šŸ’ƒ FREEDOM FIZZ šŸ’ƒ

by Megan Jones

Top of the morning! Since Dan always starts his emails with Gā€™day, thought Iā€™d differentiate.

Megan here, aka a free woman, aka finally done with wine school. I wish I could say the exam went well. Maybe Iā€™ll manifest it. The exam went well! Either way, itā€™s eight weeks until I find out, so I guess I can put my anxiety about it on the back burner and return to the regular scheduled programming of being anxious about everything else. I donā€™t know what Iā€™m going to do with all this new-found free time. I feel like I should go learn something else. Portuguese? Crochet? Send suggestions, Iā€™m open to anything.Ā 

In the meantime, Iā€™m running the show while Danā€™s off sunning himself in Aus, presumably shopping for loads more weird (sorry, ā€˜iconicā€™) Aussie snacks. Can you believe he left the kids in charge? Me neither. Itā€™s only day three and Iā€™m already having nightmares about burning the place down.

But hey, this isnā€™t a week of worrying, this is a week of celebrating! Celebrating being able to drink wine without having to identify which soil type it came from. And you know what celebrating calls forā€¦

Thatā€™s right baby! Champagne! Lucky for you lot, we have a bit of a soft spot for Champagne. Who doesnā€™t? If youā€™ve got something to celebrate, bust open one of these. If you donā€™t have something to celebrate, bust one open anyway. Guaranteed to improve ya mood, boost endorphins, flood your brain with dopamine (is that what I mean? Whatever, Iā€™m not a scientist). Hereā€™s some good stuff.

Some Blanc de Blancs from Michel GonetĀ ā€“ this is right up my alley. For anyone whoā€™s never asked me for a recommendation at the bar, Iā€™ll let you in on a little known secret ā€“ I donā€™t reeeeeeally like red wine. Itā€™s never what Iā€™d choose, and that extends to putting Pinot Noir in Champagne. So Blanc de Blancs is the one for me ā€“ 100% Chardy, super acidic, fresh, nothing to worry about.

Continuing on the Blanc theme,Ā hereā€™s another from Laherte FrĆØres. Mineral soils, so itā€™s got zip, itā€™s got zorp, itā€™s got it all. Super dry and a bit of brioche, a flavour whose presence in Champagne I now understand (spoiler: coz ofĀ yeast. Why is it always yeast?). Cute label 2.

You know what, Iā€™m just gonna go full Blanc. They say write what you know. And I do know this producer, mostly coz I just finished writing a little spiel about him for a new feature on our website (Iā€™ve got 250 left to do, so donā€™t hold your breath).Ā Here she is.Ā Suenen is one of Champagneā€™s rising stars, a bit of a risk taker, a bit devil-may-care, kind of like James Dean. Idk what he looks like, I added that bit. Let me keep my fantasy, orite?

If fizz doesn't do it for you, that's totally fine, we're here to talk whenever you need. Do you know what's good to talk over? Cheese. A not too subtle reminder that spaces r shifting forĀ THISĀ event, and if you wanna be a part of it, you'd better shift too.

Go off and celebrate then! And come see the kids at the bar this weekend, weā€™ve got a cracking list to make up for the lack of Dan. New food on the menu tooā€¦ salt bagels and muhammara, wowza.Ā Reminds me of my halcyon days in New York, which obviously, I never mention or talk about. Stop asking me about it! God!

Love u!

Megan