Here at Social 101 we love a bubble or two, so imagine our shock to find out that it is actually National Champagne Week and we had no idea!
Luckily Searcys Champagne bars was on hand to put us in the know:
A survey conducted to mark National Champagne Week has today revealed that half of Brits don’t realise Champagne comes from France – despite the UK being the second biggest consumer of the drink.
Reality TV shows like Made in Chelsea and The Only Way is Essex are creating a culture of young Champagne drinkers, yet it seems the biggest sippers fall flat when it comes to basic knowledge of the drink.
The survey, commissioned by Searcys Champagne bars to mark National Champagne Week (7th to 13th October), revealed that almost one in five 25-34 year olds purchases the drink at least once a week, but staggeringly almost 60% admit that they don’t even know where it comes from.
By far the most knowledgeable drinkers were those aged 55 or older, with almost 70% correctly identifying the origins of the French drink and almost half able to tell the difference between a cheap and a premium Champagne.
Now Searcys are conducting Champagne tastings at their bars throughout the week, and Champagne operations director Joël Claustre MCA believes companies need to do more to boost people’s Champagne knowledge.
He said: “The research showed us that people like to drink Champagne but many don’t really know anything about it and therefore don’t know how to recognise quality and value for money.
“Champagne purchasing amongst younger people is growing rapidly and yet many are admitting that they would not be able to tell a great Champagne from a poor one as they don’t know what they’re looking for.
“We will be doing complimentary tastings throughout the week so that people can find what they like and talk to our experts so that they can begin to appreciate Champagne in the same way that knowledge of wines has grown.”
Searcys bars have up to 15 Champagnes available by the glass and 140 by the bottle. To find out about locations taking part in tastings visit Searcys.co.uk
The MCA after Joël Claustre’s name denotes that he is a Master of Culinary Arts, a highly-regarded title in the culinary profession.
Searcys Champagne tastings will be taking place at the following outlets, from 4pm-6pm every day of National Champagne Week (7th-13 October):
- St Pancras Grand
- One New Change
- Westfield Stratford
- Westfield London
- Paddington
- Blenheim Palace
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