set up a stand labelled ‘Chapelle en Bas’ (do you see what they did there?) outside the cathedral and gave passers-by two mystery sparkling wines to try. They were then asked to choose a favourite. Apparently 60% preferred the Chapelle en Bas over its competitor, which was later revealed to be Moët et Chandon Brut Imperial. The French public’s reaction on being told that Chapelle en Bas was actually Chapel Down Brut NV from England was priceless. One chap asked whether ‘the vines are in England? Entirely in England?’ Encroyable indeed!
The stunt is a light-hearted take on the various ‘Judgements of’ like Parsons Green, Tooting Bec, Market Snodsbury etc where English wines were pitted against champagne under rather more rigorous blind tasting conditions. These themselves were of course inspired by the greatest ‘Judgment of’ of them all, the Judgement of Paris which had its anniversary last month.
This is just the sort of thing that cuts through to the general public. Naturally the Daily Mail picked up on it. There’s something about beating the French that’s sweeter than beating any other country (apart from the Australians at cricket). To quote the historian Robert Tombs (who wrote with his wife perhaps the best book on Anglo-French relations That Sweet Enemy): “We have been both friends and enemies: indeed, the closest of friends, and the bitterest of enemies. We have always had mixed feelings of admiration and resentment, even when we were enemies – and even when we were allies.” Deep down we know that the French are cleverer, sexier and more stylish than us. And yet to beat them at their own game. What a sweet victory!
It was especially good to see that the French people featured seemed to find the whole thing amusing too. Nobody had an Odette Kahn style huff. Or at least if they did it didn’t make the final cut. The video was done in a witty, charming and completely unjingositic way though of course many wine professionals were not so amused and took to Twitter to fulminate about it. Comparing English sparkling wine to champagne is considered outdated and a bit tacky. I found a similar thing when I contributed to a discussion on the subject at the London Wine Fair in May and a few people both on the panel and in the audience voiced the opinion that English wine should stand on its own now.
It’s not just champagne comparisons, I’ve noticed that it is often rather frowned upon among wine writers to compare, for example, a German pinot noir to Burgundy. Perhaps it singles me out as a bit basic but my ears always prick up when I’m offered a Ventoux that’s described as far better than any Gigondas at twice the price or something similar. And from my own days behind the counter, comparing a crisp chardonnay from Chile to Chablis usually worked with customers. If you anchor a strange wine to one that the customer knows, it sells.
This is especially true with champagne where the industry has spent centuries building its reputation and image. And it works, people who aren’t keen to spend more than £10 on a bottle will happily spend £40 on a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, which is why most sparkling wines from Cava to shampanski (though not Prosecco) pay tribute to the original in their packaging, marketing and flavour. English Sparkling Wine is made using French grapes, French techniques, French equipment and often by French winemakers. Not to make the comparison strikes me as being deliberately obtuse. As the guru of English wine Stephen Skelton MW puts it: ‘The story that sells best is that Great Britain’s sparkling wines are “as good as Champagne.”’ Vive la Chapelle en Bas!
Vines in a Cold Climate: The People Behind the English Wine Revolution is published 3 August by Allen & Unwin. You can order a copy by clicking on the link.