Product Description The exploding cork. Endless tiny bubbles floating up and up in the glass. An indulgence. A celebration. A seduction. A triumph. This is the essence of Champagne, isn't it? But it's not just bubbles in a glass that makes the wine, or the mystique. Only sparkling wine produced within the boundaries of the Champagne region is truly "Champagne." At first glance, the region is not an obvious source of romance. Champagne's history is grim and bloody, swept by war and destruction from Attila the Hun to the filthy trenches of WWI and the Nazi depredations of WWII. The environment for winemaking is desperately hard - northerly latitude, chalky soil, copious rain, frost, rot. Yet it's these difficulties that help make the wine unique. With renowned wine importer Martine Saunier as our guide, we get a rare glimpse behind the scenes into the real Champagne through six houses, from small independent makers like Champagne Saint-Chamant, where each and every bottle is still turned by hand in the cellars, to the illustrious houses of Gosset and Bollinger which have been instrumental in shaping the image of Champagne around the world. Review "A Year in Champagne entertainingly guides viewers through the winemaking process and behind the scenes to hear from the vintners who put the magic in the bottle. Quality production values, engaging scripting and fascinating characters." --The Hollywood Reporter"A fun and effervescent portrait of the people, places, and process behind bubbly." --Santa Barbara Independent"90 minutes of pure happiness!" --Terre de Vins
A**7
A Toast
I love Champagne, so I may be biased. But I loved this film. I learned a lot about what makes Champagne different from other sparkling wines. A lot, that's what. And I learned that there are 250 kilometers of tunnels in the region. That's 155 miles, for those of you living in America. That is room to store more Champagne than anyone could drink in their lifetime. I'm glad someone decided to make this film and that I was fortunate enough to get to watch it- and drink Champagne at the same time.
F**N
Reims proves France is more than Paris
Bubbly rewarding documentary on the celebre region of champagne.I've been to Reims and saw both the ancient Roman monuments and the champagne cellars. This documentary sums up well and uncorks what makes the region so special around the globe. Let's raise our glasses to a video well done.
T**N
Great film!
Very educational film if you love champagne. Wife and I learned a lot from it. Only problem is we cant download the film from Amazon but this has nothing to do with the film really.
A**R
If you like Champagne, you need to watch this!
If you like Champagne, you need to watch this! Dive into the people, places and process of Champagne. Excellently done and will peak your interest in the whole process and celebration of the wonderful world of Champagne wine.
C**R
Topic was all over the place
I was looking forward to seeing what a year in Champagne looks like for producers of the product, but this documentary was all over the place in terms of what it covered...the birthday of one person at a champagne producer, how world wars have affected the region, but very little on what it means to be a champagne producer in France. I would like to have seen more of the history of the drink, how the rules and regulations came about, how things have changed in terms of climate, competition, etc. They did mention how the vines have to be cut a certain way otherwise they will not be allowed to use "champagne" as a designation - I thought that was interesting - but overall the program was devoid of any real solid information; it was a bit of a mess.
C**T
Good, but perhaps not quite as good as A Year in Burgundy...
We love Champagne and drink it regularly. I was excited about this documentary but it fell slightly short. The main reason is that I felt 'A Year in Burgundy' showed a wider variety of producers and different viewpoints. This documentary does focus heavily on Bollinger and a couple of small producers (and Gosset was thrown in almost as an after thought). I would have liked a little more time spent on some other producers, perhaps even adding this to the special features. Speaking of: they were pretty minor - though there is an e-book of sorts about Champagne but reading on the TV is hard to do and there are four deleted scenes and a brief biography of the filmmaker.In my opinion, this is a DVD geared towards those interested in but not knowledgeable about the specifics in production and style of Champagne. Never once was there a mention of various styles such as Brut vs Demi-sec or even what really made a 'vintage' Champagne special. Instead we have a few winemakers talking about it and mentioning that it is special, but we don't really get a picture of non-vintage vs vintage vs Tete de Cuvee. I was happy however to see a nice segment on the disgorging and bottling of this beverage.If I hadn't seen 'A Year in Burgundy', then this would probably rate five stars. We did watch 'A Year in Burgundy' between watching this twice. I am really looking forward to next year's 'A Year in Port'!!!
L**A
The most interesting part of 'Champagne' are the rides through the miles of underground stone cellars and caves where one can se
Don't miss Epernay !The most interesting part of 'Champagne' are the rides through the miles ofunderground stone cellars and caves where one can see the long process (green fuzzy mold on bottles) involved inmaking this wonderful and prized beverage.
M**R
Interesting
This was actually a pretty interesting documentary about the French champagne industry. No wonder the stuff is so expensive!
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