VINE and BUBBLE Podcast

In this special episode of the VINE & BUBBLE Podcast, Sara Underdown sits down with Frédéric Rouzaud, President and CEO of Maison Louis Roederer, during the house’s extraordinary 250th anniversary celebrations. Together, they explore family ownership, the creation and evolution of Cristal, the importance of vineyard ownership, and why time remains one of Champagne’s greatest luxuries.

Today I'm delighted to be joined by one of Champagne's most progressive and thought-provoking growers, Cédric Moussé of Champagne Moussé. Based in the Vallée de la Marne village of Cuisles, Cédric represents the twelfth generation of his family's estate, but he has become known for doing things very differently. While many producers have spent decades trying to elevate Meunier from a s...

There’s a quiet shift unfolding in Champagne - and it’s beingled by a new generation willing to question the very foundations of the category. EPC Champagne is a new voice in that movement. Founded in 2019, EPC is reimagining what non-vintage Champagne can be - placing transparency,traceability, and the people behind the wine at the centre of the conversation. Every bottle tells a story: where the...

Today it’s my privilege to welcome Émilien Érard, Chef deCaves of Charles Heidsieck. Émilien was appointed to the role in 2025, marking a quiet but significant evolution for the House. He succeeds Élise Losfelt, who departed to return to her family estate, but he also worked under Élise’s predecessor, the legendary Cyril Brun. Since joining in 2018, Emilien has embedded himself deeplywithin the fa...

Today it’s my great pleasure to introduce a true pioneer inthe world of sparkling wine—Ed Carr, the Chief Winemaker behind the House of Arras, Tasmania’s most acclaimed traditional-method sparkling wine brand. Ed’s journey into winemaking was anything but conventional. With a background in food chemistry and microbiology, he launched his life into the world of wine after solving a fermentation iss...

Domaine Vincey is one of Champagne’s most exciting andprogressive grower-producers, known for its bold vision, meticulous craftsmanship, and deep respect for terroir. In Champagne, where generational legacies are sometimescenturies old, setting down one’s own path can mean writing not only a chapter, but a whole new book. Today we’re going to learn more about the impressive husband and wife team d...

I’ve long considered Pierre Gimonnet et Fils champagnes tothe be the reference point for high quality blanc de blancs in the Champagne region. Their racy, pure and mineral style reflects the highest levels of finesse and freshness that is emblematic of chardonnay grapes grown on thewhite chalky slopes of the Côte des Blancs. Didier Gimonnet and his brother Olivier, are at the helm ofthe family’s d...

For champagne lovers, there are few Houses with the electriccharge and extraordinary finesse of Lanson, which performs best with age. Known for blocking malolactic fermentation and extended lees aging, Lanson creates wines of extreme longevity and possesses a huge cache of the region’s oldest champagnes. After a monumental program involving a quality check andstocktake of their museum wines, the M...

The Pouillon family are privy to some fantastic terroir in Champagne’s Grande Vallée. Rich and textured, whilst paradoxically elegant and enthrallingly vibrant, R. Pouillon champagnes are stunning interpretations of terroir, especially through the eyes of pinot noir, and elaborated with a sensitive hand. Today we are going to meet the man behind their making. Fabrice Pouillon makes exceptional cha...

The Geoffroy family name is historically connected to thevillage of Cumières, in the Vallée de la Marne, where the family has been winegrowing since the 17th century. Today, Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy represents the fifth generation, overseeing 14 hectares of vineyards. In the 1970s, Jean-Baptiste’s father, René, made the audacious decision to use most of their grapes for their own production, under t...

There are few people who have forged a unique life as aprominent voice for Champagne like my next guest, Tyson Stelzer. Tyson is a multi-award winning wine writer, television hostand producer, author of 18 wine books, an international keynote speaker and wine show chairman and judge. His accolades are too many to list, but despite being based in Australia, he has never allowed the tyranny of dista...

In this episode, we sit down with Krister Bengtsson, the founder of Star Wine List, to explore his journey as a media entrepreneur to a leading figure in the wine industry. Since launching in 2017, Star Wine List has grown to cover over 45 countries and 4,000 wine bars and restaurants, helping wine lovers to discover their next great experience. Join us as we discuss the evolution of wine lists, a...

It’s been 150 years since Madame Louise Pommery launched the Maison’s first ‘brut’ champagne. The matriarch, one of the pioneering ‘iron ladies’ famed for propelling the industry forward during difficult times, was a revolutionary. Her idea for a dryer style of champagne, forever changed champagne wines whilst opening-up a whole new opportunity abroad. Pommery is, today, one of Champagne’s leading...

The name Laurent-Perrier conjures up thoughts of freshness and elegance and classically structured champagnes. The Maison is steeped in impressive history that has served not only their own champagnes, but also champagne collectively, with a family at the helm as wonderful ambassadors. Today the Maisons’ prestige cuvée, Grand Siècle, is represented by fourth-generation, Lucie Pereyre de Nonancourt...

Champagne Ayala may not share the same level of fame as its sister-House, Bollinger, but since it was acquired by Bollinger in 2005, it has been revived, reinvented and put firmly back on the champagne map. Though founded and still based in Aÿ, an area that has been historically celebrated for its pinot noir, the Maison’s focus is on chardonnay. Ayala possesses a lightness and freshness but also c...

What does it take to not only be the best, but to keep on being the best? Champagne Salon has earned a cult-like status amongst those who appreciate the Maison’s ability to make some of the finest and most exclusive blanc de blancs in all of Champagne. Limited to just 50,000 bottles per year for the entire world, Salon commands some of the highest prices for a single bottle each release and often...

When you think of Champagne Pol Roger it’s likely to conjure up thoughts of the royal family or Sir Winston Churchill. These are important historical but also contemporary connections to what they humorously consider to be the ‘most British’ of champagne brands. But you’re also likely to consider Pol as producing some of the most classical and elegant champagnes. Very few other Maisons apply such...

The name ‘Perrier’ in Champagne conjures up thoughts around history and prestige. In the case of Joseph Perrier, the spirit of the House is evoked by tradition, quality and particularly family. Since 1825 it has been managed, largely, by a succession of fathers and sons. Six generations on, Joseph Perrier remains an independent and authentic family managed Maison under the stewardship of Chairman...

Dominique Demarville is one of Champagne’s legendary winemakers, with an impressive career spanning more than two decades as a vineyard director, cellar master and general manager at some of Champagne’s leading Maisons.   In 2003 he became Director of vines and wines for both G.H.Mumm and Perrier-Jouët before moving onto Veuve Clicquot where he was Cellar Master and Deputy Director. They were gold...

Louis Roederer’s chef de caves, Jean Baptiste Lécaillon, is something like a unicorn in Champagne. He is much more than a winemaker – or winegrower – for that matter. It’s no secret that he has been a trailblazer for progressive sustainability, not only at the Maison, but across the entire industry. I like to think of him as a grand philosopher – a kind of maestro – for the region’s trajectory for...

Charles Heidsieck’s acclaimed Blanc des Millénaires has earned cult status amongst those lucky enough to have tried it. It’s mineral and pure, playing more to the soil than sunshine, but finding its balance here too. Only chardonnay taken from five grand crus in the Côte des Blancs is used in this effortlessly delicious and smoothly textured champagne of euphoric wonder. Long lees ageing in Charle...

Today we are going to delve into the mysterious world of reductive champagne winemaking. If you’re a champagne lover – or any wine lover – no doubt you’ve heard this discussed in a way that is oversimplified, or maybe misleading. But it is a hugely complex and sometimes confusing topic. The best examples of reductive winemaking, produce wines of freshness and fruit character that are pure and laye...

Today we’re going to look at typicity. Typicity can be seen as what is ‘typical’ for a wine’s origins  - geography, terroir, varietal type, even viticulture and winemaking. But what does it mean when applied to champagne?  I cannot think of anyone more qualified to talk about this concept of typicity than my guest today, Marcell Kustos PhD, who has built an impressive career as a fine wine and hos...

I first met Stephen Leroux in 2018 during a visit to Charles Heidsieck in Reims. He greeted me with a warm smile and a friendly handshake, before getting down to tasting business. Unusually we started with Charles’ Rosé Reserve. He told me, “we like to start with a non-vintage rosé as the amount of reserve wine is twice less – at 20% with just five to six years’ of age. In our Brut Reserve, it’s t...

Tom Hewson is a writer and self-confessed ‘bubblehead’ specialising in a subject he is most passionate about – champagne. Tom joined Decanter’s team of expert writers earlier in 2023, where he provides incredibly detailed coverage on champagne and other sparkling wines, as well as special reports for Tim Atkin MW and as a judge for the 2023  Decanter  World Wine Awards. His love of words and wine...