Jiles's Blog

Who Am I?

17 years spent living and working in Champagne has allowed Jiles to build up a vast amount of knowledge about all things bubbly as well as a very extensive network of contacts, especially amongst the smaller and less well-known champagne makers whose champagnes will probably amaze you with their quality and diversity.

A job as area manager for Asia and Australia with Moët et Chandon was what first drew Jiles to Champagne after completing an MBA in Luxury Brand Management at ESSEC, a prestigious business school just outside Paris.

After nearly 9 years at Moët Jiles moved back to the UK where he started one of the first online businesses promoting and selling grower champagnes,

However the draw of ‘The King of Wines and the Wine of Kings’ once again proved irresistible and another 8 year stay in Champagne was the result. During this second stay in Champagne Jiles worked with the Syndicat Général des Vignerons de Champagne as an accedited consultant for small, independent champagne makers before setting up his own consultancy.

Jiles now spends his time between England and Champagne.and puts his knowledge and contacts to work helping wine lovers everywhere learn more about champagne and helping businesses and individuals to create their own private champagne brand.

He is the author of two books on champagne, several concise guides to champagne  and is the creator of an online champagne study course called My Champagne Expert

 

 

It's Tough Growing Grapes In Champagne

Jiles Halling

may 24th 2011 vines in flower 2Something that we rarely appreciate when we're enjoying a bottle of champagne is the amount of work that goes into producing it. Growing the grapes is the first and perhaps the hardest part.

I was reminded just how tricky this can be when I came across a video I took in June last year. I was talking about how advanced the grapes were compared with a normal year because of all the warm weather.

Things couldn't be much different this year, so I filmed another video this morning to show you just how small the grapes are this year because of all the rain and cool weather we've had for what seems like weeks and weeks.

Wet Wet Wet In Champagne

Jiles Halling

If there’s one thing you can be certain of in Champagne is that nothing is certain.

Last year the weather in Spring was so warm that we ended up with the earliest harvest for almost 200 years.

This year is the exact opposite. The weather’s been dull and wet for weeks and here we are in mid June and it’s still raining.

Memorable Moments At Champagne Roger Brun

Jiles Halling

Last Thursday I was guiding a group of Australian and New Zealand guests for a day visiting some of the smaller champagne makers that are not easy to find and boy; did we strike lucky.

It was just one of those marvellous occasions when wonderful things happen and it turned into one of the most memorable tastings I’ve ever had.

You just can’t plan for these things. Of course, I always choose to visit people who I know are interesting and who make great champagne but sometimes, for no apparent reason, there’s just a little extra spark that turns the interesting into the unforgettable and that’s just what we had the good fortune to enjoy at Champagne Roger Brun in Ay

Pure Meunier Grower Champagne

Jiles Halling

Discovering Grower Champagnes opens your eyes to a world outside the big brands like Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot and Dom Pérignon, but in fact that’s only one of the many fascinating aspects of champagne that are waiting for you to explore.

In this short article I’ll introduce you to a maker and a region you may not have heard of and they are just two of the surprises waiting for you once you start exploring Grower Champagnes.

Tasting Notes - Who needs them?

Jiles Halling

TASTING NOTES

OK, let me honest from the get go - I think that the majority of tasting notes are next to useless, written in such impenetrable language as to be of little or no use to the reader.

I've just finished translating some short tasting notes for a brut champagne and frankly I was appalled at the nonsense that I was asked to translate - it's so bad it's embarrassing - I don't think this is down to my French, which is good, even very good, it's down to the original material which is written by someone who has no idea whatsoever of how to sell as wine. I wonder if they have ever  even met an ordinary champagne drinker, let alone speak to one.