The Alchemy of Autumn: Inside the Harvest of Moët & Chandon
The esteemed maison's new Harvest Experience is a vanishingly rare glimpse into the making of champagne
- Words by: Joseph Bullmore
- Photography: Tom Cockram
The esteemed maison's new Harvest Experience is a vanishingly rare glimpse into the making of champagne
The esteemed maison's new Harvest Experience is a vanishingly rare glimpse into the making of champagne
Moët & Chandon don’t usually let people observe their harvest in action, in the same way that magicians don’t want you to know how they did the trick. And magic, really, is the right metaphor here. When old Dom Perignon apparently first concocted this stuff, he wrote to his fellow brothers: “Come quickly: I am tasting stars.” The stars are the bit we all know and feel — it isn’t necessary to observe the nucleosynthesis that forged them (you know, when the hydrogen atoms fuse together into helium nuclei) in order to think they’re really rather lovely with some smoked salmon blinis. And besides, mightn’t some of the joy of the natural, mysterious, near alchemical wine-making process be quashed and lessened by the lifestyle journalist’s rank obsession with facts?
Moët & Chandon don’t usually let people observe their harvest in action, in the same way that magicians don’t want you to know how they did the trick. And magic, really, is the right metaphor here. When old Dom Perignon apparently first concocted this stuff, he wrote to his fellow brothers: “Come quickly: I am tasting stars.” The stars are the bit we all know and feel — it isn’t necessary to observe the nucleosynthesis that forged them (you know, when the hydrogen atoms fuse together into helium nuclei) in order to think they’re really rather lovely with some smoked salmon blinis. And besides, mightn’t some of the joy of the natural, mysterious, near alchemical wine-making process be quashed and lessened by the lifestyle journalist’s rank obsession with facts?
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| Clubhouse Membership | |
|---|---|
| Two Magazines per yearDelivered to your door | |
| Full Access to Paywall contentAccess to all member-only online features | |
| Membership Cardto redeem all the perks. | |
| Members Invites to Exclusive Eventsto private Clubhouse events | |
| Weekly newsletter Straight to your inbox | |
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