A SmoothRed Discovery
Here’s a find and a half: SmoothRed’s director and resident wine expert, Tony Stebbings, has come across this little gem in his own collection.
It’s Champagne, of course – nothing but the best – from some little-known estate called Moët & Chandon. We can’t quite date it specifically, but you can just make out that it was by appointment to George V, who reigned from 1910-1936, which puts the bottle at around a hundred years old. The royal warrant of appointment itself – which you’ll find attested to a whole range of monarchs across all sorts of goods and services – was essentially the trader (in this case, Moët) bragging that they supplied to royalty.
The bottle came from Tony’s father’s cellar, who probably acquired it from his own father. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but Champagne this old is something or a rarity – it’s not exactly easy to get hold of unless you (or someone else) got hold of it in the first place, back when it was produced. Even Champagne from thirty or forty years ago can be tough to find, and not exactly inexpensive to boot!
So it’s a bit of a treasure, this, and not a bottle to be taken lightly. That said, who can really say they wouldn’t be tempted to crack it open and neck a glass or two? You know, just to say you have.
