On Champagne brings together a compendium of thoughts, opinions and conclusions of the world’s finest Champagne writers under a single roof. Eight sections divide 41 essays into themes including the brands, styles, history (the ‘Eleven eras of champagne’), terroir, innovation and future (from Sherman tanks to spaceships). Complied and edited by the richly talented Susan Keevil, the essays—written between 1882 and 2022—weave together a tapestry of tales presenting the reader with a vivid and multi-layered collage of the region.
It’s a journey that starts and ends with capturing that sparkle in a bottle and, along the way, tutors us with the nuances of its chalky terrain, the determination of rebels from Ambonnay to Avize, and the mystery of a Champagne cellar under the sea. We meet the pioneers who created the great Champagnes of the past and the personalities who are greening this landscape, nurturing it through climate change to shape the exquisite Champagnes of the future. Bringing levity, the compendium’s heavyweight narrative is punctuated by historical essays such as Evelyn Waugh’s Fizz, Bubbly, Pop in the Swinging Sixties (“Gruesome attempts have been made in New Jersey to produce an equivalent”). Simply, On Champagne is an essential volume for every Champagne lover’s bookshelf.
Contributors include Tom Stevenson, Essi Avellan MW, Hugh Johnson, Serena Sutcliffe MW, Peter Liem, Tyson Stelzer, Andrew Jefford and Robert Walters, with the ‘modern era’ welcomed in by Evelyn Waugh.