Wine, food, cooking and accessories

Champagne house Perrier-Jouët has marked the release of its latest vintage with an historic tasting of 20 champagnes — five from the 19th century, 14 from the 20th and one from the 21st.

Perrier-Jouët invited 12 wine experts to its ‘liquid history ceremony’ where the cork was extracted from the oldest vintage champagne still in existence, a Perrier-Jouët 1825.

“Each sip would have been worth hundreds of euros at auction,” said Serena Sutcliffe, head of Sotheby’s international wine department.

But how could a champagne maintain its sparkle 184 years after it had been sealed? It was closed with cork, of course. The cork, handcrafted in one piece as was the practice in those days, was still intact and had kept the champagne in top condition.

The experts were amazed at the freshness and youthfulness of the wine as well as its complexity of flavours.

Further cork news…